[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by gutsy

What do you mean by this? Do they remove such posts, if yes, its highly unethical on part of MG Hector.

Yes they are removing such posts, they are claiming that those videos are not posted by vehicle owners which only they can know!

[rkv_hunter]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

It's a forum run by owners, not by MG. And the post is still up. The only thing is that there are influencers on Facebook, which is the case with every brand now.

Yes, I am a part of Kia Seltos forum also. Even on that forum, there are many influencers which is clear from their generic and mostly similar replies and facebook profiles. Indeed this raises questions on the ethics of the company and the digital marketing firm they have hired.

Social media management is now a huge focus of all companies.

[Brishti]

Friend had booked STYLE Diesel on 23rd July and he was given a written quote as 13.18Lac but now when the car has come to the dealer and they are asking for 13.48Lac. Is there anything we can do about this?

Secondly isn't this a long waiting period "July to Nov"?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Brishti

Friend had booked STYLE Diesel on 23rd July and he was given a written quote as 13.18Lac but now when the car has come to the dealer and they are asking for 13.48Lac. Is there anything we can do about this?

Secondly isn't this a long waiting period "July to Nov"?

Prices at the time of delivery apply. There is no price protection unless agreed upon initially.

For the long waiting period, your friend would have gotten some points based on what was told. Beyond the confirmed delivery date they give 1000 points per week which can be used to avail of accessories.

[Brishti]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

For the long waiting period, your friend would have gotten some points based on what was told. Beyond the confirmed delivery date they give 1000 points per week which can be used to avail of accessories.

He was vaguely told 2-3months but nothing in writting he has.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by Brishti

Friend had booked STYLE Diesel on 23rd July and he was given a written quote as 13.18Lac but now when the car has come to the dealer and they are asking for 13.48Lac.

MG had claimed people who booked in the first round - June/July had price protection. So I don't think the dealer can charge the additional 2.5% price hike from your friend.
I suggest raising the issue with MG with a screenshot of the news report where Mr Chaba states the same.

[coolkurt]

The initial momentum of bookings has slowed down by a considerable margin.

Even though the imposition date of BS6 is nearing, MG is in no hurry to announce cutoff date for BS6 production. With thousands of fresh orders in phase 2, MG wouldn't want to scare people off and disrupt the momentum, which is evident from the fact that no matter which showroom in NCR I checked, none of them had the new pricelist. MG wanted to keep things low key w.r.t the new pricing so as to continue to look as a brilliant value proposition.

MG had claimed they had a backlog of 24000 bookings, this was after they said they had 8000 new bookings. Now that has gone up to 10,000. So 26000 odd bookings in all. So around 16000 bookings of June/ July still pending, majority DCT and Hybrid. It's safe to assume, not all the bookings will be met by March 2020 ( even if MG ramps up production to 4500 cars a month after the second shift stabilises, which is also a stage wise ramp up - different departments scale up differently. So around 3600 despatches in Oct. So maybe close to 4000 in November and taking it up closer to 4500 in Dec). So I'm sure a lot of people who booked now and get ready for the deliveries in April are going to have a price shocker.

And I guess most people who liked the car but have done the maths, have kept away. No one wants to wait 6 months for a car.

To add to that, MG is not going to absorb any more price hikes nor is it extending it's rewards points program beyond July bookings. So people who booked Sept onwards are already looking at a 50-70k hit. Post BS6, it'll be atleast a 70k-100k hike for the diesel variants, maybe half of that for petrol.

If MG doesn't ramp up production fast enough, it's going to leave a lot of prospective buyers dissatisfied. Not good for a new brand trying to settle in for the long haul.

[rkv_hunter]

Originally Posted by coolkurt

The initial momentum of bookings has slowed down by a considerable margin.

MG had claimed they had a backlog of 24000 bookings, this was after they said they had 8000 new bookings. Now that has gone up to 10,000. So 26000 odd bookings in all. So around 16000 bookings of June/ July still pending, majority DCT and Hybrid. It's safe to assume, not all the bookings will be met by March 2020 ( even if MG ramps up production to 4500 cars a month after the second shift stabilises, which is also a stage wise ramp up - different departments scale up differently. So around 3600 despatches in Oct. So maybe close to 4000 in November and taking it up closer to 4500 in Dec). So I'm sure a lot of people who booked now and get ready for the deliveries in April are going to have a price shocker.

