[mxx]

Looks like the showroom at JP Nagar (Bangalore) is now open. Was at JP Nagar Barbeque Nation yesterday and the MG showroom is right opposite. I could see that Hector was displayed inside the showroom. I did not go inside the showroom.

[KING DYSP]

Here is the Brochure of MG Hector. Super variant is Value for Money & Sharp variant gets all bells and whistles.

[omranga98]

My first comment on Team-BHP!

I think the rear of Hector would look even better without the red panel between the two tail lights. It'll give the light more room to show out the rather nice looking design if the center panel was body coloured. What do you guys think?

[Ooomph]

The more you read after closely seeing a car on Display ONLY parked inside a showroom, the more your search worms get fed with info online

....Turns out the EXACT same MG HECTOR is sold under 4 different names & brands globally at very different price points.

1. Baojun 530 in China
Costing 78,800 yuan to 119,800 yuan which is about 8 lacs to 11.2 lacs INR
Source : https://carnewschina.com/tag/baojun-530/

2. Wuling Almaz in Indonesia
Costing Rp318,8 Million which is about 15.9 Lacs INR
https://www.oto.com/en/mobil-baru/wuling/suv

3. Chevrolet Captiva 2019 in Thailand
Costing less than 1 million baht which is about 21.71 lacs INR
https://indianautosblog.com/2019-che...9-live-p316837

( This Chevy info brought a big smile as I simply love the Old Chevy Captiva, Magnum sold in India)

4. MG Hector in India
Costing : ?

2 questions where some insights would help:

1. Assuming global currency conversions + where a car is made & sold does impact on road Cost of a car in any country ,
am wondering what is the worth of the MG Hector in India?
( Comparing against a Compass/Creta/XUV/Harrier in India could be a measure on VFM vs features, but that's a separate way to look at pricing all together)

2. Why would the SAME MODEL be sold under 4 different names globally vs building the model's currency under 1 common name
Example a Toyota Corolla or Honda City as sold globally.

[neil.jericho]

The showroom in Cochin has one red top end variant on display as per the sales team. The test drive car is coming in on the 11th and the test drives are starting from the 15th. The RTO here is a little slow with the paperwork formalities especially for providing temporary registration paperwork of new vehicles so I doubt they will have cars out on the roads by the 15th for test drives.

[jailbird_fynix]

For those of you who are interested, the MG Hector Configurator is now online on their site. You need to register before using it though.


MG Hector Online Configurator

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by Ooomph

1. Baojun 530 in China
Costing 78,800 yuan to 119,800 yuan which is about 8 lacs to 11.2 lacs INR
Source : https://carnewschina.com/tag/baojun-530/

Just visited China on a long vacation trip. China offers very low tax to local Chinese manufacturers. The tax is as less as 5% for engines less than 1.5 litres and 10% above that. Compared to that, India taxes large vehicles like the Hector heavily, at a GST rate of 48% - 50% for Diesel SUVs and road tax of 15% - 20% depending on the state. And they are unfortunately or fortunately (depnding on if you are buying Indian or Phoren) blind to the country of origin of the manufacturer. So, be it Harrier or Hector, the tax is the same!

So if you back out the 10% tax in China, the cost of the same SUV you mention above before tax in China is say 10 Lacs for a well-speced petrol variant. Diesels are more expensive to make, so let us say it costs 11 Lacs pre-tax for a well speced Diesel variant. It is impossible to manufacture anything at China costs in India, given the lack of scale, high initial depreciation of plant and equipment, expenses to set up the sales, distribution and service network, facilitation money needed to please myriad regulatory authorities etc. Assuming a very modest 20% premium to the China pre-tax price to cover all this (realistically it would be a 30-40% premium for the first 4-5 years), we arrive at Rs. 13.2 Lacs pre-tax cost in India. So then, we will have to add GST of 48% for a well speced Diesel Variant, which brings ex-showroom price to 19.5 Lacs. Add the other levies such as TDS, insurance, handling charges, transportation, and road tax of 15% on average, it is impossible to sell the top-end variant below 23.7 Lacs on-road for the Diesel varision of the same exact product sold in China when it coems to India. If we did the same calculation for the Petrol, it would be impossible to sell much less than 21.5 Lacs on-road. So, it is all in the taxation, my friend!

