[Autolock123]

Originally Posted by sagsaw

5 lakh price is simply not possible as Lithium Ion Battery costs a bomb big or small capacity.

I think this product in China is priced under INR 5 lacs. I understand there could be some play of subsidy and Economies of scale but pricing it close to INR 8 lacs in India , almost 1.7 times the china price seems to be very high.

For additional 70k i get Tiago which is a 0.8m longer car which means comfortable seating for 4. Built quality for Tiago is already known to all. In my view to make it attractive, pricing should have been under 7 lacs.

[sagsaw]

Originally Posted by Autolock123

I think this product in China is priced under INR 5 lacs. I understand there could be some play of subsidy and Economies of scale but pricing it close to INR 8 lacs in India , almost 1.7 times the china price seems to be very high.

For additional 70k i get Tiago which is a 0.8m longer car which means comfortable seating for 4. Built quality for Tiago is already known to all. In my view to make it attractive, pricing should have been under 7 lacs.

Plain calculation of price via exchage rate is just not the correct method.

[Venkatesh]

An official Tata Motors dealer made this creative against Comet EV.



Link

[psbali]

As an EV owner I can say that road ahead is tricky for comet compared to Tiago. Tiago gives 100 more kms along with AC Fast Charging (FC) and DC FC. The only thing that will work for comet is the head room compared to tiago. With punch ev even that will get sorted.

Imho they killed the car by not offering AC FC. 230 kms claimed range is not good. Real world range of 200 to 250 of nexon/tiago feels less and with 230 kms claimed range the real world range would be 150 ish or even lower. Without AC FC that is not something I am ready to live with. Most people owning comet in future are going to realise this once the honeymoon is over.


Also anyword about the battery cooling? I cant find out if this is liquid cooled or not.

[anoopGTkrish]

I hate the fact that I somehow love the design. Its quirky, small and with an upgrade to the wheel would look good in the black shade.

Now the deal breaker for me would be lack of space at the rear. I wouldn't be able to fit a full size child seat in there from the looks of it. If not for this, I would have preferred this over Tiago EV for the quirkiness.

[tarmacnaut]

8 lakh, that too "introductory" pricing? DOA in my opinion. Case in point is the Tata Nano, many rejected Tata Nano because it looked like a four wheeled auto rickshaw.

The MG Comet looks like a feature loaded, luxurious 4 wheeled chinese "auto rickshaw". And the price makes it even worse. While MG was known to be VFM and qucikly established it as a dependable brand with good reach, this product launch seems to be a hasty decision.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by sf71hvettel

I have a question for everyone, would you rather buy this (Comet EV) or the Kwid EV at the same price? Assume the Kwid EV has the same range and price at the Comet EV and the same feature set as the ICE Kwid.

Between the two, in my personal opinion, the following may tilt the balance, (either way), for a potential buyer:

1) Styling:
This is purely subjective. "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder", and all that jazz. But, yes, the Kwid EV, (which is sold as the Dacia Springer in EU and Kwid ZE elsewhere), is more proportionate and "conventional" to look at compared to the MG Comet(Wuling Air). The Comet on the other hand looks funkier and may score better on the "cool" quotient particularly with the youngsters and young lady customers. Particularly interior styling where I feel, (again a very personal opinion), the MG Comet looks far more stylish and "in with the times".

2) Ingress & Egress:
The Comet will score better due to its taller stance and what can be seen,(from the pictures at least), a higher seating reference point or "hip-point". For the elderly this will be advantageous. The Kwid hip point is much lower. The Kwid roofline is also a lot lower compared to the Comet.

3) Luggage space
The Kwid will have a larger boot as it sits on a longer wheelbase and has a larger rear overhang.

4) Ride comfort:
A calculated guess says that the KWID running on 14-inch wheels should have a more comfortable and less choppier ride with less vertical pitching compared to the Comet which comes shod with 12-inch wheels and tyres(a la M-800 and Nano)

5) Safety:
KWID ICE scored poorly in Global NCAP. Comet is untested by Global NCAP, so one cannot comment. KWID ICE and MG COMET pass "Indian safety norms", otherwise they cannot be homologated and sold. One may draw whatever inferences one may wish from it.

These factors, I feel, will be primary areas of consideration for a typical Kwid vs Comet buyer.

[Indraneel Bhat]

Time for Mahindra to re-launch the e2o!!
The Mahindra e2o was ahead of its times and they had to stop production. It can be a wonderful addition to it's product catalogue now.

The Nano electric it seems will launch in Dec 2023. Both these are perfectly suited to be green city cars / second car options and there is now a ready market for them.

The small EV cars market is hotting up and I will be watching this space for more....

[anjan_c2007]

We had the Ashok Leyland Comet trucks, a British product with 100% British roots. And now here is another Comet, a product of MG that shuns it's Chinese connections and claims British roots in it's media releases. The image of this media release will "prove" that MG still sticks to it's old legacy and its British ancestry. The media report cleverly avoids any China reference.



