[Thilak29]

Originally Posted by KungFuPanda

Would this design be expected to spill over to the MG ZS EV? If so by when?

I hope some features do flow in but I would hate to have maroon interior and that AI doll.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

A clear shot of the dashboard, in daylight -


(Source)

Some daylight images of an Aurora Silver Astor with Sangria Red interiors - (Source)

[andafunda]

Originally Posted by Artyom

Any idea if the AI assistant bot module can be removed or is detachable from the dashborad?
It creeps me out to have a ball with 2 eyes watching over me while i am driving.Plus its size seems fairly large .

I had the same reaction when I first saw the pictures!

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5151283 (MG considering petrol ZS for India. Edit: MG Astor unveiled)

I guess MG isn't too worried about the connotation of a Chinese (or British as they say ) company listening in 24x7 to the car owner's conversations. Someone said this about Alexa but it applies to the MG bot as well - my friend cracked a joke, he laughed, I laughed, the AI bot laughed. It was so funny that Chen listening in at Shanghai HQ also laughed.

[Behemoth]

Here is another good overview of the car shared by V3 cars.

https://youtu.be/rY_84Z-xlBE

In this it is also mentioned that the 1.4L Turbo engine is a 4 cylinder engine, so should be smooth compared to other 3 pot competition cars.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by andafunda

guess MG isn't too worried about the connotation of a Chinese (or British as they say ) company listening in 24x7 to the car owner's conversations.

Good joke , but data security is truly no joke.

They are obviously worried, no doubt, because any such accusation won't be taken lightly, by the government. Hence the clear announcements on how the data is being handled by them.

"With data playing such a critical part in enhancing the in-car experience, we are doing our best to ensure that it is safe and protected. All the data from the car systems that we are using to power these personalised services are securely stored on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform in India," said MG Motor India MD, Rajeev Chaba.

Data is stored on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, in Indian data centers itself.

"MG Motors India is using our cloud computing service to store the data they collect from their customers within India itself. All customer driving data is stored on cloud servers which come with high levels of security so that you can rest easy," said John Stenlake, Director, Automotive, Mobility and Transportation Industry, Microsoft, highlighting the security benefits.

Indian giant L&T Technology Services is responsible for the security, encryption and privacy of data in transit and also compliance with the latest safety regulations.

"In the connected world we live in, cybersecurity, privacy and data usage are questions that occur to each one of us. This also applies to connected cars. We at L&T Technology Services are happy and excited to collaborate with MG India to provide security auditing services for your vehicles. We also ensure that any communication that happens from and in-between, the vehicle, the network and the mobile app is secure," said Nitin Jain, global head of digital products and services L&T Technology Services.

Jain also highlighted that L&T technology services also ensure that MG Motor India complies with the latest security standards.

(Source)

I'm yet to see a similar update from another manufacturer, though everyone has connected tech these days. For example - Honda has Alexa listening in on you!

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

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Aren't these alloys same as that of ZS EV? Seems like non turbo variants may get these alloys and not the new ones.

[andafunda]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Data is stored on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, in Indian data centers itself.

Indian giant L&T Technology Services is responsible for the security, encryption and privacy of data in transit and also compliance with the latest safety regulations.

This makes me even more nervous for prospective car buyers. Azure is just a data platform - think of it like Google drive for business.

The onus of security lies with a classic beaten down Tier 2 IT Services company in India. Just waiting to be hacked and for the data to be leaked. Besides, like we've seen with other Chinese companies, data being stored in India doesn't mean anything. There are 100 ways in which you can access / call the data.

Honda's tie-up with Alexa is more confidence inspiring. Amazon is pretty good with data security and privacy.

[noopster]

I hadn't even heard about this car till a day or two ago and was ready to dismiss it out of hand but this review had me sit up and rub my eyes!

Over the Seltos, who seems to be the default choice in this segment, this offers:
- Torque convertor on the 140 BHP petrol instead of a potentially troubling DCT
- All the bells and whistles that the Seltos GT line offers plus amazing ADAS features
- Possibly 5* safety rating to the Kia's sorry 3 stars

Am very happy with my GTX+ diesel Seltos which is coming up on a year of ownership soon but am glad that there is a good alternative now for others looking at the same segment. Am very skeptical about the red interiors but many who've seen it in the flesh report that it much more easy on the eyes that the pictures indicate. And there are options for black, beige etc. I understand.

Good move by MG. Am watching this space with interest!

[dh.harshal]

Originally Posted by andafunda

This makes me even more nervous for prospective car buyers. Azure is just a data platform - think of it like Google drive for business.

The onus of security lies with a classic beaten down Tier 2 IT Services company in India. Just waiting to be hacked and for the data to be leaked. Besides, like we've seen with other Chinese companies, data being stored in India doesn't mean anything. There are 100 ways in which you can access / call the data.

Honda's tie-up with Alexa is more confidence inspiring. Amazon is pretty good with data security and privacy.

We should be worried about Privacy and information security as a whole and not by the transparency brought by MG.
We should be worried about the lack of laws, lack of awareness and lack of overall ecosystem/framework.

Looking at the whole scenario, Here MG is actually going one step ahed in transparently sharing who is handling it and how (to some extent in layman terms).

They disclosed Azure, because it is understood that Microsoft has the best security for their cloud, better than Amazon AWS and Google cloud. Azure is used by most of the Fortune 500 MNCs.
Is there a better alternative to store data on cloud?

They disclosed LTI, because LTI is one of the most respected IT company in India for digitalization. Many Banking and insurance companies use LTI (including some major European/American companies) and some Indian banks as well.
If you're worried about your conversation during a drive then you should be more worried about your insurance or banking services. Almost all the banking & insurance in India is shared among TCS, Infosys and LTI (and some share of Wipro & HCL).

Yes, we should be worried about Privacy and Information security. But not about why MG is treating it to the best of available resources today.

[andafunda]

Originally Posted by dh.harshal

They disclosed LTI, because LTI is one of the respected IT company in India for digitalization.

Respected company in India. Not globally. Not even close. As an active indirect participant in the cybersecurity industry I can tell you with confidence that data security in India is a joke.

All I can say about any Chinese company (given the limitation of what my profession will allow me to say publicly) is that I wouldn’t be comfortable having personal conversations with that AI bot in the car.

The rest is up to the buyers. They know best about their own privacy, security and personal information. After all there are people in India who willingly and happily spend 20 lacs on 2-star rated cars.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by andafunda

Honda's tie-up with Alexa is more confidence inspiring. Amazon is pretty good with data security and privacy.

Just our inherent bias at play towards an existing old brand vs a newbie. Innocent until and after proven guilty v/s Guilty until proven innocent.

We trust the company which is known to have had the worst data security lapse in the Indian automotive scene - leaving customer data from their Connected Car app on an unsecured S3 bucket left open to public, the most basic step in data security while creating a bucket - since you are aware of cloud data security. Another basic - is that the data at rest wasn't encrypted, letting out even location information of the affected 50,000 odd users.

In fact, Honda didn't have a clue for months that their data was even hacked by an ethical hacker who left them a warning note - till another security company hacked it and found the previous hacker's note and made the information public. They got away with it due to our lack of data protection laws. They would have been fined by the billions, had it been GDPR.

Originally Posted by andafunda

Respected company in India. Not globally.

Because MG made the information public, we know it is Microsoft and L&T handling the data.

Honda's Connected Car Platform was (is?) managed by Minda iConnect Pvt Ltd. Now how would we compare that with the reputation of L&T?

[zehhatter]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

A clear shot of the dashboard, in daylight -

Does anybody else see a strong resemblance to the Mazda CX-5 here? Even the interior scheme seems inspired from the red interiors in CX-5

[andafunda]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Just our inherent bias at play towards an existing old brand vs a newbie. Innocent until and after proven guilty v/s Guilty until proven innocent.

We trust the company which is known to have had the worst data security lapse in the Indian automotive scene

Can you clarify who is this "we" trusting Honda? I laid my trust in Amazon, not Honda. I would appreciate if you could go back and read what I said.

If you want to trust MG or any Chinese company with your data security, please go ahead.

With what I get to know owning to my vantage (and my view may be totally wrong and misguided), I will never trust any Chinese company with any sort of my personal data, much less live conversations. I'd rather not have the silly connected tech features on my car, from any manufacturer for that matter (thankfully the three cars in my immediate family don't have these features. Small mercies). There are more secure and better ways of tracking one's vehicle, anywhichways.

Anyways since we are going
off-topic, this is my last post on the issue.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

A clear shot of the dashboard, in daylight -

I had a question about the instrument cluster that is being offered on Astor, during my visit to the showroom, I went through the different options on MID but was not able to find any navigation option on it. I know Hectors MID shows it but wanted to know if Astor also gets it or not?

The Koreans offer it on their MID and the implementation is simply superb, especially when there is a flyover coming up, it clearly shows which route to take, previously I have goofed up and taken the wrong route during my visits to Mumbai and ended up roaming around in the city.

I also think that displaying navigation on MID avoids the situation where you keep asking your co passenger on where to turn or wether to take that flyover or not

Uploading image for reference.

Image sources : ownership reviews of forum members.

[dh.harshal]

Originally Posted by andafunda

If you want to trust MG or any Chinese company with your data security, please go ahead.

With what I get to know owning to my vantage (and my view may be totally wrong and misguided), I will never trust any Chinese company with any sort of my personal data, much less live conversations.

Hey, it's a good & healthy discussion and the larger forum will benefit from perspective from both the sides.
It made me seriously look for MG Motors Privacy policies.
Please see below screenshots.







Being India registered company as 'MG motors India Pvt Ltd', it has to follow the law of the land, i.e. Indian law.
I also found their privacy statement and policy which says they are GDPR compliant too, however there's still disclaimer that owning to the nature of internet, we cannot hold MG accountable for the data.

Again, I still see their policies, their ecosystem more transparent than most of the others. And their Chinese parent doesn't bother me.
Also, I'm not sure what is our(Indians') tolerance on Privacy and information security. For me, in-car conversations are still okay if tampered with, but my financial data/ Aadhar etc. should never be compromised.