This is why I am so surprised how TATA was able to offer the Harrier base variant for 12.69 Lacs. Backing out GST, this means they have basically priced it pre-tax at 8.5 Lacs! Imagine the Discovery Sport Platform, the costs of the latest world class engine + transmission combination from Jeep and the sheer material cost of making such a large SUV, TATA must be making a huge loss on the Harrier. With an even higher level level of equipment, there is no chance the Hector can beat the pricing of the Harrier, unless they are writing away billions to gain India share.

[octane_100]

Looks like media drive is happening today. Hormazd has tweeted on driving the Hector today to Coonoor (near Ooty).

[nkrishnap]

Visited the MG Showroom on Tuesday for the Launch/showcase event. It was a regular affair with the vehicle being unveiled and the prospective customers checking the vehicle out. Prior to the unveiling the MG management spoke about the vehicle like the safety features, gadgets the vehicle had etc, without announcing the price.

The vehicle seems a little narrower in comparison to its length. Good build, features, loads of chrome everywhere, lots of gizmo features, its spacious, a power diesel engine all ticks the right boxes. However, pricing will be the key for this vehicle to be any kind of success. I will post detailed observations post I get to drive the vehicle.

A few pics shot during the event.

Unveiling event.







Exterior Pics







Audi Style tail lamps







Engine Bay



Boot Space



Rear Leg Space, the mats looks ultra cheap



Multi Function Display



Steering wheel filled with buttons for media controls and cruise controls



6 Speed manual gearbox on the diesel. Shifts felt slick when I tried slotting them without turning the engine on.

[hydraulicsteer]

One thing interesting to note about MG’s strategy. They are aiming for 250 dealerships and that too with products targeted in in the upper half of mass market car segment ( > 15 lacs price). Will the resulting volumes justify having so many outlets especially for a new brand from China. I am sure MG is pumping hell lot of a money in lending financial aid to setup these dealership otherwise it is almost impossible to convince a business to setup a MG dealership considering the concerns over the acceptance of a Chinese car, the drowning car retail business and the current slowdown. Deep pockets help and with these deep pockets MG might undercut competition in price to make space for itself.

[Behemoth]

Here are some more pics of the Hector in Black, displayed at Terminal 2, Mumbai Airport. It really looks Classy in black and has the size and road presence of Audi Q5. Also sharing some shots of the specs sheets from the hard copy brochure.

[petroguzzler]

The instrument cluster looks like it has a lot similarities with other GM cars, especially that of the erstwhile Cruze.

[porsche_guy]

MG Hector Media drive starts at Coimbatore

(Source: Instagram)

[naveen.raju]

My bil got a chance to check the car in their Bangalore showroom. Some of his comments:

1. Top end trim would cost around 27.5L on road.
2. Quality is good but a tab lower than Jeep and cannot match the robustness of other European cars.
3. A preloaded sim, with a weird combo- phone line from airtel and internet from Reliance. He wasn't able to check this in detail.
4. Feature rich and loaded with gadgets but only time will tell whether these can withstand the abuse.
5. Design is a bit flashy and he preferred the subtle look of the European SUVs.



The car is in Cochin showroom as well. My uncle is quite interested in upgrading so might drop in later this month.

[McLaren Roxx]

Okay, so had a quick peek at the MG Kochi showroom just now. Following are my thoughts -

Exterior:
1. The car is a stunner! There's no doubt about it at all. Whichever way you look at it, there's no bad angle to it.
2. Front face of the car, with the imposing grille and a generous dose of chrome looks premium. Looks a segment above the Compass & a couple over Harrier.
3. Wheels, though they look a size small, they gel well with the overall proportions. Although, a larger wheel well & 18 inchers would've made the car look so much more sweeter.
4. Rear lights are drool worthy. But I'd say that the red plastic part which connects the 2 lights & houses the MG badge should've been piano black.
5. Single tail pipe exits via the bumper moulding, so it's functional. Not like Harrier or Mercedes which have faux bumper openings.
6. Hood felt solid, however it should've been given gas struts.
7. Overall, a well proportioned vehicle.

