MG Motor India has completed 5 years in India, with a ride full of turbulence, owing mainly to its Chinese ownership and the dwindling relationship between India and China. The brand managed to find some acceptance in the country when Indian conglomerate JSW group picked up a stake in the company. MG Motors India now has 51% Indian shareholding as its shareholders now include JSW group, a few Indian BFSIs, its dealers and employees.
JSW MG Motor India (JSW-MG) now has a fresh investment of around Rs 5,000 crore and has big plans for India. In a chat, MG Motor's Rajiv Chhaba, CEO Emeritus, JSW MG Motor India said that the company plans to launch 5 new products in the country, including 2 premium products. Also, on the anvil is a separate channel for its premium products, which could be launched by the next year.
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The first product to be launched in India will be a CUV. Talking about the CUV, Rajiv said, "Imagine an SUV with good inside space. Visualize a vehicle that's an intelligent SUV, and obviously, it will be loaded with features. In the true tradition of MG, it will be a smart CUV. We are going to launch it in September-October timeframe". He refrained from disclosing details of other products that are in the pipeline for our market.
If rumours are to be believed, this CUV is nothing but the MG Cloud EV that was showcased at the 2024 Indonesia International Auto Show. The Cloud EV gets a 50.6 kWh battery pack with a claimed range of 460 km. Besides Cloud EV, the Gloster facelift has also been spotted testing on Indian roads. Thus, we can expect it to be one of the 5 products to be launched.
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In June'24, JSW MG Motor's ZS EV recorded its highest monthly sales, and the brand's electric vehicle line-up accounted for 40% of the company's total sales in June. Having said that, the overall auto sales environment remains muted, with low single-digit growth in Q1 FY25, and JSW-MG is no different. Mr Chhaba is hopeful of a better Q2, he said, "This quarter should be better than the first quarter aided by festivals and new car launches. For FY25 I will bet on 7-8% growth for the industry rather than two or 3% growth".
He acknowledged the pressure on the dealers as the industry-wide inventory level is high, but stated the JSW-MG's inventory level is lower at 35-40 days compared to the industry's 60-65 days. He added that the company is trying to enthuse the dealer network.