Showcasing its facilities and range of products in Shanghai, MG Motor revealed that their second product for the Indian market will be a pure-electric SUV.
The Chinese auto major has plans to roll out its first car model next year in India, which will be followed by the new electric SUV which is scheduled for a 2020 launch.
Speaking to the media, Michael Yang, Executive Director of International Business, SAIC Motor & President of SAIC Motor International Company said, “MG will launch a globally-competitive pure-electric SUV in India, to make our contribution to India’s energy and environmental strategies. The pure electric SUV will be a breakthrough chapter in the EV space in India, being one of its kind in the market. This is in addition to the first SUV which we plan to launch in the second quarter of next year.”
(L to R): Mr Louis M Sanches Chief Digital Designer MG Global Mr P Balendran Executive Director MG Motor India Mr Michael Yang Executive Director of International Business SAIC Motor and President of SAIM
The ongoing transformation in the automotive industry globally would be the key differentiator for the MG brand. He added, “With cars getting transformed with the internet, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, etc. – MG can take advantage of this transformation and will use it as its key differentiator, enabling it to stand out from the crowd.”
MG Motor India is aiming to have around 45 dealer partners to begin its sales next year, with around 100 touchpoints across India in the first phase. Currently, the carmaker has 300 employees and is looking to hire close to 1,500 employees by the end of 2019. (Also read: MG Motor Geared For India Launch)
“As part of our commitment to this market, we are fast ramping up all our pre-launch activities, beginning with product roadshows for consumers in India next month. This will be followed by various brand-awareness initiatives to get closer to our prospective customers. All our products will be designed and engineered in the UK and China with the support of Indian engineers. These vehicles will be heavily localized, built at our plant in Halol by our engineers conforming to global quality standards and validated and customized for India to suit the Indian road and driving conditions,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India.
The current capacity at MG Motor’s Halol manufacturing facility stands at 80,000 units per annum; which will be expanded to 2 lakh units going forward depending upon the requirement.
