[condor]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

This same car is launched in Indonesia with another name ALMAZ by WULING Motors and see the difference, there MG has NO VALUE....

This one point brings out the scheming plan of SAIC. However, most Indians will not see through this. And the showrooms will keep shouting that it is a MG, a honored British brand, a car with "marquee" heritage. I have had one short argument on this on the forum. A cousin too was asking me about the Hector. How many do we have to convince that they are being taken for a ride with that name ?

[NPV]

We live in an era where the consumer needs to aware of what is being marketed and will also need to do their due diligence before deciding to part with hard earned money. If someone knows about the famed legacy of a British marquee, he/she will also know that the brand is now owned by a Chinese company. I don't believe that a potential buyer of an MG car in India will buy it solely for the reason that it's an MG product!

If the Indian customer does not see value for money in the MG offerings, it is not going to sell - this ain't a Toyota selling an Innova or Fortuner.

Heck, even Maruti does not sell the exact Suzuki specced versions of their equivalent models (even sheet metal quality is different, safety features are different, etc) that Suzuki sells in Japan and other markets. Does that amount to cheating ?

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by VKumar

I don't know how many of you have ever traveled in the local buses. Those who have, they must have seen hawkers selling giffin goods (low quality products) at dirt low rates and the boxes have names of brands like Tata, Reliance etc (Yes, copyrights can go down the drain).

Still people don't buy them. For the established brands, the logo on the nose matters - for a new entrant; the car behind that logo is the one that sells. We have seen multiple new brands entering Indian market and tasting success in the recent times, Volvo is owned by Geely today, Apple products are made in China; and what not.

I don't find anything wrong in buying a decent product coming out of Chinese market; we love Aliexpress. Don't we?

My vote goes for 'can't say', they are too new to the market to be considered as someone fooling around. Additionally, I don't think that I, even myself, know even five percent about the history of the MG brand; nor I am interested in knowing so - what I am focused on is the car I am putting my money into - nothing else.

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

How is MG fooling anyone?

Going by your logic, Apple is fooling everyone, because their iPhones say Designed by Apple in California, when they are build and assembled in China.

Chevrolet was fooling everyone when they launched the Sail and the Enjoy, as they were SAIC vehicles.

Toyota is fooling everyone as the Glanza is built in a Maruti plant.

Not these irrelevant analogies please!

First up, Geely bought Volvo as a company. They did not just buy the Brand, which is what SAIC did. Volvo still functions as an independent division, almost most of their R&D is still based out of Europe.

Secondly, this example of Apple baffles me! Apple says they designed the phone in California, which is true, right? They out source production to China. Most companies outsource production of electronics, Apparels and many other products to third world countries. GAP outsources production to Vietnam, does that make them Vietnamese?

Im not saying that SAIC is wrong to do what they are doing in India. They paid for a marquee brand, only the brand and not a manufacturing division. And for sure they are milking the brand in markets like India. Thats a clever marketing ploy. Since SAIC owns the brand MG, they can use it any way they want. But then, talking about the Hector as something with a British heritage is a little unethical since the car is basically a Baijoun 530! Did we all not get annoyed with the Kaptur / Captur trick from Renault? If that is not ok, from a moral angle, then how do we justify this ?
But please do no equate Volvo and Apple in the same scale. Their way of working is nothing remotely similar!

[McLaren Rulez]

If someone parted with 20L thinking they were buying a British luxury product and had no idea of its Chinese roots despite tons of videos, articles etc. on the internet, well, more power to MG. A fool and his money are easily parted.

The reality is that people like the Hector because it's hit the sweet spot in the market! A big imposing SUV, loaded with equipment and well priced - that's exactly what we want. I had a look last week and I can totally understand why this is a hit. You're getting Fortuner-esque road presence for half the price.

[deehunk]

Why so much fuss about brand name? MG Hector is like a dubbed regional movie to Hindi. This is just like Chennai shown as Mumbai or Bay of Bengal as Arabian sea according to the region. It is up to the people to decide what they want, give some time to MG. They are offering a 2.0L diesel engine at 20L, unlike Toyota, Honda or Maruti.

[SCORPION]

The onus is not on SAIC to advertise or display in small print that the Hector is a Chinese product. They are marketing it as an MG because they own the brand and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

The buyer has to do his research before plonking his hard earned money on a brand totally unheard of in India. However hard Mr. Benedict may try to lure him and fool him with his British accent.