The The Times of India report below though mentions SAIC

10:09 (IST), Apr 26
MG Comet EV

The Comet EV is essentially a rebadged version of Wuling Air EV that’s sold in Indonesia and based on SAIC’s GSEV platform.

Though MG still maintains it's R&D centre in the U.K., (global design centre for SAIC) reins of the company are with SAIC, China. It sells about 50 K cars annually in the U.K. and almost the same numbers in India, while in China it sells about 460 K units.

[Autolock123]

Originally Posted by sagsaw

Plain calculation of price via exchage rate is just not the correct method.

Battery pack is the highest cost component, even if we assume $200- $220 per KWH at pack level, Battery cost will be under INR 3 lacs. What possibly could be the other factors that would push the price to INR 8 lacs ?

[balenopower]

Originally Posted by RT13

Heheh.

This forum is quite naturally one for, and by, enthusiasts. And of course enthusiasts will have nothing to do with this. However, this forum is not representative of the bulk of India and many many of its demographies. Time will tell what happens but MG is nobody’s fool. For all the Hector-bashing that happens here and on most automotive fora and by auto journos, they crossed 1 lakh units in less than three years, have introduced more models and are slowly but surely gaining ground in terms of customer loyalty and reference-ability. They have a proper long-term view, have dug in and will keep at it.

The Comet clearly polarises people but part of the problem here is that everyone on this thread (or most people) looks at automobiles with great passion and emotion. To a great many it is a symbol of having arrived, of social progress. However, do consider that to many other people, it is a tool. And if you looked at the Comet as a gadget, albeit a slightly expensive one, perspectives could be very different. A well-designed (not from a subjective aesthetic opinion - from a pure utilitarian POV), compact vehicle with a tiny footprint, uber manoeuvrable but still surprisingly roomy, with enough of everything to serve all purposes within city, and a reflection of a different, hipster persona, might just appeal to several demographics that simply are not represented (or are very under-represented) on this forum.

Comparisons, so far on this thread, to the Nano’s failure are all off the mark in my opinion. The Nano was a colossal brand positioning failure. It began with national buzz around Ratan Tata building a people carrier for under 1 lakh. His stated vision was to move people from two-wheelers, to a cheap and affordable (and safer) 4 wheeler and his mission was to build it for under a lakh. Unfortunately, as observed earlier, he did not reckon on the part a car plays in India’s social psyche. And in a country where a car showed the world you had arrived, people preferred sticking with their two wheelers and saving a bit more, rather than look like they couldn’t afford anything better. Make no mistake, Tata realised the problem! They completely changed and overhauled their positioning from being cheap and affordable to being fun, fresh and young. In line with that strategy the ads were changed to reflect young people having fun and they re-launched the Nano with ‘Twist’ variants. Their fortunes were indeed changing and sales were going up, but it was too much too late with incoming increasingly stringent pollution control laws. Hence, it was jettisoned.

The MG Comet suffers from none of the above whatsoever. It’s a different time, a completely different product, appealing to a different demographic, priced accordingly and enough go with its show. And to say it’ll fail because of Tiago is terribly short-sighted. In the modern day, no market is so constrained that a single product can be considered the end of all options. Not everyone wants a full four seater. Not everyone is comfortable with buying a Tata. And everyone likes options. Take a look at the aforementioned Hector - for all the constant ringing of its death knell because of supposedly better competition (more than the Comet faces), it still sells pretty well. Similarly for all the whining about how the Astor could be more of an enthusiasts car, it sells too. In a short span of time, MG are certainly better positioned overall than some big American and Japanese car brands that have come to India (and gone), despite facing a global pandemic and terrific backlash due to geopolitics, soon after entering.

You may not like the Comet personally but smart, compact electric vehicles are undeniably part of the landscape of the future. And MG is banking on that and has the time and the pockets to play a long game.

Personally, I wouldn’t bet against them. But hey, that’s me.

Couldn't agree with you more. This is clearly the spiritual successor to the Tata Nano which IMHO was a fantastic product but suffered because of bad positioning and marketing.

According to MG's survey, what they got was a modern microcar with all the bells and whistles and that's exactly what they have given us. Like how some others have pointed out, its not meant to be the only car in the house and will be a second or third car for going to the gym, getting groceries or short commutes to work.

Styling ofcourse is subjective, but having previously owned a Nano, i absolutely loved it. BTW i think a lot of opinions here will change once they drive the Comet. PS: I have.

[sagsaw]

Originally Posted by Autolock123

Battery pack is the highest cost component, even if we assume $200- $220 per KWH at pack level, Battery cost will be under INR 3 lacs. What possibly could be the other factors that would push the price to INR 8 lacs ?

Well the day each and every company registers itself as a Not for Profit organisation, then we will get the prices we want.

Still saying plain dollars multiplied by exchange rare equals to rupees is not the way cost should be calculated.

Mod Note: Our MG Comet EV Review has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!