MG Motor India Website Goes Live

The British car marque plans to launch its first product in 2019

Update: The upcoming MG SUV has been christened Hector. Read more about it here.

British car marque MG (Morris Garages) Motor now has an official website for India - http://www.mgmotor.co.in. MG Motor, which is currently owned by SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) of China, has been busy beginning its innings in India. At the moment, the carmaker is reaching out to dealer partners and building the team.

Road Map

The story started to take shape when the British carmaker bought the manufacturing plant in Halol (Gujarat) from General Motors. The production facility went defunct in May this year when the American auto giant began its business optimisation stint. A month later, we learnt that MG Motor is coming to India and will be the first Chinese auto firm to set up shop on our shores. Soon after, the company announced that it will buy the Halol plant and invest around Rs 2,000 crores retooling it.

The production plant was officially inaugurated in October this year and the company claimed that it will roll out the first India-spec MG model by 2019. The facility will have an initial capacity of producing 80,000 cars in a year. Expect a strong show from the MG Motor at the upcoming 2018 Auto Expo.

Expected Lineup

MG's official website for India doesn't showcase the products that are coming here. But it does talk about the carmaker's past and present products and how the brand started its innings in the car manufacturing space. 

There is no getting away from the fact that MG Motor will take on the mainstream carmakers in India, such as Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Renault. So, the expected product lineup has to fit in the stringent car segmentation that we have in India. While MG already has a couple of UVs and a hatchback in its portfolio that can come to India, SAIC is parent to Roewe and Baojun car brands as well and might bring their products under the MG badge if they suit the Indian market.

Sources close to the development inform us that the first product from MG in India could be a compact SUV that measures over 4 metres. MG has the XS/ZS compact SUV, which in the UK, takes on the Ford EcoSport and could fit the bill here to take on the likes of the Renault Duster and the Hyundai Creta as it’s over 4m in length. The other SUV is the MG GS, which sits a segment above the XS/ZS. That means, if it comes to India, it will take on the Jeep Compass and the Hyundai Tucson.

There’s also the MG 3 hatchback, which if trimmed by about 20mm in length should be an ideal contender to take on the Volkswagen Polo and the Maruti Suzuki Baleno.

Exciting Times Ahead?

You bet! If MG Motor gets its local sourcing sorted and hits the sweet spot with the pricing, the company might unsettle the current players in the market.

Whenever new players come into the market in any industry, there’s bound to be a price war. India is not just looking at MG Motor to make its mark. We are also looking at two other automakers which are gunning for glory - South Korean Kia Motors and the French PSA Groupe (Peugeot).