MG Hector Spotted Without Camouflage During TVC Shoot

Legendary British manufacturer, and now owned by Chinese company SAIC Motor, has been often spotted testing its upcoming SUV Hector in India. However, the latest pictures show MG Hector being shot for a television commercial near The Lalit Hotel in London. Although there is no word on the official launch date of the SUV in India, we expect it to be launched in India in the upcoming months as the company has been running a rigorous ad campaign for the same in India.

MG Hector is actually a rebranded version of the Chinese company SAIC Motor’s Baojun 530. SAIC is on the biggest car manufacturers of China, however the Chinese company has been rigorously testing and making changes to the Baojun 530 SUV in order for this car to fit perfectly in the Indian market once it is launched under the badge of British brand as MG Hector in India.

MG claims that it has achieved nearly 75 percent localization for the parts of MG Hector in India, the brand is working so hard on localization in order to give stiff competition to Tata Harrier and Jeep Compass as far as prices are concerned. The new SUV from the Chinese owned brand is to be at its factory in Gujarat’s Halol, the same plant which once saw US giant GM’s cars being manufactured there. The Chinese company has since bought the manufacturing facility from the US maker after GM’s messy India exit.

As far as the engine options for the MG Hector are concerned, the upcoming Chinese SUV will come equipped with 2 engine options. The first will be a 1.5L liter turbopetrol and the other a 2L Fiat Multijet turbodiesel, the latter being the same one found on Compass and Harrier. The outputs for petrol engine will be 140 Bhp-250 Nm, this puts it behind the Compass as the US maker’s SUV produces 160 Bhp-250 Nm. Whereas the diesel engine is supposed to be produce the same kind of output seen on Compass – 170 Bhp of power and 350 Nm.

There has also been news on the transmission options for the 1.4L petrol engines of Hector. There will be two variants on offer, one a simple 6 speed manual transmission while the other being a 7-speed twin clutch gearbox reportedly developed jointly by SAIC and MG. The auto box is supposed to feature a special Sport mode and come equipped with paddle shifters. MG Hector is expected to be a FWD vehicle although there has been no confirmation or denial about other drivetrain options.

The company is set to price the Hector SUV quite aggressively and also load it with features so that it can lure in the customers headed the Compass or Harrier way. Talking of features, the Chinese SUV will come with 360 degree parking camera, flat-bottom steering wheel, cruise control, and TPMS. Not just this much, the SUV will also have a dual-tone dashboard, sunroof on top models, LED projector headlamps, LED tail lamps, Harman Infinity audio system, 10.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system supporting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and leather seats.