[ajmat]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

You are correct. SAIC also makes cars for Volkswagen in China and the ZS EV that I saw had lots of parts from Volkswagen-Audi Group. In fact the cabin seemed more German than Chinese. Going by the pictures, safe to assume ZS Petrol (Astor) will have similar interior which I personally liked!

The Hector has GM origins and the ZS has VW bits due to SAIC joint ventures

[Venkatesh]

MG Astor's infotainment system will come with in-car connectivity features that will be powered by a Jio e-SIM.



Launch is scheduled by September 2021.

Source

[a.bhatt]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

MG Astor's infotainment system will come with in-car connectivity features that will be powered by a Jio e-SIM.

Launch is scheduled by September 2021.

Every time I see the image of Astor, I immediately zoom in to hunt for the radar set up box below the number plate. ADAS will be a game changer in this space. The next car expected to get this is going to be priced around 8 to 10 lacs higher, viz XUV700. I value ADAS much more than a panoramic sunroof. With Astor we will get both though!

A small observation, is it just me or the design of front grill in this image and the last spy shots do not match.

[ant_vas]

The car looks plane jane and has resemblance to Old creta. But hey Indian Junta loves cars decently priced and which have oodles of features. So for all you know this might be MG setting cat among pigeons.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by pandabear

This is the usual Chinese strategy, I can only on the above statement. Sorry, I am not being mean, again sorry to disappoint you my friend. Time will give the answer.

Care to elaborate here? IMO they are doing all the right things at the moment, wish them even more success.

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Yes, time will indeed tell the answer. It has already told the answer for some. They have just stopped looking at their watches.
Instead of waiting for that one coveted product, mass consumers will happily buy MG cars and trade in after 3-4 years. If the Astor succeeds, it will also ring a warning to the Koreans to stop taking their 10+ lac Rs segment leadership for granted.

I am part of a few MG Owner's group, and have just seen one owner till date repenting the decision(that too coz of relatively lower mileage of DCT, 8kmpl in city). I agree with your quote especially the last part. If anyone can stop the Korean dominance in the 10+ L segment, then it's MG. Hope they Astor delivers just like the Hector.

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by pandabear

This is the usual Chinese strategy, I can only on the above statement. Sorry, I am not being mean, again sorry to disappoint you my friend. Time will give the answer.

Could you clarify your to me cryptic statement?

Originally Posted by YashodhanGanu

If only MG MOTORS was not chinese owned. Would have bought this one with closed eyes instead of Korean twins.

In today's flat and connected world, this honestly should not be an issue. Like if you take an Asprin, chances are that your 50 Paisa pill has ingredients from China. SAIC / MG have invested a huge amount in India, close to Rs 5,000 cr, pay taxes in India, they provide employment to some 2,000 people directly in their manufacturing plant (and would have expanded if not for the temporary cap on Chinese FDI), these 2,000 + whatever numbers their dealer networks have pay taxes in India. Last year they made $ 300 Mn in revenues, and assuming they pay the flat corp tax rate, that is close to $ 80 mn in taxes (approx 550-600 cr).

Their ownership might be Chinese but they contribute immensely to the Indian economy just the same, so if you are still in the market, would urge you to look at an MG product.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

The car looks plane jane and has resemblance to Old creta. But hey Indian Junta loves cars decently priced and which have oodles of features. So for all you know this might be MG setting cat among pigeons.

Features + decent price = value for money.

What is so odd about a market, any market wanting more bang for their buck?

[Steelneo]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

MG Astor's infotainment system will come with in-car connectivity features that will be powered by a Jio e-SIM.

Attachment 2187910

Launch is scheduled by September 2021.

Source

The car looks good and expecting it to eat the shares of other OEM's. I hope MG will position it strategically in the existing pool and give an attractive pricing to have sale numbers.

MG & KIA is perfect example how to tap the market and met the common people expectations.

[TorqueIndia]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

The car looks plane jane and has resemblance to Old creta. But hey Indian Junta loves cars decently priced and which have oodles of features. So for all you know this might be MG setting cat among pigeons.

Ya the car is quite old now and it resembles many previous generation models too, but it will come up with a price tag compensating it somewhere around Brezza/XUV300 mid-top variants.

Originally Posted by 07CR

If anyone can stop the Korean dominance in the 10+ L segment, then it's MG. Hope they Astor delivers just like the Hector.

So you want the Korean dominance to be replaced with a Chinese one ?

[07CR]

Originally Posted by TorqueIndia

So you want the Korean dominance to be replaced with a Chinese one ?

If the car is good, why not ! I quite like the Hector and hope the Astor turns out similar, if not better.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by a.bhatt

Every time I see the image of Astor, I immediately zoom in to hunt for the radar set up box below the number plate. ADAS will be a game changer in this space. The next car expected to get this is going to be priced around 8 to 10 lacs higher, viz XUV700. I value ADAS much more than a panoramic sunroof. With Astor we will get both though!

