6 MGEAUGUST 2019 http://www.mgenthusiast.comollowing the launch of MG Motor
India’s important entry into its
massive, and growing, native
market, the company has followed an
impressive brand-building exercise
with a carefully stage-managed,
protracted, product launch. By the time
that you read this, the final secrets will
have been revealed and, as the first
customers start taking delivery of their
new Hectors, the discussion turns to
the next steps for MG Motor India and
their Halol manufacturing facility.
Rajeev Chaba, President and MD
of the company, has already said
that the MG ZS EV forms part of this,
with the model to be assembled in
Halol alongside the Hector. However,
whilst the familiar ZS is more or less
universal, the unique-to-India Hector
shows that there is no decree that
future MGs from Halol must follow the
F
familiar model patterns elsewhere.
SAIC turned to its Chinese-market
Baojun brand to donate DNA for
Hector so we may expect more of
this approach. By the early 2020s, MG
Motor India plans a rapidly expanding
range with the ZS EV below the five-
seater Hector. There are rumours
of a much smaller EV and a slightly
bigger, seven-seater Hector.
Above this, there may be an even
bigger MG SUV, said to be based on the
Maxus D90, a rugged-style, five-metre-
long SUV, based on a traditional ladder-
frame light truck chassis. Already
on sale in China, and in Australia
marketed under the LDV name, the
D90 features a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol
engine, producing 224bhp and 360Nm;
for India the as-yet-unnamed MG
version may also receive a diesel.
So MG’s Indian family will grow,but forgive us for harking back to the
discord between the brand marketing- heavy on the sports car heritage
- and the new reality. We attribute
this to Pallavi Singh, MG Motor
India’s marketing chief. “Hopefully
in the future MG should have a two
door sports car. And embrace the
love for the open road with modern
technology,” she reassured us. Let’s
hope this noble dream materialises.
David Knowles updates us on international MG Motor news
Hector’s new friends
ABOVE: The Maxus D90, also sold in
some markets as the LDV 90, may form
the basis of another MG for India.