In spite of sales decline, Hector continues to be the No 1 selling car in the segment
MG Motor India reports retail sales of 2,537 units in September 2020 at sales decline of 2.7 percent. This is down from 2,608 units sold in September 2019; at a difference of 71 units. The company says September retail sales were impacted, whereas wholesale numbers were much more.
For MG India, which began business started sales here 15 months earlier, this is the first quarterly comparison that can be made. MG India reports 22 percent sales growth over Q3 2019 last year. Q3 2020 sales is reported at 7,493 units, up from 6,134 units sold in Q3 2019. MoM sales declined 11.01 percent from 2,851 units sold in August 2020.
While Hector remains the mainstay of MG’s business in India, the manufacturer introduced its ZS EV earlier in the year. This was followed with Hector Plus, which essentially takes care of more seating requirements in a Hector. And now, all activity is focused on launch of MG Gloster for which pre-bookings are ongoing at a booking amount of a lakh.
Rakesh Sidana, Director – Sales, MG Motor India, said, “The wholesale were much more than retails in anticipation of the upcoming festive season. Although the challenges continue in the overall economy and supply chain, our teams are doing their best to overcome these and we are looking forward to festive season and the launch of Gloster in October 2020.”
Subscription Plans Launched
Where strengthening its sales channels is concerned, MG has also associated with partners to introduce subscription plans for its cars. Keeping in mind, the passage of time, MG Motor has been quick to introduce a pre-owned car vertical as well.
These added ownership models are platforms that most other brands have taken years to introduce. However, MG Motor has approached the market in a modern manner, and ensured that potential customers are split for choice and can buy a new, or used vehicle or lease one as dictates their requirement rather than be limited by the choice of only traditional loan backed new car purchases.
Next Launch
With MG Motor India only just settling in, the manufacturer had earlier outlined its plans to launch a new product each year. While MG Gloster is this year’s big plan, and pretty much features all you can want in a car, it belongs to a segment that isn’t traditionally a high sales one. Mainly owing to a price tag that’s aspirational for many but at the same time limiting.
For now, MG is focused in UVs – Hector, Hector Plus, ZS EV, and now Gloster. Next year, it will be ZS Petrol that will join the list. Where Hector sales is concerned, MG has been leading segment since it got into business. However, again, the segment is one that is of a relatively small volume. All this will change as the company preps to introduce a volume product next year – ZS petrol will be priced under Rs 10 lakhs to take on Seltos / Creta.
