[superbad]

Originally Posted by OSH

The way MG has done it, you find it ethical, many including me don't. There is no need to keep on repeating this point.

I have made my points clear and will not keep repeating them by replying to any further posts. I have much better things to do in life than sit and explain the same thing again and again.

Any manufacturer in the world, with the resources at his disposal, will always use them to the best of his advantage, within the legal framework. Whether it is fooling the public says more about the intellect of the public, rather than the intentions of the manufacturer.
Here's the thing. The fact that you (along) with others were claiming that SAIC is trying to fool us implies that you considered us foolish enough to be fooled.

[vinodvayyat]

I voted Yes even though there is legal sanctity to the plot. In fact, I had been in similar argument as the OP with my friends few days before. It seemed that they somehow got conned into believing that the car has British lineage - these are the folks who don't spend much time exploring forums like team-bhp or rather don't bother to spend time on these. Nobody is even planting the thought that Harrier's platform has more British attributes than any other car in the segment - blame it on Tata's marketing dept and hail MG's.

[rupak.choudhury]

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

Well most other manufacturers are doing the same.

Agree 100% with @Aditya. It's a new world & cross country selling has became a standard norm. What we yearn for here in India, may be the phased out product of another continent & vice-versa. But quality is one thing that stands out always is the eventual winner. Yup, it's a concern that the quality factor will be visible only after a few buyers shell out their earnings into this new beastly entrant. And in case the product returns with lack of quality, apart from these few guinea pig clients, the Dealer owners will also suffer the losses.

Well, till then I'll keep my fingers crossed & hope that the best product sustains ! And yes, thanks to @Aditya for feeding my knowledge about the mentioned models !! That's what I love about TeamBHP - Learning & Sharing !!!

[dark.knight]

With the amount of internet available to Indians, it shouldn't be hard for anyone to find out who exactly owns MG, and I'd assume anyone who's buying an "internet" car would already be knowing what they're buying into.

In any case, MG as an original brand is a dinosaur, no one is buying it for the badge snobbery. All British brands are owned by someone else today, be it Mini and Rolls-Royce by their Anglo-Saxon cousins at BMW, or Bentley by more Anglo-Saxon cousins at VW. In the case of MG, the only difference is that it's owned by a different race - the Chinese. These two paragraphs cover the marketing aspect of the question, the answer being that SAIC is fooling only if you're allowing them to.

Now coming to the technical aspect, there is a point of concern here and that is that in order to make headway into an already well-established overcrowded market, the folks at MG might resort to what the Chinese already know BEST, cutting costs by cutting quality. This concern will be answered in about a couple of years after the first 20,000 buyers come out with their reviews, long and short term.

It will be of absolutely no surprise to anyone if I say that independent Chinese firms DO play with quality for the sake of massive sales, low pricing after all, dictates volumes at the end. No matter how many trillions of phones the Chinese sell, they can never match the quality of a Sony or Samsung. For now I'd assume that MG has done the same with the car, I emphasize on assume.

South Korea, Taiwan (albeit a part of China), Japan are quality-focused and have been since the turn of the 2nd world war but Mainland China, well for now you'd have to put a gun to my head to buy something from there.

[virgovencat]

Absolutely yes!!

SAIC is fooling people, maybe not be for long. One of my colleague at office was planning to buy HECTOR, went to showroom and was in WOW mode post looking at HECTOR> Next day I just punctured his WOW balloon by letting him know that it's a Chinese and not British brand as its being shown. Looks & British branding did deceive customers in this case, but i frankly feel not for long. As people spending 15L to buy this car would surely research and talk to experts or friends before buying it.

[giri1.8]

This could be both yes and no depending on how one sees it, if this is cheating, then Chevy badge for most of Chevrolet India's cars too seems to be in the same line(Holden Cruze, Matiz, Sail sedan and so on).

Other example from our soil would be KTM made by Bajaj sold with Bajaj parts in the label as Just KTM with premium pricing. We can argue that KTM was the one who designed everything but do we exactly know where the entire design process was done and the nationality of all the head design team?

If origin of design was the most important thing, then is Honda hiding the truth of Amaze's Indian origin by sticking a Japanese brand's logo?

