New Delhi: MG Motor India, the British brand owned by China’s largest carmaker Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), is upping its bets on autonomous driving with every model going forward.
“People usually ask why ADAS is needed in India? I would say it is required more in India. With the unpredictability of traffic today, technology comes in for the benefit of security and safety of the occupants of the car,” Gaurav Gupta, Deputy Managing Director, MG Motor India, told ETAuto.
On Wednesday, the automaker introduced a top-end variant of its ZS EV, equipped with Level-2 autonomous driving technology priced at INR 27.89 lakh, valid for a limited period. The electric SUV comes at a starting price of INR 23.38 lakh.
MG said that the latest technology works on three levels of sensitivity – low, medium and high, and three levels of warning – haptic, audio and visual. It offers features like Traffic Jam Assist (TJA), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Speed Assist System (SAS), Lane Functions, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), amongst others.
In 2021, MG Motor India launched the Astor, with a personal AI assistant and segment-first autonomous (Level 2) technology. It offered AI technology, six radars, and five cameras to manage 14 advanced Autonomous L2 features.
In India, the adoption of ADAS technology is still at an early stage. However, as the awareness around safety and technology is increasing, several carmakers including Hyundai, Tata Motors, Kia, Mahindra and Honda are also offering these features. ETAuto earlier reported how ADAS features are becoming standard in new car launches.
Growth plans
MG Motor India targets to clock sales of 75,000-80,000 units in 2023, with 25% share of EVs. The company had sold 48,063 units in 2022.
“We remain cautiously optimistic about the demand in the second half of the year. We have seen the Indian market being resilient, but we always need to be prepared for uncertainties,” Gupta said.
In the January-June period of 2023, the automaker clocked a growth of 21% in sales at 29,040 units compared with 24,074 units in the corresponding period of last year.
For June, MG said its “supplies were disrupted by cyclone Biparjoy though customer demand should now gain momentum following the monsoons as India gears up for a long festive season.”
MG Motor entered the Indian market with its Hector in 2019. Currently, it sells the Astor, Gloster, Hector 5-seater, Hector Plus and ZS EV SUVs, and the Comet EV in the country.
The company first launched the ZS EV in 2020. In May this year, MG launched its second EV offering Comet at an introductory price of INR 7.98 lakh (ex-showroom). Comet has clocked sales of 730 units in May and 1,184 units in June.
The automaker has an annual production capacity of 80,000 units at its plant in Halol, Gujarat, which can be expanded to 1.20 lakh.
