MG Motor India will launch a new variant of their best selling SUV Hector – It has now been spied at dealer yard
After recently launching the Savvy trim for the Gloster, MG is now preparing for the launch of the Shine variant of its popular SUV – the Hector. The official launch and debut of the new trim is scheduled for 12th August, i.e. tomorrow. Ahead of the unveil, the Shine trim has been spied by The Car Show.
Current Trim Stack-Up
Currently, the Hector is sold in 4 different trim levels. These include Sharp, Smart, Super and Style. Prices of all were recently increased. Style happens to be the base variant while Sharp happens to be the top-end trim. All trims are available in both petrol and diesel engine options.
Now, the new Shine trim will be placed between the Super and Smart trim, which means it will technically become the mid-spec variant in Hector’s line-up. While increase in trim levels results in higher costs for operations and management for both the OEM and dealer-partners, it certainly does help in increasing the number of offerings at multiple price points.
Kia too had done something similar when it had brought in the Seltos which was available from around INR 9 lakhs to INR 17 lakhs. Availability of multiple options helps the OEMs to retain interested customers, which is extremely necessary in an extremely competitive and price sensitive market like ours.
Feature List
Details of exact features are still awaited from MG’s end, however recent spyshots and videos have confirmed that the SUV will be getting a single pane sunroof, but will miss out on the panoramic option. Overall feature list is expected to be slightly lighter than the one seen on the Smart trim.
Speculation suggests that MG might not offer the i-Smart functionality, which is basically an embedded sim technology which enables features like Real Time Vehicle Tracking, Voice Activated Commands, Find My Car Location, Geo Fencing etc. Other features which might not be offered on the Smart trim include Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, WiFi Connectivity and Wireless Phone charging.
Currently, the MG Hector competes with the likes of Mahindra XUV500, Tata Safari, Jeep Compass and the upper-end trims of the Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta and Skoda Kushaq. MG had introduced a mild facelift of the Hector, earlier this year. MG has been active in ensuring that it keeps its entire portfolio fresh, and hence keeps updating it at regular intervals. Thanks to the same, the updates have been visible on the feature list of models and even the price tags, which have been heading north with each update.
MG’s Future Plans
Since its arrival, MG has been extremely active in the Indian market. Currently, it has 4 models in its portfolio, including the Hector, Hector Plus, ZS EV and the range topping Gloster. In the near future, it intends to bring in a petrol powered version of the ZS EV, which would mostly be called as the MG Astor. The Astor will be competing in a heavily crowded market which majorly includes Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq and the upcoming VW Taigun.
