Due to the rising demand, the production of the MG Hector will be ramped up from this month onwards at the Halol plant in Gujarat
MG Motor India Limited has announced in a statement today that its first product in the domestic market, the Hector, has garnered more than 38,000 reservations. In October 2019, the British carmaker has sold a total of 3,536 units. With plenty of anticipation, the Hector went on sale back in June. The overwhelming initial response led to the brand temporarily stopping the bookings on July 18, 2019.
However, the reservations re-opened in September as MG registered 8,000 or so orders in addition despite the price increase across the range of around Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000 based on the variants. The mid-size SUV has endured a month-on-month growth of just over 35 per cent compared to September 2019 when 2,608 units were retailed. The Hector is manufactured at MG’s Halol plant in Gujarat.
The five-seater is sold out till February 2020 and MG is concentrating on clearing the backlog first until that month and the second shift at its production facility is expected to commence by the end of this month while adding direct employment to 500 more people. Until the closure of October 2019, the Hector’s domestic sales volume as per SIAM data stands at just over 8,000 units.
MG is also rapidly expanding its dealerships across the country and its first digital showroom in Bengaluru was inaugurated yesterday. The company delivered more than 700 units of the Hector on Dhanteras and is currently priced between Rs. 12.48 lakh and Rs. 17.28 lakh (ex-showroom). It is made available in a single petrol hybrid and one diesel engine option.
The Baojun 530 based SUV derives power from a 1.5-litre turbocharged 48V mild-hybrid petrol motor kicking out 143 PS and 250 Nm of peak torque – paired with a six-speed manual or a six-speed DCT auto. The 2.0-litre diesel sourced from Fiat, on the other hand, develops 170 PS and 350 Nm and is connected only to a six-speed manual transmission.
Dubbed the country’s first connected car, the MG Hector packs a large vertically-oriented touchscreen infotainment system minimising the use of physical buttons to make the cabin upmarket than some of its rivals. Native apps like TomTom navigation, Gaana with premium account and internet-based connectivity features as well as AI voice recognition and assistant technology are some of the highlighting features.