MG Hector; What the Brand Has in Store for Customers With Next Set of Updates

Chinese-owned British brand MG recently launched their first vehicle – the Hector SUV – in the Indian market and it has gone on to be a smash hit for the company. The success of Hector has been so phenomenal that the brand had to shut down bookings for the SUV for the year 2019. The company has sold out its stock for the entire and year and initially failed to gauge the kind of demand that their SUV will create in the market. However, this comes as a blessing in disguise for the company as this fact will enable it to make some crucial changes to the Hector before the bookings for the SUV are reopened in the market. So what are these changes that the brand will bring about in the latest iteration of the Hector SUV the next time around? Let’s take a look as to what the brand has in store for their first vehicle in the Indian market.

Price Bump

Yes, you read it right. Tata did the same with Harrier and increased the prices of the SUV just when the demand for the vehicle was catching on and Chinese-owned British brand MG will do the same with their Hector SUV. The Hector was launched at an astonishing price point of Rs. 12.18 lakh, ex-showroom. At this price the SUV from the brand undercut several of its rivals in the market in a big manner. However, MG was careful to state that the launch price of the Hector SUV was only introductory in nature and the brand will increase the price of the SUV in future as per their discretion. Although the brand has not revealed the kind of price hike Hector SUV is looking at, some estimates peg the starting price to be around Rs. 13 lakhs, ex-showroom.

BS-VI Compliance

The advent of the BS-VI emission compliance timeline in April of next year will mean that the Hector SUV will likely come with BS-VI equipped engines in the market the next time around. There are hopes that the brand will open the bookings for the SUV next year with the BS-VI compliant variants as April 1, 2020 is the last date for the maker to comply with the upcoming strict norms and switch their BS-IV vehicles to BS-VI norms.

Extra two seats

The brand has already stated that it plans on launching a 7-seater version of their Hector SUV in the Indian market and the actual launch of the vehicle is expected to take place sometime around the mid months of next year. When launched in India, the addition of extra row of seats in the Hector will place it in direct competition with Mahindra XUV500. There will be no other changes in the SUV apart from the addition of a third row of seats, and the dimensions as well as all mechanical parts are also expected to remain the same.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay

MG Hector goes one step ahead of the rivals as it offers a huge 10.8 inch touchscreen infotainment system. The infotainment system in the car comes with an eSIM and is always connected to the cloud. This enables the car to remain connected and certain features of the SUV can also be accessed remotely. However, the lone lacking point of the Hector is the lack of availability of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay with the infotainment system of the car. Therefore, the brand is working on the same and the next update that will enable the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay functionality even in delivered Hector SUVs is just pending approval from the authorities.