The much awaited MG HECTOR is all set to go on sale in the Indian market in June 2019. The SUV has been spotted testing without any camouflage.The vehicle was caught testing in Gujarat, which also happens to be the home for brand’s manufacturing facility. The MG Hector production has already been started at Halol plant. With 75% localisation, the Hector is expected to carry a competitive pricing to compete with rivals.
The MG Hector will be rich in features and will offer many first-in-segment features. It will become the first connected car in the segment and will offer an integrated eSIM based infotainment system. The large 10.4-inch infotainment system will get Artificial Intelligence that will be able to control the functions of the vehicle. The eSIM will provide a number of functionalities to the vehicle including live GPS tracking, geo-fencing, live traffic updates, over-the-air software updates and remote functionalities that will allow the users to control certain features of the vehicle through a smartphone. The vehicle will come with an automotive voice assistant that can simply be activated by saying “Hello MG”. The assistant understands to over 100 voice commands and has been designed specifically keeping the Indian accents in mind.
From outside, Chrome accents are seen on the headlamp cluster, front bumper and on the sides of the car, enhancing its premium appeal. Adding to its muscular appeal are black plastic cladding on lower parts of all sides and protruding wheel arches. It gets a floating roof with roof rails, machine cut two tone alloy wheels in a 5 thick and 5 thin spoke design and twin LED tail lamps. It also gets a faux diffuser in a silver colour and a triangular exhaust tip. MG Hector shares its platform with Baojun 530 SUV and looks almost identical to the latter when it comes to the exterior
Engine-wise, MG Hector will get a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine that generates a maximum power of 143 PS and peak torque of 250 Nm. It will also get the 2.0-litre Multijet diesel engine that also powers the Jeep Compass and the Tata Harrier in the Indian market. Both the engine options will offer a 6-speed manual transmission as standard while the petrol engine will also get a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
MG Hector will compete with the likes of much popular Mahindra XUV5OO, Jeep Compass and the newly launched Tata Harrier for the SUV segment.The expected price range for the Hector is believed to be in between Rs 15-22 lakh (ex-showroom).
MG Motors have planned the right strategy to follow the sales as well as service by working on the ‘one city – one dealer’ plan which will have one primary showroom and one service centre. The brand will have about 50 dealers by the end of June 2019.