[headbanger]

With all due respect, IMHO Toyota's cross-badging of Maruti Baleno is more conniving rather than SAIC using MG brand. But then, different brands have different yardsticks to be measured against. The moment Glanza matched Baleno in pricing, majority folks (including me) preferred T over S as a logo.
As someone rightly pointed out, it takes a lot to get the monies out from an Indian Customer. In the long run, if MG/SAIC have a reasonable product line and they continue to improve, they will survive and it just adds competition to the market.

[rapid_fire]

In my opinion, Yes MG is fooling us when they boast about their British heritage, so is renault with Duster. It is a re badged SAIC car, every bit of it is chinese as Baojon 530. I am not saying it is a low quality product, it is a well built car with premium interiors, and it will definitely sell because of what it offers at this price point. But when a ordinay unsuspecting customer walk into their showroom, they are greeted with banners and bords highlighting their “British heritage”. Even the service advisors are referring to it as a british car. If someone decided to go for it, over the Indian or Korean manufacturers, thinking that it is a British brand, it is cheating for sure.
If Tata decided to sell Indica in South america with lot of chrome and a large touchscreen, with a Land Rover badge and at a premium price, we won’t be having any doubt, whether its cheating or not (i am aware about the City rover, which failed miserably).
I feel the same way for Renault selling duster as a Renault product. Anyway in india renault not considered as a premium brand anymore.

[boniver]

Just to put things in perspective, this is the sight that greets you when you open MG's website:


Scroll down, and you see this:


and this:


While I would agree that the MG Hector is in demand for what it is and all that, MG is very clearly trying to entice people by showcasing Morris Garages' legacy. There is no mention of the capabilities or features of the product on their homepage, but they do manage to put in a number of paragraphs about the heritage and value of the brand.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Other than a few car enthusiasts most Indian car buyers today would know little about the MG marque or what it stood for.

With all due respect Sir, you would be wrong to assume this. Like I've shown above, MG tries its best to educate the prospective customers of the Hector about the legacy of the MG marque.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

We are fooling ourselves by believing our own and Western myths of Shoddy Chinese products. They make the full range of quality from the cheap and cheerful to the top end.

Nowhere has the OP spoken about the "shoddiness" of Chinese products. You're the first person to bring it up.
Quoting vishy:

Originally Posted by vishy76

I don't have anything against Chinese products and am not a hardcore patriot either (No offence to anyone who is).

Originally Posted by VKumar

I don't find anything wrong in buying a decent product coming out of Chinese market; we love Aliexpress. Don't we?

Like I've said before, that isn't the question.

Originally Posted by VKumar

Additionally, I don't think that I, even myself, know even five percent about the history of the MG brand; nor I am interested in knowing so - what I am focused on is the car I am putting my money into - nothing else.

You might not be interested in knowing about the history of the brand, but MG will make sure you get to know about it.

Originally Posted by DriverNo.420

In my point of view, Who cares about from which country a car company is from? It all boils down to the car and the advantages it offers against its competitors.

Some people do, others don't. However, that isn't the question here.

Originally Posted by DriverNo.420

If people in India hate china that much, we don't have much reasons to love Britain either... Just my two cents.

No one hates China or Britain, buddy. You're the first person to bring this up.

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

MG was a dead company and SAIC bought just the logo. It is very different from taking over an existing and alive brand and incorporating it within your umbrella (I give the examples of FCA & VW here, lest someone asks if we call a Porsche a VW)

Bang on! Agree with the rest of your post too.

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Us Indians don't know about the MG history at all (at least most of us don't) and we're thus being misadvertised to.

Yep, this right here is the main issue. Unfortunately, the others commenting on this thread don't get it.

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Also to clarify, I'd have said the same thing if SAIC was Indian or German or whatever, and this has nothing to do with them being Chinese.

It's amazing how a lot of people think this thread is about bashing Chinese products! China makes some amazing, affordable products and have changed the way we look at a lot of things. Thanks for your post.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I hope it is not prejudice against Chinese products that has brought this thread.

It is not.

Originally Posted by motorworks

First up, Geely bought Volvo as a company. They did not just buy the Brand, which is what SAIC did. Volvo still functions as an independent division, almost most of their R&D is still based out of Europe........Since SAIC owns the brand MG, they can use it any way they want. But then, talking about the Hector as something with a British heritage is a little unethical since the car is basically a Baijoun 530!

Agree with all your points. Thanks for putting them forward in a concise manner!

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by condor

How many do we have to convince that they are being taken for a ride with that name ?