A small observation, is it just me or the design of front grill in this image and the last spy shots do not match.

I guess may be in near future there will be a version of Skoda Kushaq with ADAS, as being involved with VW Skoda for some component development they have kept provision for Radar in the Front Grill, Hopefully its not just for export vehicles.

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by Stribog

Could you clarify your to me cryptic statement?

Features + decent price = value for money.

What is so odd about a market, any market wanting more bang for their buck?

Dear Stribog, What I meant was: Chinese always employ the Jio model, price it low destroy the competitor and then prices double. I deal with tenders for my rice :-) based on my experience, well this is what I have been seeing all around.

It can be even be remotely argued as fair if the company employs its own deep pockets to decimate the competition. But if the governments begins to fund the decimation of the competition by way of loans that are usually written off then we have an issue in terms of level playing field. Fewer competition unfortunately leads to price rise in the long run.

With regards to paying of taxes, well if a company is paying 20-30% of taxes, fine, but we should not forget that the remaining profit after tax (PAT) goes to funding the enemy's war machinery on the borders. I am not even talking about patriotism and jingoism here but the below analogy will help understand what I am trying to say.

The various kingdoms funded East India Company for their personal petty gain lead to the colonial subjugation of everyone including themselves. The point I am trying to convey is to look at the larger picture, today I might get more bang for the buck, but in the long run further conflict with a powerful enemy will lead to drastic currency devaluation wiping all our assets and savings. The value for money which I would see today should not lead to the larger destruction, as history teaches us. It might be as small as buying a plastic box, but I feel small things do add up.

The message was cryptic as I did not want to deviate from the topic by writing something off topic.

Coming back to the topic, if the current belligerent attitude from Chinese exist, I don't see them make further investments in India, in fact I see them scaling back to cut their losses, an example would be SAIC, Great Wall Motors in talks with GM to buy its Talegaon factory in Maharashtra but not moving forward due to the current political situation.

With the current political tensions, it would not be wise to spend money on a Chinese car if you plan to hold it long, as I see them exit in case of further tensions. Of course there are people who change cars every couple of years it would not affect them much in this regard.

My apologies for throwing in a contrarian view slightly veering off topic.

[KGS]

I am unable to understand why people fall for the typical chest thumping antics of politicians ?

One renowned politician famous for creating festive mood for everything even as serious as COVID vaccination will tell his followers to go for Aatmanirbhar Bharat but his own actions are contrary to this.
1. Using BMW and Jaguar Land Rover cars.
2. Using Apple Iphone.
3. Pens and goggles you all know very well.

So, my opinion is we should think rationally and judge all products based on their merit or demerit. I am not saying to blindly follow or reject any brand just because of its origin. Test it the best you can and then decide.

And , on a separate note, Our soldiers are dying on borders and China is using our money to kill them is a big non-sense. Not completely related but in that way when our police use force against protesters, isn't it our own tax money being used to beat or in worst case accidently kill our own people ? In that way we all are responsible for death of so many people. << Think about it>>.

Today's world is a global world. MNCs work in multiple countries and earn revenue there. If we are planning to close our borders to Chinese companies , tomorrow same can be done by other countries for our MNCs as well. Won't that be much more harmful to our economy and jobs ?

Looping it back with MG Astor, If I am in market to purchase a car, I will definitely try all possible options in my budget and then buy based on its merits. I will not simply reject a car for being Indian, Korean or German and I won't buy any unfinished product just because it is Indian. I am paying my own money to buy something good for "ME" not for others.

[JB_BLR]

I have a question, sorry if I missed if it was answered earlier, how much localization will Astor have? Do people have issues with parts availability with MG products?

[Col Mehta]

Originally Posted by KGS

I am unable to understand why people fall for the typical chest thumping antics of politicians ?

Looping it back with MG Astor, If I am in market to purchase a car, I will definitely try all possible options in my budget and then buy based on its merits. I will not simply reject a car for being Indian, Korean or German and I won't buy any unfinished product just because it is Indian. I am paying my own money to buy something good for "ME" not for others.

We have one of the highest road fatalities in the world. I would rather have a sensible driver driving a Chinese origin car versus a moron (like most of the drivers on our roads) driving a Korean/European/Indian origin car.

I would pick a car or any other product based on merit than believing the usual load of mud being shoved down our throats by these politicians through their strong propaganda machinery called media.

[volkman10]

MG Astor to be the most powerful and feature rich in its segment. To rival the established Koreans and the just launched SUV's from the Škoda Auto Volkswagen group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1DUMCsnP1w