The hotly contested compact SUV segment will likely see a new player from MG Motor India shortly.
President and MD of MG Motor India, Rajeev Chaba, has revealed that the company plans to build a new sub-4-meter SUV using an all-new platform.
The firm will also utilize the same platform to manufacture an MPV and a hatchback, Chaba added. But, the firm would need a new manufacturing facility to do so.
MG’s plant at Halol in Gujarat can produce 80,000 units a year now. The carmaker is working to increase its production capacity to 1 lakh units per annum.
Rajeev Chaba believes that if the company reaches the 1 lakh unit milestone in the next 1-2 years, it will move into a second plant either through collaboration or on its own. It is at the new plant where the MG India compact SUV will be manufactured.
The automaker has openly stated that it is open to partnerships and sharing capacity. MG India’s president says the firm has been “in touch with a few players in India.”
Considering the partnerships MG’s parent firm SAIC has had with the VW Group, the logical choice for MG would be to utilize one of the manufacturing plants of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India.
The MG compact SUV is supposed to arrive after 2023, followed closely by the MPV and hatchback. After introducing all these models, MG should be able to deliver around 2 lakh cars, which will justify the setting up of a new plant.
Presently, the automaker has added a variant to the Hector lineup, and in September, it will launch the Astor, the internal combustion version of the ZS EV.