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-   -   MG India's first SUV named Hector. Edit: Launched @ 12.18L (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/205468-mg-indias-first-suv-named-hector-edit-launched-12-18l-48.html)

That would be the sweet spot to garner numbers .. they should target the Creta. Upwards of this price point, there are several players doing less than modest numbers as pointed out by you and the buyer mindset it to always see what more they can get by adding a couple of more lakhs.

They have a production capacity of 80K+ units at Halol, they would be well advised to get into top gear right from start instead of playing a price game and going belly up like most others.

I visited the MG flagship showroom at Sector 15, Gurgaon last evening. MG has hit the ball out of the park with this flagship dealership. It's a wonderful setup with two Hectors on display currently alongwith a MG Midget. The showroom is nicely done up with a lounge area, a cafe, plenty of books and articles citing MG's history.

The Hector looks imposing, has a good stance and with a long list of features, it should tick the right chord with buyers too. It has the potential to do what OnePlus or Oppo has done to the market - making high end features accessible to the masses.

The interiors are nicely done up, the voice command sunroof and the instrument panel is futuristic. The rear legroom is great and with a flat floor, it should seat three adults in decent comfort. The boot space as a result is marginally compromised but shouldn't affect most customers.

The sales advisor hinted a 15-20L price bracket for the Hector, which means it should be great value too !

I had a chance to walk into the MG showroom and get a feel of the car in Hyderabad. Though it wasn't as fancy as the flagship showroom pics that //M shared above, it was pretty nice! They had a couple of top end manuals on display along with the hybrid manual variant. I loved the build quality of the cars - extremely sturdy with horizontal metal beams placed in 3 or more areas on the side of the car behind the metal sheet. The SA demonstrated the sturdiness by really pressing hard on the car's door and it did not move an inch. The doors closed with a nice thud and felt very heavy. Seats, both in the front and rear very spacious. Not having the transmission tunnel in the rear meant that 3 folks can be accommodated very easily. The in-car infotainment screen is MASSIVE reminds me of the Tesla and new age Volvo screens. Touchscreen felt very fluid and nice. If I were to pick on something that I did not like, it has to be the hard plastics in the interiors. I felt they could have used plastics at least a couple of notches higher on the quality scale. Pricing has not been disclosed yet but they expect the top end DCT variants to be placed around the 20 Lakhs price point. The SA told me that they have been getting at least 70-80 bookings a day and they are extremely confident of the car doing very well in the market. I will go back post 15th when he mentioned test drives would be available for a more in-depth tour of the car.

Ok, we (Vid6339 and myself)were in discussion with Rajeev Chaba and Mr Jayanta the Chief Technical Officer for MG India. Jayanta created the "fault" for our benefit.

What is the "alleged fault"?

The following message appeared



"Electronic Steering Lock Failure"

"What is it actually?"

This is a wrong terminology, something lost in translation. It should actually mean Electronic Steering Lock has not disengaged. (MG will need to reword this, we guess!)

Why does this message happen?

A common human problem - Premature Ejection

You sit in the show room, press the Start/Stop Button with the key present but fail to press clutch to actually start the car. The steering lock has acknowledged the key and unlocked the steering column. You are then hustled to allow the next person to play in the driver seat, open the door and walk off without starting the car. After all that stroking and prodding of the controls, The steering lock cries "Not tonight". It then flashes its version of "I've got a headache"

Instead of flying in a Mr Million dollar man from the UK in to sort the steering, all one needs to do is approach the Start Button like a gentleman, offer a sniff of the key. Press the button while depressing the clutch and you are ready to go.

Mr Jayanta replicated the problem and resolved it in the 3 minute video below. Please excuse the interruptions as somebody wanted our keys. We did not edit the video in order to preserve integrity.

My video of Vid interviewing Jayanta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH6Vg07-iYI

Note this happens only in the diesel version

Dear Ajmat Sir, though your erstwhile post clarifies the alleged Steering lock failure of the car, it highlights another error in the car.
At 0:07, 0:25 and 1:09 seconds in the video one can see the Coolant Temperature High warning on the display, and it does not seem like a part of the startup procedure as it takes up the whole display and is accompanied by a chime. (Plus, I also don't remember seeing this while starting the Hector at the showroom).
Mr. Jayanta, at all instances, promptly shuts the car as soon as the error shows up, thus leaving a doubt in my mind.
Here is a screenshot of the error (from the video) attached below:

Please throw some light on this.

Hector has been displayed in the T2 terminal of Mumbai and I took a look at it. I liked the car - there isn't anything that annoys you unless you really dig deep. Was told that the car is supposed to be launched between 15-20L ex showroom. I didn't find the gap between the tyre and fender also anything bad. The car has presence. Somehow I felt the middle row space is a tad lesser for a car of this size. Didn't sit inside as I had my luggage.

I checked with the technical team over dinner. That particular sign flashes on start-up as part of the self check, as also the ABS, airbag lights. That particular car has been standing for over an hour over lunch.

Also if you look around the 1 min mark, you will see the coolant status as a blue band in the upper left portion of the instrument console as depicted below. (right one shows the fuel level). Had the coolant been at an excess temperature this would have indicated this also.

Sorry to nitpick sir (apologies in advance), the bars on the right side = coolant and the bars on the left side = fuel.

Whew, blew me away! The flagship showroom looks like they are selling cars worth a crore plus. Even Lambo, RR and Ferrari (Brands with heritage) don't have such a space in India. I was told a 15-20 Lakh price range as well, but the Bangalore showroom looks diminutive in comparison with this. Test drives are available from the 15th of June, I'm told.

You are correct, T'was a long day yesterday!

Size comparison of the MG Hector with the Ford Endeavour.

So MG really needs a English/UI person to go through what they say and what they mean and change them appropriately !

I hope there are no other literal translations from chinese to english in any other areas. That is one thing that might really expose the genuineness of calling it an MG :)

The size comparo with Endeavour looks unreal with angles. It looks like a Q7 in front of the Ford.

Here are some more pictures of the Hector, the grey looks nice! Im sure Kerala will lap up the white Hectors in plenty.

Just wanted to share an update. I had booked a top-end auto on the day of launch of online bookings, but have been now informed (by the SA) that the auto deliveries are likely to be delayed by up to 2 months even though the auto atleast in Delhi NCR is almost 40% of the bookings.

Auto is also unlikely to be available for Test-drives till end of June. This is in-line with what I was suspecting and furthers the theory as none of the display vehicles have been ever captured with an Auto box.

Can our review Team shed some light on this?

Homologation for the auto is still not done but they are trying to get it before the launch. If they don't then auto will come a little later on.

Plan is to try and launch with auto as well.