MG Hector New Gen will retain the same set of petrol and diesel engines along with the transmission options
MG Hector New gen has been teased once again. The company is keen to re-establish as the D1 SUV leader once again, a position it used to enjoy when launched. But soon competition from Harrier increased, thanks to an update in 2020. Harrier got feature additions like a panoramic sunroof, which helped increase sales.
But with the launch of Safari and most importantly XUV700, which is the current king of this segment, Hector and Hector Plus sales were pushed below as seen in our sales figures. The company is betting big on Hector New Gen by loading it with gizmos to regain the top spot.
MG Hector New Gen Front Teased
MG likes to call it a New Gen of Hector. But when we look at its immediate cousins like Chevrolet Captiva, Baojun 530 and Wuling Almaz, all of them are still based on the same platform that outgoing Hector is based on. So, this might be just a facelift that will see a lot of revisions.
Or MG might debut Hector New Gen in India first, before launching it in their home turf, China. We say this because MG had teased us with a brand new 14” touchscreen infotainment system a few days ago. This is a portrait-style touchscreen that seems to be inspired by Mercedes-Benz and Tesla Model-S. None of Hector’s cousins get this new screen. India is the first to get this new tech.
Not just a touchscreen with large screen navigation, dashboard is changed too. Vertical AC vents are now horizontal, dashboard is now a lot shorter than old model, push-start button is squared while the old one was round and it also has a yacht-style gear lever which seems to be inspired by Audi’s. There is a possibility that it is actually launching a new gen Hector instead of just a facelift while the outgoing model is retained as is.
MG Hector New Teaser
On the exterior, Hector New Gen will get a revised front fascia with a new chrome grille. We can see some new creases in its bodywork to spruce up the design. At the rear, Hector will get a new set of LED tail-lights too. It will get the same set of engines to be carried over from the outgoing model.
They’re a 1.5L 4-cylinder petrol engine making 140bhp and 250 Nm coupled to either a 6-speed MT or a CVT with mild hybrid tech on higher variants. And a 2.0L turbo-diesel engine making 168 bhp and 350 Nm and is mated to only a 6-speed manual transmission.
In the last teaser, MG teased us with a largest-in-segment 14” portrait-style touchscreen infotainment system. This time, they have teased us with a front view, which now clearly shows the RADAR module. It will aid the level-2 ADAS systems that were already available with MG Gloster and MG Astor. This enables features like an emergency braking system, radar-based adaptive cruise control, parking assist with blind-spot detection, lane keep assist, lane departure warning and more.
Currently, MG Hector prices start from Rs. 14.1 lakh for base Style variant and go to Rs. 20.3 lakh for current top-spec Sharp variant (both princess ex-sh) and will continue to be on sale. We expect a Savvy variant to be launched that might be priced around Rs. 1 – 1.5 lakh (ex-sh). When launched, MG Hector New Gen will compete with the Mahindra XUV700, Tata Safari, Tata Harrier and Jeep Compass.
