First MG India SUV To Rival Compass, SAIC Plans SUV Offensive

MG Motors will not target Maruti Suzuki, instead, it will take on Mahindra and Mahindra.

MG Motor will launch multiple SUVs and MPVs in India

China’s largest car maker Shanghai Automotive will be entering India very soon through MG Motor and they will stay clear of India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki. The company will not rival Maruti Suzuki’s compact cars for the next 3 to 5 years and instead will take on Mahindra head on.

SAIC Motor took over the British carmaker MG in 2011. MG Motor’s India operations will be a subsidiary of the Chinese carmaker. It is believed that MG Motor intends to have an aggressive portfolio of at least 4 to 5 SUVs and MPVs comprising of everything from a sub-4-metre SUV to rival the Ford EcoSport to a premium MPV to rival the Toyota Innova. An electric vehicle is also on the cards.

The company has already announced a C-segment SUV called Baojun 530. Under the MG brand, it will be called something else and the name will be announced in the next 2-3 months. MG will unveil the SUV in the second quarter of 2019 and will take on the likes of the Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson.

It will be followed by a heavily Indianised Baojun 510 base SUV to take on Hyundai Creta in 2020-21. A sub-four metre version on the Baojun platform for India is being considered but the decision is yet to be finalised. The company will be adding a seven-seater MPV based on the Baojun 530 architecture to rival the Toyota Innova Crysta. It also likely that MG will launch an electric SUV based on ZS in 2020.

SAIC knows that India will be a critical contributor to MG Motor’s ambition of selling one-million units outside China by 2025 and that it may contribute to about a fifth of its target if it executes the plan well.

Company officials have stated that they are targeting various segments and sub-segments within the SUV space with an aim to offer compelling propositions with exclusive features to stand out in the market space. Details of the offerings will be announced closer to the launch of the vehicles.

The company has already selected 45 dealer partners who will cover over 100 sales and service points and will be up and running before the roll-out next year.