Morris Garages (MG) entered the Indian market this year with its Hector SUV and experienced a prolific response in the repressed market scenario for the vehicle. With around 13,000 units of its Hector SUV already sold in the country, you might think that the company would want to take it slow and rejoice in its success to the new market.?
This, however, could not be far from the truth.
The British automaker is in fact now planning to invest Rs 3,000 crore more in the Indian market if a company official is to be believed.?
A recent report cites the official mentioning that the company will stay bullish on the market and pour in the extra investment in addition to the Rs 2,200 crore it has already invested in setting up its plant at Halol in Gujarat.
In terms of products, this would reciprocate in three new vehicles by the company by July 2021. Interestingly, all the three vehicles will be in the SUV category, as confirmed by MG Motor India chief commercial officer Gaurav Gupta in a PTI report.
This means that in addition to MG Hector, the company would come up with three new SUV models by the time. Interestingly, MG Motor India had announced one of these vehicles right at the time of its debut in the country. It had promised of an all-electric SUV - MG ZS electric to be launched in India within 2019, a promise which was fulfilled on December 5th this year.
MG ZS Electric SUV comes as the company¡¯s most potent electric vehicle globally. With its introduction in India, the company aims to have a head start in the race to potent electric vehicles in the country¡¯s market. It works as well, as apart from Hyundai Kona, the ZS Electric does not seem to have any competition in India for the time being.
A similar success story was seen with the MG Hector. Seeing a good response from the market, the company had to ramp up the production of the vehicle since November. It will most likely continue to keep up with the enhanced production numbers until next year.
In addition, MG Motor India is also focussing on expanding customer service centres and for this, Gupta promises around 250 showroom-cum-workshops to be set up by March 2020.
It is interesting to see new-comers flourish in the Indian automobile market, which has been on a constant decline lately. The successful entries of the likes of MG Motor and Kia Motor with their strong products shed light on the need for refreshing offerings in the market. While all the prevalent vehicles were struggling with their sales, these two new vehicles were embraced with open arms (and pockets) by the Indian buyers. In retrospect, this also gives out a strong message to the industry - ¡®Only innovative and worthy vehicles can expect a good response in the market'.