My score: 9/10

Interior:
1. I'm 5'11, 88kgs with medium built. Ingress & egress was easy, however since the car has good ground clearance, it'll be a bit of a stretch for shorter people. Cannot expect sedan-type convenience.
2. Black interiors look premium. I am glad they didn't use beige or white like the Compass.
3. Seats are just right for my size. People with heavier build might find them a bit small. But they have good under-thigh support. Overall quality is superb and they have the right amount of cushioning & bolstering. Being electrically adjustable makes using them super convenient to use.
4. Instrument cluster is blacked out when not in use, looks stealthy.
5. Since all of the center console controls are via the huge touch screen, it gives that area a clean look. However I feel they should've given a knob for quickly adjusting AC flow.
6. Rear seats are comfortable, with slightly lesser under-thigh support. Middle seat is firm. Might not be comfortable for long journeys. Individually adjustable headrests & 60/40 reclinable adjustment is good.
7. Overall interior space is good. With the front seat adjusted to my driving position, there was more than enough room behind.
8. Quality of plastics used is good. However, not Jeep quality. Better than Harrier though.
9. Small front area of the dash on both the driver & passenger side had soft touch leather cover, which felt good. Doors had leather armrests.
10. However I was surprised they didn't have any sort of soft touch plastic on the dash or door pads. Compass has the entire dash & front door pads' upper area soft touch, which feels premium. My benchmark is Compass & Hexa in this aspect. Hexa has soft touch rear door pads too.
11. Panaromic sun roof looks nice. Although the blind cannot be opened manually. It's all electrical. Also it opens half.
12. The car is loaded with gizmos. 360 degree camera is actually a boon and I'm glad it is offered. Last I expericed it was in Nissan Kicks. Useful in our driving conditions.
13. Manually adjustable irvm. Ughhhhh.. In such a feature laden car, this feels so out of place. I don't understand the reason for this omission, it hardly costs anything.
14. A feature that it misses out on, and one which not many manufacturers selling cars in India have adopted yet are cooled seats. In a tropical climate like ours, this is a must have. Especially at this price point. Special thanks to Hyundai for offering it.
15. Didn't get to check out the boot, however looking at the numbers I'm sure it gargantuous.

My score on interior quality for the price: 7/10
My score on creature comforts/tech for the price: 9/10


Showroom:
The showroom is still partly under construction, should be done in a week or so. Interiors are nothing like the launch showroom though. Are very generic.

Now, given it is such an important launch for MG, the folks there were under prepared.
1 display car & it already had its battery dead. I mean, come on! How are customers supposed to experience the vehicle with nothing working!
Couldn't switch on any lights, no sunroof, no seat adjust, no touch screen demo, no sound system demo, no opening the rear hatch, no nothing.
What are we supposed to do, just look at it? Sigh.

No leaflet was offered. Although the SA shared an ebrochure & some pictures via whatsapp promptly.

My score on showroom look & feel: 5/10
My score on showroom preparedness: 2/10
My score on SA proactiveness: 7/10

Deliveries would commence towards end of July & pricing is expected (per the SA) between 16 & 20 lakhs, ex showroom.
So by that calculation, a 23 lakh on road price for the top variant would pit it right against the Compass Limited variant. A bad move imo. They should go for the kill & price it extremely aggressively during launch. Probably a 16 to 20 lakh on road to start off.

All in all, if I were in the market for a 20 lakh premium SUV / vehicle, I'd put my money on it. Between the Harrier & Hector, Hector comes across as a more well built & rounded off product. Not considering Creta as it's not in the running even.

It all depends on the pricing now. Oh yes, & how well MG does with its after sales service. In India, brands succeed & fail based on that.