MG Hector No.1 In Segment, XUV500 & Jeep Compass Sales Dropped By 53%

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Hector competes in a hotly contested premium SUV segment against big guns and is the first vehicle from the MG brand for India

The arrival of MG Hector and Kia Seltos has shaken up the automotive industry that is currently reeling under a rough patch due to the drastic sales slowdown over the last ten months. The new entrants have certainly made their presence felt in the opening months by leading their respective segments but we will have to wait and see to observe their consistencies.

Launched in July 2019, the Hector sold 1,508 units in its first month by outnumbering its chief rivals like Mahindra XUV500, Tata Harrier and Jeep Compass. The story continued last month too as the Hector registered 2,018 units and beat its competitors by a big margin. It recorded more than twice the numbers of the XUV500.

The XUV500 suffered YoY sales decline of 53 per cent as 2,078 units were retailed during the corresponding month in 2018. In August 2019, Tata’s Harrier garnered 635 units and the Jeep Compass continued its downward sales trend by enduring 54 per cent YoY sales slump as well.

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SUV Models Sales In August 2019
MG Hector 2,018
Mahindra XUV500 968
Tata Harrier 635
Jeep Compass 605

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The British manufacturer stopped booking for the Hector as soon as it bagged 28,000 units to avoid production constraints. It will more likely resume from next month as MG does not want to miss out on the opportunity during this festive season when positive buying sentiments generally exist among customers.

The Hector is based on the Baojun 530 sold in China and it derives power from a 1.5-litre turbocharged 48V mild-hybrid system pumping out 143 PS and 250 Nm while the 2.0-litre four-cylinder Fiat-sourced diesel develops 170 PS and 350 Nm. The petrol unit is connected to a six-speed manual or a six-speed DCT and the diesel can be had with a six-speed manual as standard.

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Some of the key features in the MG Hector are 10.4-inch vertically-positioned touchscreen infotainment system with Gaana premium account and TomTom navigation, embedded SIM card with internet connectivity features, segment-largest panoramic sunroof, Artificial Intelligence-based voice assistant system and so on.