One thing this calculation misses is the cancellations, which I believe could be in the range of 30-40% of all bookings given the waiting period and some issues reported on the car.

I think out of the 26000 backlog, only about 15-18 k will ultimately wait for the car so most people who have booked currently can get their cars by Feb.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by rkv_hunter

One thing this calculation misses is the cancellations, .

Already taken into account. MG said they had 24000 bookings including the 8000 new ones. The statement was released around 10th of Oct. By then, MG had sold around 6000 cars.

Initial bookings - 28000 -Source
New bookings - 8000
Total - 36000
Claimed bookings on 10.10.19 - 24000
Delivered - 6000.
Approx cancellations - 6000

The second round of bookings has crossed 10000 now.

So if we deduct 3.5k of Oct, MG still has around 20k bookings to be delivered.

However, I've often seen manufacturers inflating their booking numbers.

As per my analysis:

The day the bookings were suspended, MG had claimed 21000 bookings - Source

However, as time progressed, somewhere between July and Sept, the 21000 bookings were projected as 28000 bookings.

Even if we assume that the number bump is due to priority waitlist, the numbers don't match.

The priority waitlist had increased to 20k by Sept end.

And the actual bookings in phase 2, which includes priority waitlist customers and new customers , was 8000 ( now 10000).

So, if the maths is redone,

Initial bookings - 21000
New bookings - 8000 ( now 10,000)

Total deliveries - 9780

Cancellations - 5000 Approx

Pending - 14000 - 15000 Approx

Of which 6-7k bookings are from Phase 1. Which is in line with what dealerships in Delhi are claiming.

By December, they are claiming almost all of the June/ July bookings will be cleared. In fact, a couple of them had 70-80 bookings left of the first round bookings, so mid dec they were hoping to start catering to September bookings. Which is also in line with the promises made to September customers that deliveries will commence Dec end onwards and will be completed by March , before BS6 deadline.

[coolkurt]

Updates from the latest interview with Mr Rajeev Chaba:

- MG has 40,000 bookings ( Phase 1 - 28000, Phase 2 - 12000). With 6000 cancellations. 11000 cars delivered so far.
- Company can theoretically deliver 5000-6000 cars a month but we are in the process of ramping up slowly, ensuring adequate component quality and workmanship and customer engagement.
- We are currently producing 3500 cars a month which will stabilize to around 4000 in a month or two. As of now, we are not looking to ramp it up any further. Not playing the numbers game at the moment.
- We are looking to develop the entire EV ecosystem, encourage startups. The focus is also on educating the masses about electric vehicles and addressing the myths.
- Hector with three rows ie..6/7 seater will be launched post BS6 implementation - Q2 2020.
- MG to showcase 18-20 cars at the Auto Expo 2020.

Source

[Nithesh_M]

I hope MG has a 2 door convertible in the lineup. Something bigger than a San Storm but costing less than a City. Like an MG F sports car.

[Sanidhya mukund]

The Hector was on display at IGI today. The brand new display car had steering lock issues!! ( Sorry for the blurry pics)

Also, notice that the instrument cluster says ' lock lock'

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

The Hector was on display at IGI today. The brand new display car had steering lock issues!!

The same message is displayed on all the cars on display at the showroom in Safdarjung, Delhi right from July till date, even when the cars themselves got changed. Must be something to do with locking the tyre position so that customers can't keep turning the steering.

[rkv_hunter]

So MG has removed the pop up from their website that for bookings in the first phase the old prices will be applicable. Although it remains in the pdf price list.

Also I am getting responses from a whatsapp group of MG owners that dealers have started asking for new price from old bookings also.

If true, this adds to another point of questionable MG ethics in addition to earlier points.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by rkv_hunter

Also I am getting responses from a whatsapp group of MG owners that dealers have started asking for new price from old bookings also.

I can confirm the same. People who had booked in June/July are being asked to cough up the new price, despite MG initially claiming that they'll be insulated from the price hike.

I'd directed a couple of them to register a complaint on Pulsehub post which the dealer has agreed to rollback on their demand and provide delivery on the introductory price.