MG Motor India announced that it will launch a pure-electric SUV by 2020 in Indian market. Earlier, the company has said that it will launch its first product in second quarter of 2019. The company has also confirmed its plan to bring the latest technology to the Indian customers beginning next year.
“MG will launch a globally-competitive pure-electric SUV in India, to make our contribution to India’s energy and environmental strategies. The pure electric SUV will be a breakthrough chapter in the EV space in India, being one of its kind in the market. This is in addition to the first SUV which we plan to launch in the second quarter of next year,” Michael Yang, Executive Director of International Business, SAIC Motor & President of SAIC Motor International Company.
On the expansion front, the company is in the process of finalizing around 45 dealer partners to begin its sales next year, with around 100 touchpoints across India in the first phase.
The company will hire close to 1,500 employees by the end of 2019, compared with a strength of 300 employees at present.
At present, the carmaker is producing around 80,000 units annually from its Halol manufacturing plant in Gujarat, which will be expanded to 200,000 units going forward depending upon the requirement.
“As part of our commitment to this market, we are fast ramping up all our pre- launch activities, beginning with product roadshows for consumers in India next month. This will be followed by various brand-awareness initiatives to get closer to our prospective customers. All our products will be designed and engineered in UK and China with the support of Indian engineers.
These vehicles will be heavily localized, built at our plant in Halol by our engineers conforming to global quality standards and validated and customized for India to suit the Indian road and driving conditions,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India.
The company is in the process of partnering with various technological partners, institutes and industrial stakeholders in India.
