The Indian automotive market isn’t kind to non-performers. In the recent past, we have seen some major International giants (like GM, Fiat) shutting down their Indian operations, after years of trying it out in the highly competitive Indian market.
However, that has not stopped new brands from coming to India. Not only that, new brands have arrived and immediately become segment best-sellers; Kia and MG are prime examples. It is the growth potential in the market which over the years has drawn many international OEMs to the Indian market.
One such car manufacturer happens to be MG Motor which started its journey in India in the first half of 2019. MG started off with selling its MG Hector SUV which was positioned as a high-on features, Value for Money SUV. Earlier this year, MG brought in its first electric offering for the country in the form of ZS EV.
Later, MG launched the Hector Plus (6-seater Hector) and its new flagship, the Fortuner rival, Gloster. Till date, journey of MG has been nothing short of a dream run, with demand for its products surpassing the overall production capacity of the company at all times.
MG intends to continue with a similar performance in the upcoming year as well. Hence, it has planned to bring in a facelift update for its Hector (new Savvy variant with ADAS and 4×4) and also launch a 7-seater version of the Hector Plus. While these two launches will be helpful for the Chinese owned British car maker, MG Bosses believe that these will not be sufficient for the growth ambition they have for the company.
In a recent interview with Live Mint, Rajeev Chaba, President & MD at MG Motor India stated that MG India is planning to grow by 70-80% in terms of volumes in the year 2021. For the same, MG will be bringing in new products which will help the company to churn out higher sales volumes.
In its first year, that is 2019, MG sold about 16k cars in India. This has increased to 30k cars in 2020 – despite pandemic and lockdown. Now, in 2021, MG aims to increase sales by 70-80%. This implies that they are aiming to sell about 51k to 54k cars in 2021.
After the planned launches of 2021 Hector and Hector 7-seater in early 2021, MG plans to bring in the MG ZS SUV. The ZS which will be brought in will be powered by a petrol motor and will come with updated styling which was released on the 2020 facelift of the ZS SUV (which is sold globally). The ZS SUV will be competing with the likes of Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta and upcoming VW-Skoda crossover twins. Expect the new MG ZS to be priced aggressively in the Rs 8 lakh range – much lower than Creta and Seltos.
Considering a launch in the mid-sized SUV segment where the current leaders monthly sales of around 8-12K units, it is likely that MG will also be looking at healthy 4-digit sales figures for the ZS. To ensure that the production related constraints are addressed, MG is investing around INR 1,000 crores to further expand its Gujrat based plant. It also plans to use the same plant for exports in neighboring countries in the future.
Post the launch of the ZS, MG will be looking at venturing into the MPV space. While the ZS SUV has already started testing in India, it is too early to confirm which MPV will MG bring in to the country. However, it is believed that the MPV will lie in the entry level segment and could possibly compete with the Ertiga and upcoming MPV from Hyundai.
This post was last modified on December 31, 2020 9:20 am