China’s largest automotive maker Shanghai Automotive’s M G Motor is banking on cleaner and electrified vehicle portfolio to assist the government of India’s push for cleaner transport option to address the rising pollution challenge. With a plan of electrifying majority of its 5 SUV product portfolio planned for India in coming 24 months, apart from presenting the 48 volt mild hybrid in its first mid-size SUV Hector, M G Motor also plans to local make its electric vehicle eZS.
The electric car will have 350 kilometres of range and is likely going to be priced between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. Rajeev Chaba, the company's managing director told that at MG Motor's facility in Halol, Gujrat the vehicle will be assembled, starting January 2020. The company is of the conclusion that proceeding hybrids will be a strong option to diesel cars as the country moves towards increasingly stringent BS-VI emission standards. The electric motor in the petrol-electric hybrid will make up for qualities of diesel engines like better torque and fuel efficiency.
To further differentiate itself, MG Motor will also offer features, for example, 5G internet connectivity on their cars and over-the-air software updates to attract customers. “Experience of customer is a new brand in itself,” Chaba said.
In its first year of sale, M G hopes to sell about 18,000 units of the Hector by the end of 2019 and it plans to use the existing factory of 1 lakh units in the next 3 years. The company has selected 50 dealer principles. It will begin operations with 120 customer touch-points including retail outlets, experience centres and service stations. By September this year the plan is to reach 250 touch-points, Chaba said.
The head of M G states that the company is not “in rush” to grab volumes and market share in India and the HQ sees India from a long term view. Chaba said the emphasis is to get the basics right, which is building a good network, brand reputation, and ensuring customer satisfaction and dealer profitability.
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