MG Motor India had showcased the Hector Plus 6/7-seater and Gloster luxury SUV at Auto Expo 2020
MG Motor India is going forward with its initial plans to introduce the Hector Plus 6/7-seater in about three months and Gloster luxury SUV by November 2020. The vehicles were showcased in early-February at Auto Expo 2020 alongside a range of products from the SAIC-owned British-origin automaker. Either model was spotted on multiple occasions in the country as development progresses.
India’s automotive industry is going through challenging times due to COVID-19 aka coronavirus and the lockdown protocol it has brought about. Owing to immense losses, several dealerships are at the verge of shutting down completely. Many OEMs have stepped forward to lend a helping hand to its dealers in this desperate situation. MG Motor India promises that it will not cut jobs this year because of the outbreak.
In addition to this, the company also started an ‘Affordable Ventilator Challenge’ among OEMs — a move to develop affordable ventilators quickly and introduce it to the medical department in the shortest possible time. All around the globe, multiple automotive manufacturers have stepped in to provide essential equipment to the medical field to assist them in the fight against COVID-19.
Coming back to MG Motor India’s upcoming products, the 15th edition of the country’s biggest biennial automotive show gave a glimpse of what the brand has in store for our market in the coming years. The MG Hector Plus is essentially a three-row avatar of the current Hector SUV (which has actually got more MUV DNA than SUV). It could create an internal competition with its regular five-seater version.
The Hector Plus employs the same 1.5-litre 141bhp/250Nm turbo petrol and 2.0-litre 168bhp/350Nm diesel power plants. Higher petrol variants boast of mild-hybrid technology as well. A 6-speed manual transmission comes as standard while the non-mild-hybrid petrol engine is also available mated to a 6-speed DCT automatic.
The India-spec MG Gloster is expected to sport a 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel motor based on the familiar 2.0 Multijet II unit from FCA. It churns out roughly 218bhp and 480Nm of torque while mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission.
The MG Gloster is essentially a rebadged avatar of the Maxus D90 (available in RWD and AWD formats) which competes with the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and Jeep Grand Cherokee in global markets. For the same reason, one can never consider the MG Gloster as a rival to the Toyota Fortuner or Ford Endeavour.
