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-   -   MG considering petrol ZS for India. Edit: MG Astor unveiled (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/218669-mg-considering-petrol-zs-india-edit-mg-astor-unveiled-7.html)

Which is the car on the right side, is it the Aventurra? Helps to gauge the road presence. Good to see EPB with Auto Hold. I hope they provide some of the physical controls (especially the AC).

In the sea of 'flashy' Cretas & Seltos-es, this will look a bit plain-jane.

The grille reminds me of the preceding model Desire.

Physical buttons present just below the touchscreen. Look closely.

Well if it looks like the ZS, and the economies of making a single body would seem to indicate it will be, I’d be all over it. The ZS is a lovely little piece of automotive design when viewed in the metal. Looks elegant compared to the Cretas, Seltos’, XUVs and Dusters floating around. Very nice indeed.

Based on the reviews of the zst available in other countries, I feel Astor is going to be a formidable competition in its segment. The 1.3 turbo is a hoot to drive. The only shortcomings noted are the quality of speakers and soft suspensions. Soft suspensions are a issue with the Hector as well. If the suspension for 1.3 turbo are tuned slightly stiffer it will be a great car to drive.

Having observed disruptive pricing across models from MG in India , I feel MG Astor has chance to grab volumes that even MG can’t imagine. They are certainly looking at 4000 volume a month which can be totally outnumbered. If they can price the higher variants of 1.5l with CVT around 15 lakh on road, it will be a good proposition. I seriously hope MG hits a sweet spot in pricing as everything else is already going in favor of the car . I’m certainly excited for the launch. Hope MG doesn’t disappoint.

While we are also running a thread on Hondas forever upcoming midsize crossover, look at this action by MG as a contrast. The company is barely 2 years old, operates out of a renovated plant of a defunct manufacturer , is under a political cloud of negativity and suspicion for its origins, yet has launched 3 products and is ready with its fourth.
Honda India doesn't deserve much consideration and mindspace frankly, for all these years its been a one horse one pony show, and both those are part of dying segment. Kudos to MG for coming up with the Astor and may the best automaker survive for the benefit of the Indian consumer.

The car in the UAE doesn’t have ADAS unfortunately. Seeing the lane guidance camera on the windscreen in the spy photos, I really hope it does come with the ADAS system.

MG Astor spied testing in Rajasthan. Launch expected to be in the end of August.







Link

Agreed!

I’ll add that although it’ll take a little time for word to get around and credibility to be built, they’ve also really understood some of the pain points of owning a car in India and have gone to great lengths to address them. They’ve come up with excellent service packages and have ridiculously low pay-as-you-go service costs. We just did a paid oil change at the first service of our Hector Plus which is usually just a checkup, and it cost us an unbelievable 2500 bucks! I couldn’t believe it could be so low so I asked them twice and checked to make sure they’d actually flushed out the entire old oil and topped up from zero. They had! I have no doubt whatsoever that service costs over the course of a few years will be considerably less than any equivalent or even lower models from competitors (cough cough Hyundai cough).

Their follow ups have also been very good so far and they’ve been polite and responsive.

It’s been a touch of bad luck that the political climate has been what it has just when they launched but I think they clearly have a long-term vision and will get past it.

And as I’ve mentioned before, the ZS EV is a really beautiful looking car in the metal - pics don’t do it justice. I’d rate its looks over any crossover of its size below 20L. Even the Kushaq, albeit the fact the latter takes a more straight-lined, geometric approach in its design language. Paired with a good engine, I’d be all over it like white on rice.

Good times for consumers all told.

The steering- mounted controls, the locking mechanism, the overall design does look more like VW than a Chinese owned British brand design. Does it have to do anything with SAIC’s partnership with VW in China?

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

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.

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

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! :Cheering: