[invidious]

I find these MG Cars too gimmicky and over the top. They seem to try too hard to pass off the car as British. While I do appreciate that they load (overload? ) the car with tech features, I personally feel in the long run this is a recipe for disaster in maintaining / repairing the car. For me personally, Android Auto / Car Play are enough and I'd rather just press a button to open the sunroof than tell the AI assistant. But then again, I quit the Blackberry with its QWERTY keyboard rather reluctantly to adopt a fully touchscreen phone.

[mohananuj]

The Car and company is chinese and there is no getting away from that. Inspite of that I feel that Mr.Chaba and his team are doing a great job.

1. Excellent marketing as compared to most other manufacturers.
2. Good sense of social responsibility in these tough times with contributions to Covid relief, women empowerment and social causes.
3. Service quality and responsiveness of the company towards it's customers has been outstanding.
4. In astor, it seems they have given us a product which can challenge the domination of the koreans. Loaded with tech & Safety (which a lot of other makers are indifferent to) at a reasonable price. The long term reliability of course remains to be seen, but is does seem they have got off to a good start with their hector and the ev.

Looks like they might be here to stay for a long time.

[clementw]

The grill is certainly eye catching. Minus the grill the car would be kind of anonymous in a parking with its brethren who are also coming close to each other in the basic silhouette.

The interiors look good and the features are decent. I really wish they stop doing that XXX inside badging, its as silly as the Ac No Hand signal of old.

In an unrelated note I hope a good demand for this model inspires the MG takeover of the Ford facilities.

[KungFuPanda]

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

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

So I beg to disagree. Corsa and optra and Chevrolet looked good in showroom, felt well built, and did well on road for 1 year, but then the misadventures started and one looked actively at palming off the lemon to the bigger fool. I hope MG owners don't for now secretly feel the same.

I think you are just generalizing with your own assumptions .. I own a Chevy and nothing like after 1 year issues started to show up.
So do I see from couple of other GM vehicle owners.

[Gamerk]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I would hold judgement on MG long term quality and reliability. Why so. Apart from being unproven, what makes me wary are a series of coincidences that give a feeling of deja vu. Corsa and optra and Chevrolet looked good in showroom, felt well built, and did well on road for 1 year, but then the misadventures started and one looked actively at palming off the lemon to the bigger fool. I hope MG owners don't for now secretly feel the same.

I know plenty of happy Chevrolet customers who have cars that are 10-12 years old. All of them are running fine aside from maintenance items for a car that old (clutch, suspension overhaul etc).

Even we had an Aveo U-Va which gave us no troubles at all despite two people learning to drive on it and it being parked for around a year.

So please don't jump to conclusions only based on your experience, do some research.

For reference: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...eft-india.html (Chevrolet owners, how is the spare parts availability & service since GM left India?)
(Although not about the brand's reliability, it gives an idea on customer satisfaction)

[Venkatesh]

Introducing MG Astor with a Personal AI Assistant.

Coming soon TVC

https://youtu.be/wzzWzb0EKa0

[DeepCarTalk]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Hope it does not. I was a GM Corsa owner from 2003 to 2012 with it being used as a spare car from 2007 to 2012 due to unreliability and breakdown issues. Once bitten, twice shy. GM cars looked shiny and well built when new, but it was a pain to maintain it.

While I understand your experience with GM but don't you think it's a bit of a long shot to compare their 2000's quality and reliability to a car made in 2021?

Hyundai till late 2014 was making cars that had steering wheels which felt like it was connected to the wheels via Bluetooth (no feedback, vibration) but in mere 3-5 years, things have changed so much and they are still making their cars in the same factory and probably still have the same key people as they did back in 2014.

With numerous ownership threads on Hector, we can be sure of one thing that Astor will be more reliable than 'German engineered' Kushaq.

[dh.harshal]

Originally Posted by FIAT3031

Another KEY Issue I find with the mobile Key is how will it function in Basements or other areas with low/poor connectivity ?

I believe this was a feature - showcased by Hyundai Globally some years ago - so with MG introducing this feature - how is it any different from the Connectivity Feature (AFAIK the Bluelink offers the same feature of lock/unlock , engine start/stop etc.)

First things first, the digital key is to be used in emergency situations when you don't have the physical keys. It is only as safe as any other banking app on your phone.
And the digital key in Astor is operated via Bluetooth (not via internet). It's not the same as the connected car feature that Hyundai/ Kia provides. So as long as you're closer to the car (in the bluetooth range), this should work fus free, even in your basement.

I fail to understand the apprehension about new technology being introduced in XUV700 or Astor.
- if we always stuck to the Mechanical/manual ways, today we would be still driving Bullock carts.
- if these additional features are given without costing a bomb, then heck! I'm all in. Both XUV700 and Astor are providing these advanced tech features (so called gimmicky) at a considerably lesser price point than the competition.
This is only increasing the competition among the car manufacturers to come up with better products at optimum pricing.

I can understand, the anxiety that if or not M&M and MG can pull off trouble free experience. They have matured as manufacturers over the years and I'd love to offer them a chance than being pessimistic.

All said, everybody's perspective & tolerance on these things can be different. And you can certainly disagree, but please don't come clapping when the Western manufacturers (FCA/Volkswagen) start providing these things

[KapilD]

Originally Posted by dh.harshal

…

I fail to understand the apprehension about new technology being introduced in XUV700 or Astor.

I second this.. Safety enhancements should be welcomed. If people don’t learn to follow the rules it might be imposed on them to maintain discipline for the sake of safety via AI.

However having said this I don’t appreciate the fact that some manufacturers are trying to take human out of the equation. That would not be called driving 😉.

[apoorvdurga]

My first post here, so hello everyone.

We've just come back from MG Noida showroom. The car on display was Starry Black, with red interiors. I also test drove a Kushaq two days back.

(I'm in the market for an automatic C/SUV, with bias towards CVTs.)

Some random observations:

1. The back seats, when fully folded, still won't get you a flat floor.
   
2. AI assistant can not be removed. The assistant actually turns its face towards speaker (driver or passenger) before speaking.
   
3. I thought turning the knob to open/shut the sunroof was faster than using voice commands. For non-car voice commands, I'd prefer Siri or Alexa.
   
4. We felt Kushaq's rear seating was more comfortable than Astor's, even for two passengers. The central tunnel adds to the discomfort.
   
5. We did not like interior colour scheme, but then there are alternatives there.
   
6. We liked the external looks, overall build plus sunroof.

[pradheepsr]

The Astor looks well built, reasonably spacious, and loaded with tech. Unsure whether the 1.3L turbo petrol will match the likes of the 1.5 TSI from the VAG twins.
Also GNCAP ratings aren’t available at this moment but I’m guessing it to be 4 atleast.
The AI bot with eyes blinking at you is more a tech gimmick than anything else.
It’s like when you enter a Hamley’s store, kids get attracted to the toys the salesperson keeps playing around at the entrance and would insist that they get it no matter what substance it carries.😜

[BennyA23]

Originally Posted by invidious

I find these MG Cars too gimmicky and over the top. They seem to try too hard to pass off the car as British. While I do appreciate that they load (overload? ) the car with tech features

I wouldn't necessarily say these are gimmicky. Much like most consumer facing industries, the automotive industry too is only as good as giving their customers what they want. Be it the infamous sunroofs that are never used or remote starting of vehicles. Its just the direction that we have collectively driven car manufacturers to. And in a country like India where we can't get even the N-Line that we truly deserve, these so-called gimmicks tend to make up for it, IMO.

[NevGin]

Originally Posted by Gamerk

Even we had an Aveo U-Va which gave us no troubles at all despite two people learning to drive on it and it being parked for around a year.

During the 2005 Mumbai floods, the highway was washed out in several places in the city. At one place water was gushing down a mountain side across the highway which was heavily banked.

Cars had stopped before this water gushing as they would get pushed down with the force towards the divider. Risky as it was, I drove the Opel Corsa Sail almost head on to the gushing flow knowing that by the time it pushed me towards the divider, I would be across that flow to the other side. Thankfully I made it.

The Sail was a low car. The water level was just below the door mirrors. But at the end of that ordeal, there was not even a drop inside the cabin and no engine damage as well. The days following the flood I just drove the car as if nothing had happened. What a tank it was! May not have made sales waves in India but was a high quality automobile

[andafunda]

Aditya, excellent preview as usual buddy. Look forward to the detailed review as well.

As I mentioned in the other thread, the Astor is a winner - more features than the Koreans, similar or better quality than the Germans. Is it as safe as the Indians though?

I can bet my bottom dollar that most people will switch off ADAS etc after the first couple of uses (like people do with front parking sensors) because of our fantastic road conditions and great driving manners, but that doesn’t matter - the feature has been provided in this price segment. The Indian buyer values this a lot. Feature should be there, even if we don’t use it.

Originally Posted by Aditya

MG Astor Interior Images

Sporty dashboard with sangria red leather looks unique & nice! Soft-touch materials have been used on the upper half of the dashboard. The cabin feels well-built and nicely finished:

It’s interesting to see the different design ethos of global manufacturers. Here’s my understated and old school Civic dash as a comparison:

All-digital instrument cluster with a 7-inch embedded LCD screen. While I'm not a fan of all-digital clusters, I have to admit that the graphics are pretty high quality:

Same goes for the cluster. Very different approaches for the same use case.