Basically everyone who is not an enthusiast.

The MG name and Benedict Cumberbatch are more than enough to confuse the general public. Almost everyone in my office whom I speak to don't believe when I say, this is from a Chinese company.

I wonder how many here would support if Tata launches a Land Rover Harrier.

[im_srini]

Is MG alias SAIC fooling prospective buyers ?
I say we add another option to the poll...
- Yes
- No
- Can't say (subjective)

And...
- Who cares ?

[racer_ash]

We talk in this forum about MG fooling the 'general public', ' non- enthusiast' and what not. But we need to remember that people buying this are more than that. They are not people from stone age who know nothing about cars and the moment an MG was launched, they queued up for it with their money bags.

Please remember the target audience of the Hector atleast. The large 'Internet Inside' badge says it all. It is targetted at tech savvy and the urban crowd who have access to all the resources in the form of the world wide web. And such people would definitely read and research about not just the car, but the brand and its current owners of the brand as well. Heck, one of my acquaintance, who is from the so called 'non enthusiast' crowd spent tons of hours on the internet and was able to provide so much information to an 'enthusiast' like me.

If MG thinks they can simply sell cars just using the 'British' tag, they are wrong, however, their current offering, the Hector has many other selling points like VFM, substantial size for the price, decent build quality, some very good features etc. People are buying the Hector due to a combination of all of the above.

Also, if there is one breed of humans who are extra skeptical of everything especially when it comes to plonking their hard earned money, its us Indians. For us, purchasing a car is the second best event in life, after buying a house. So who are MG kidding anyway.

Voted No!!!

[Lalvaz]

This is how the dice rolls these days. In today's day and age, companies want to consolidate and see no hesitation in inorganic growth. Its the new normal for cos to be acquired and sold, and we see this in every single sector every single day.



Some people have cited the fact that SAIC talks about MG's 94 year old heritage, and that's cheating. Really? Did'nt they buy the brand for its brand value? Don't they then have the rights to use the old brand name as they wish? IF they were unable to use the brand then why did they pay for it?


I remember the same controversy arose when Lenovo took over IBM's personal computers. Many people said that Chinese will never be able to match IBM quality and that there would be security concerns. Today Lenovo thinkpads are still the rage, even in cos that are China phobic.



Do you really feel that anyone who buys a MG does'nt know its a Chinese company? And do you think such an ignorant buyer (if there is one) is aware of the old MG company which has not sold cars in India for many decades? Really now?

[Biraj]

I don't understand why it will be called 'Fooling'. It's not even false advertising, it's just a smart strategy by SAIC to brand itself as a British company in a country that is prejudiced against 'Chinese' products. Helps them reduce the overtly negative biases to an extent. Let's be honest, most people aren't booking/buying MG Hector because it's a Britsh product; they are buying it because it offers tremendous value for money to them. I am sure the kind of response MG has received, other Chinese players might get more confident about entering the Indian market and some might even get the courage to use their core identity.

Second, let's not be dismissive towards the intellect of people spending 15+ lacs of MG Hector. They definitely have done their research and know its origins. Most of the rejectors of MG Hector are due to its poor dynamics or turbo-lag, etc. People who are rejecting it only because of its brand identity are in a minority.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Some people have cited the fact that SAIC talks about MG's 94 year old heritage, and that's cheating. Really? Did'nt they buy the brand for its brand value? Don't they then have the rights to use the old brand name as they wish? IF they were unable to use the brand then why did they pay for it?

I believe you're referring to me, since I'm the only one who has mentioned MG's 94 year old heritage. Please read my post again, and point out where I've mentioned that they're "cheating". What my fellow BHPians and I are trying to put forward is, MG's marketing strategy puts a lot of weight on the brand's heritage and legacy only. This is misleading, especially since the actual product has nothing to do with the legacy save for the MG moniker. The product should have been marketed based on its capabilities, and the legacy factor should've taken a backseat.

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Today Lenovo thinkpads are still the rage...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but they aren't. Yes, maybe in case of companies that order them in bulk at a cheap price and distribute them among it's employees, but you'll rarely come across an individual buyer buying a Thinkpad today. Please head over to our thread on Laptops here (The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions), and you'll find out how grossly outnumbered Thinkpad users are.
In fact, I googled "Is Lenovo Thinkpad good?" and this is the first article that came up. You don't even have to go through the entire article, just read the headline and I'm sure you'll realize what a "rage" Lenovo Thinkpads still are.
Sorry for going off topic, Moderators.