Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC) on Thursday announced the price of their new Sports Utility Vehicle, the MG Hector. The large SUV is the first foray by a Chinese carmaker into India and will be sold under the formerly British ‘MG’ brand. The Hector is being manufactured by SAIC at the former General Motors plant in Halol, Gujarat and will feature two engine options, a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol with 143PS of power and a 2-litre diesel with 170PS of power. The petrol variant will be available as a manual with and without a 48-volt ‘mild hybrid’ option as well as a dual-clutch automatic. The diesel will be available with only a six-speed manual gearbox and there will be four specification levels for the car. Prices will range from Rs 12.18 lakh to Rs 15.88 lakh for the manual petrol versions, Rs 15.28 lakh to Rs 16.68 lakh for the automatic versions and Rs 13.18 lakh to Rs 16.88 lakh for the diesel variants.
However, MG Motor India, managing Director, Rajeev Chaba made it clear that these prices are just introductory prices but will be valid for some time, he also said that the MG Hector has received over 10,000 bookings since the start of June. As the car is the first foray by a Chinese manufacturer into the hyper-competitive into the Indian car market MG Motor has a slew of incentives for buyers including a five-year unlimited warranty for private owners, an assured buyback price at 60 per cent of the selling price after three years as well as comprehensive ownership packages. Chaba said that the Hector will have the lowest ownership costs of any vehicle in the Rs 10-20 lakh range.