Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
MG Motor India will be launching its first vehicle in India in the first half of 2019. This is likely to be an SUV in the Rs 25 lakh price segment. It has also indicated that it will launch an all-electric vehicle as its second offering in 2020.
To showcase its prowess, MG Motor India organised a trip to Shanghai to visit its parent company SAIC and get a hands on feel of the cars and SUVs it has access to. The Quint was a part of that trip as well.
SAIC has a pretty large market share in the Chinese market, selling 70 million cars annually. It has about 25 percent of the market. Besides MG, which is sold in international markets, SAIC also owns brands like Roewe and Baojun, and has tie-ups with Volkswagen and Mercedes too.
The company is shifting focus to electric vehicles and its latest in China is the Roewe Marvel X. This vehicle can do 500 Km on a single charge and can go from 0-100 kmph in a claimed 4.8 seconds. It costs the equivalent of Rs 30 lakh (INR) in China.
The Marvel X was one of the vehicles we sampled and it gives an idea of the kind of electric vehicle capability the company has.
Of course, the brand’s first launch in India is likely to be a large SUV in the Rs 25 lakh price segment. We drove the MG HS, which is quite similar to what it plans to launch in India (no, it won’t be launching the MG HS). What we are likely to get in India is a mix of vehicles - a Baojun 530 body with a 1.5 litre turbo-petrol motor and a 2-litre diesel engine option.
The brand is currently carrying out roadshows in the country to showcase its vehicles - the MG HS and MG ZS, although these are not going to be launched yet. Watch the video to get an idea of the quality and kind of vehicle MG has in its line up for India. This includes SUVs and sedans, as well as electric vehicles. We’ve driven some of them on the test track in China.
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