I am in no way supporting MG here, but words like fooling and cheating seems to be taking things a bit too far!!! If were to call everyone who has a Chinese made phone in India as a fool, then most of us are indeed fools

[GeeTee TSI]

If SAIC could even think of introducing Baojun as MG, I have come to terms with the fact that the average Indian buyer does not know his/her cars well. Easily swayed by the size of the infotainment screen as opposed to engineering hardware, the target group, sees 'heritage' is an icing on the cake duly doled out by SAIC through their advertisement campaigns.

I have cringed when people saw Duster as a Renault, but then did Renault deliberately showcase its French heritage through the Duster? I think not and the feeling of 'being fooled' stems from the overboard attempts of SAIC to project the Hector as British

[shibujp]

I am not sure I see too much of a problem there. They are simply using the heritage of the brand to gain sales for the product. Which is why they paid big bucks for the brand in the first place.

German manufacturers do the same with their German roots and sell us Polos made in India.

However in the end the product will sell due to its strengths and not due to it's heritage beyond the initial hype. In any case it was not like MG stood out for it's quality in the first place.

Drive on,
Shibu

[DPetrolHead]

This debate now sounds like the "Nepotism in Bollywood" debate which went on fire recently. I would like to draw a parallel between these two debates.

Yes, Nepotism in Bollywood exists, which a lot of people find ethically wrong but that can only give a head start or able to get a launch in a movie easily. But at the end, it is their acting and their talent that helps them in sustaining in the film industry.

Similarly, marketing gimmicks exists, which a lot find unethical, but again that can only help the company to have a head start in the industry, just like SAIC which is using the brand name MG to get a head start here which they know would have been impossible if the Hector had been introduced in any other of their brands. But again, their sustenance will be seen only if they can show up with good talent or product. So let us all keep calm and at least give a chance to their product which I believe is decent enough.

At the end, all we need is a great product, regardless of the company or country it is from!

Cheers!

[neil.jericho]

Wow, how is this thread 9 pages deep?

I really dont understand why people have an issue with SIAC legally purchasing the MG brand and using it to legally sell cars under the MG brand. Why would you buy a car brand or a car company if you arent going to use it later?

Should Geely have bought Volvo and then sold all Volvo cars under the Geely name? If Toyota buys Suzuki, as many of us presume they would, should they stop using the Suzuki badge on cars rolling off Maruti Suzuki's production lines and put only Toyota badges on them? Seeing as VW owns Lamborghini, should we now go to a VW dealership to buy the VW Huracan?

Originally Posted by quattroa4

Every one has to understand one thing very clearly, that whether the product is good or bad, either you are a patriot or not but the fact remains that China funds Pakistan( our arch enemy), keep their economy alive and spruces up their military assets so that they remain on par with our country.

As we all know where half the funded money goes, it's to terrorism of which we are the biggest victims.

Now it 's a no brainer what we should do about Chinese products.

Fascinating perspective. I hope you are aware of the fact that there are many other countries that provide aid to our neighbour. Should we stop buying products from all those countries?

You are suggesting that we should not purchase Volvos or MGs since they are Chinese products. Lets not just bash China because of these geo-political reasons you mentioned and lets actually investigate which countries have provided funds to Pakistan, not that there is anything wrong with that. How many manufacturers do you think will end up on your let me not buy from them list?

Germany has extended a lot of support to Pakistan. For the years 2017 and 2018, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) committed 83.87 million euros for development cooperation. Below is the link to the official site where they also mention about an additional 40 million euros for other support. So does this mean no German cars should be bought by us?

Over 2019-20 the Australian Government will provide an estimated $32.2 million in development assistance to Pakistan. So does this mean no Australian products should be bought by us?

Japan has provided grants for Rs 2.6 billion for two projects in Pakistan. So does this mean no Japanese cars should be bought by us?

Korea has spent and continues to spend millions of dollars on aid for Pakistan. So does this mean no Korean cars should be bought by us?

How can we forget the biggest provider of foreign aid to Pakistan - the United States of America which has provided billions of dollars of aid. So does this mean no American cars should be bought by us?

Where does that leave us? Be Indian and buy Indian only since every other manufacturer is disqualified. Oh wait, I almost forgot India provided $ 20 million in flood aid to Pakistan in 2010. So does this mean no Indian cars should be bought by us?

