MG Hatchbacks, Sedans Not Coming To India Until 2021

MG’s global lineup consists of the MG3 hatchback and the MG6 sedan which could rival the Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Toyota Corolla Altis in India, respectively

• MG’s first five cars for India won’t feature even a single sedan or a hatchback.

• Hector to be the first MG car for India, slated to be launched in June 2019.

• MG Motor to bring a new model every six months and the Hector will be followed by four more SUVs.

• MG3 premium hatchback and MG6 midsize sedan will not come to India until late 2020.

As a new entrant in the Indian car market, MG Motor seems to have set its sights on the SUV segment as its starting point. The Hector midsize SUV is scheduled to launch in June 2019 and the brand has plans to introduce a new SUV model thereafter every six months till late 2020.

MG Motor displayed the MG3 hatchback and MG6 sedan in India as part of the brand’s initial introduction. However, the MG3 is due for a generation change as the current model has been on sale since 2011. The current-gen MG6 was introduced in 2017 and it might get a facelift soon. With multiple MG SUVs lined up for India till the middle of 2020, neither the hatchback nor the sedan are likely to come to India in their current form. MG may, however, decide to launch the yet-to-be-seen next-gen models of the MG3 and MG6 in India in late 2020 or early 2021.

The current MG3 hatchback measures 4055mm in length and would be a premium hatchback offering, if launched in India. For the Indian market, though, the hatchback would most likely be trimmed to under 4m in overall length. If launched in India, the MG3 would take on the likes of the Hyundai Elite i20, Maruti Baleno, Honda Jazz and the Volkswagen Polo. The UK-spec MG3 is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine that produces 106PS of power and 137Nm of torque.

The MG6 sedan, on the other hand, is on sale in the Chinese market only. This midsize sedan could be a rival to the likes of the Honda Civic, Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla Altis and Hyundai Elantra in India. MG offers the MG6 with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine tuned to produce an output of 169PS and 250Nm of torque with a choice of a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.

There is also a plug-in hybrid version of the sedan, called the eMG6, that uses the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with a 9.1kWh lithium ion battery. The eMG6 has a combined output of 228PS and 622Nm with a claimed pure-EV range of 53km and a hybrid range of upto 705km. However, the battery takes 3 hours to charge fully.

What MG is going to bring to India though are five SUVs - the Hector 5-seater, Hector 7-seater, eZS and two more unknown SUVs. You can read more about the upcoming lineup of MG SUVs in India here.