Production of the MG Hector SUV has begun at the company’s plant in Halol, Gujarat. This premium SUV is expected to be launched on 15 May. It will compete with the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson and the Honda CR-V in the Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh price bracket.
The MG Hector will have BS-VI ready engines that include a 1.5 litre turbo-petrol and a 2-litre diesel engine. It will get manual and automatic transmission options.
It is being made with over 75 percent local content. The company is also looking at hiring women for nearly 50 percent of its workforce, to bring in more opportunities for women in the automotive sector.
MG Motor can produce about 80,000 vehicles a year right now from its plant in Halol, but the company plans to scale it up to 200,000 vehicles annually if there’s demand. The next vehicle it plans to roll out is an electric SUV, the MG eZS with a range of 350 Km per charge in December 2019.
The MG Hector is a fairly large SUV, which could come in either 5 seat or 7 seat configuration. There’s no confirmation on the specs yet. In terms of design, the Hector follows the trend of low-set headlamps in the bumper with high-mounted LED DRLs, quite like the Tata Harrier, Kia SP2i and Hyundai Venue.
What we do know is that the Hector will be an “internet-enabled” SUV with connectivity that goes beyond just telematics.
The iSmart infotainment system that will be fitted in the upcoming MG Hector SUV has been developed in partnership with tech companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Reliance Unlimit, SAP, Cisco, Gaana, TomTom and Nuance.
The 10.4-inch vertically mounted screen in the MG Hector has an M2M SIM (machine SIM) embedded, which is powered by Airtel for connectivity. It claims to be 5G ready, but can handle network speeds as low as 2G as well.
More details will be revealed on 15 May, the day the MG Hector will be launched in India.
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