Government link for support from Germany - https://www.bmz.de/en/countries_regi...tan/index.html

Government link for support from Australia - https://dfat.gov.au/geo/pakistan/dev...-pakistan.aspx

News https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...2.cms?from=mdr

Government link for support from Korea - http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/pk-en/wpg...62/contents.do

Wikipedia link for support from USA - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_aid_to_Pakistan

News link for support from India - https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le15973516.ece

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by boniver

Just because others have done it and haven't been called out for the same doesn't mean that they're not wrong.

That's where you have answer going by your logic- the feeling behind this thread is the anti-Chinese sentiment. There was never a thread in the forum titled- "Is Mahindra misleading us by selling their own bikes under the JAWA brandname (Czech Republic based)?"

I'm not against MG or the Hector or the Chinese. In a free market economy, everyone has the right to sell their cars.

[pavi]

Now a days one plus is having a greater market share and is providing better quality with good configuration mobile phones. Chinese? Hell yes. Do people mind it? I don’t think so. If MG or SAIC (whatever you want to call it), in the coming years launch VFM cars including premium hatchbacks with good reliability and service support, they may become a one plus in the auto industry.

We still believe Maruti is Indian, then why not believe MG is still very much British

Note : I voted no. In this age of buying MLA’s and marketing them as party members, it’s very much fine for SAIC to use MG brand as there is nothing illegal about it. Going by this logic, should we create another thread on ‘Mahindra fooling Indians by marketing Mahindra motorcycles as Jawa’.

[rapid_fire]

My point of view in this issue

Is SAIC doing some thing illegal : No, they have the legal rights.

Are they fooling us by advetising British heritage of MG hector: Yes

Is it unethical: Yes, from my point of view. Many manufacturers do unethical things in business to survive, but it doesn’t make it totally justifiable.

Are other manufacturers does the same thing? : Yes, Renault does the same thing with Duster.

Is it similar to Tata owned Land rover Land Rover as British brand or Geely owned volvo selling as sweedish brand: No, they are working as an independent company, selling their original products.

Is MG hector is a bad car: No, it is a very nice car at the price point.

The introduction of MG Hector is a good thing for Indian Market. I hope it will force other manufacturers to provide more features to their upcoming cars or even to reduce inflated car prices. But when they emphasize on their British heritage, it is fooling for sure. The argument that “ people who are buying this car, will do their research and will know its Chinese roots from other sources such as internet” it not at all valid argument for saying they are not fooling us.

[sibot]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Laws are the last resort for people who can't or are lazy to decide what is good for them. In a globalized world there is little difference between a Chinese car and a European car and an American car. If you don't want to do your research about what is inside the bottle you are buying, but want some law to save you, then let GOD save you.

What does your first statement even mean? People rely on the law all the time to resolve their issues and the people who do that are not lazy because they are willing to take these companies to the court and hold them accountable.

Your second statement too is nonsensical. You are telling me there is no difference between a Honda, a Ford, a Volkswagen, and a SAIC?

Laws are made to protect the consumers and the general populace so that companies do not take advantage and profiteer by misrepresentation off them. We might be equipped with resources to do our own research before we purchase a product, but that is not the case for everyone.

The issue here is a blatant misrepresentation by a company. It's like when the Chinese companies were caught selling pharma drugs in Africa with Made in India labels on them. That is a gross misrepresentation. Are consumers of pharma drugs also expected to do their research before consuming medicines?

You don't expect the law to protect you and have the teeth to hold companies accountable?

I really don't get the point of your reply. My point in my previous reply was that caveat emptor would not apply where there is a misrepresentation. A company cannot state a falsehood and sell their products.

[KMT]

I believe that people buying this brand are those who are more focussed on 'percieved' VFM.

They get a 'European brand' SUV at a percieved super cheap price.

They will have low knowledge/interest in the fact it is Chinese and because a white person is advertising it I bet they are even happier.

Force & Premier tried something similar but failed.

But all in all the Chinese manufacturer is well within his rights to slap on any brand he owns on to the bonnet.

It is up to the individuals value system whether he/she wants to be associated with the product as it is manufactured by a Chinese Government owned company.