MG Motor India’s first product – the Hector SUV – has driven past the 50,000-unit sales mark in the Indian market. Launched on June 27, 2019, the sales milestone comes 21 months after the Hector was introduced in the competitive Indian marketplace and a month after the 50,000th unit rolled out of the Halol plant in Gujarat, produced by an all-women crew.

As per Autocar Professional’s data analytics, MG Motor India has till end-March sold a total of 53,265 units, which makes for a monthly average of 2,536 units.

The carmaker closed FY2021 on a high note, registering the highest-ever retail sales figures in March 2021 at 5,528 units – a year-on-year growth of 264% (March 2020: 1,518 units). What’s more, it also clocked the highest-ever sales for its Hector – 4,270 units – as well as the ZS EV, estimated at over 300 units. The surge in demand for the Hector continues, considering the SUV has received over 6,000 bookings in March 2021.

While FY2020 saw total sales of 21,680 Hectors, FY2021 added 31,585 units in 11 months (April 2020 was a month of zero production and sales) and what was a difficult pandemic-impacted year. Between June 2019 and February 2021, 21,908 diesel variants of the Hector were sold, with the balance 26,637 units comprising petrol and petrol-hybrid variants.

In the past two fiscal years, MG Motor India cumulatively sold a total of 35,597 units in FY2021, up 62% over FY2020's 21,954 units. 

Expansive product range
The MG Hector is available in a total of four diesel variants, two petrol-manual variants, two petrol-automatics and three petrol-hybrids.

The SUV, which essentially is SAIC’s Baojun 530 under its skin, comes powered by the same 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol rated for 143bhp and 250Nm and a Fiat-sourced 2.0-litre diesel that develops 170bhp and 350Nm of torque, both available in their BS VI -compliant avatar. The petrol engine also comes in a 48V hybrid form and DCT automatic option.

The MG Hector's ARAI-rated fuel efficiency is 13.96kpl for the petrol and dual-clutch auto combo, 14.16kpl for the petrol-manual, 15.81kpl for the petrol-hybrid (a near-12 percent increase) and 17.41kpl for the diesel version.

On the safety front, the Hector comes with six airbags, ESC and 360-degree camera for added safety to driver and co-passengers.

On January 7, 2021, MG Motor India introduced the new seven-seater Hector Plus to complete the entire MG Hector line-up to now offer configurations of five, six and seven seats to suit varied customer requirements. While the six-seat MG Hector Plus was launched in July 2020 and comes priced between Rs 16 lakh and 17.75 lakh, ex-showroom, the seven-seat variant has been introduced between Rs 13.35 lakh and Rs 18.32 lakh, ex-showroom, all-India. The company offers the MG Shield package that offers five-year warranty, road-side assistance and labour-charge free five services on the Hector range.

In the Indian market, the MG Hector goes head to head with the Tata Harrier, Mahindra XUV500 and Jeep Compass in terms of its sheer size even while its pricing takes it close to the likes of the Hyundai Creta. Now, there’s a new competition coming up soon – the Hyundai Alcazar seven-seater SUV.