SAIC, which happens to be the 7th largest automobile manufacturer in the world (besides the largest automaker in China), and claims the 5th position in the global top 10 most valuable portfolios in the world among the carmakers, on Wednesday, spoke about their India plans, in Mumbai, vis-a-vis MG (Morris Garages), which is its 100 per cent wholly-owned subsidiary.
The fact that India has a repository of almost 500 MG cars, (70 of which are in Calcutta itself,) the iconic British marquee, established in 1924, has already started building the MG brand in the country with not just online activities but even offline activities. Work is underway, in full swing, at their Hallol plant, in Gujarat. Going forward, the carmaker has big plans and has committed more Rs 5,000 crore in India, of which Rs 2,000 crore has already been committed to the Gujarat government. The company is keen on localisation and keeping that in mind, 90 per cent local components to the suppliers have already been placed.
While MG's product portfolio in the next six years has yet to be finalised, MG plans to introduce the first product next year which, it says will be an SUV. Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India further stated that it's "SUV will be contemporary, and will not only have class leading features but will also be ahead of competition."
The carmaker plans to launch one product every year minimum, after 2019. The hunt for people to start dealerships is underway too and they claim to have received more than 2000 registrations online from dealers already. What is encouraging is that they're encouraging a diversified lot to take up their dealerships, including non-industry auto dealerships and seem to be going about things with the right spirit.
Considering SAIC is the biggest new energy vehicles manufacturer in China, MG, is also looking at greener and new energy vehicles in the form of Plug-in-hybrids, EVs and Fuel Cells and says that they would be in the front of the EV race.