MG Motor to encompass multiple technologies under 'New Energy Vehicles' to tackle emissions

Gaurav Gupta, Deputy Managing Director, MG Motor India with the recently launched Comet EV

Despite lining up multiple electric vehicles in the medium term, MG Motor India will not be relying on one single technology for its future line-up. A senior company official reveals that while it is working on Flex-fuel, hydrogen, hybrid electric, and other powertrains, there is equal emphasis on Internal Combustion Engines (ICE), hybrids, CNG and even electric vehicles.  However, he said that the commercial rollout of any specific drivetrain will depend upon infrastructure support from the government.

“We have showcased different (kinds of) technologies that we have - from hydrogen fuel cell to plug-in hybrids to pure electrics at the Auto Expo (2023).  As we speak, we are exploring all these technologies that we have in our portfolio. I would like to say that the terminology should not be hybrids or EVs or plug-in hybrids but it should be NEVs or 'New Energy Vehicles', which is actually an over encompassing platform to take” Gaurav Gupta, Deputy Managing Director, MG Motor India told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interaction.

“Electric vehicles right now are largely secondary vehicles in the family. We are already seeing that as the total cost of ownership is coming down to 60 paise per km, the usage (of EVs) is becoming more and more primary. This means that for all daily needs, EVs are being used.”

Gupta, acknowledges that while there will be a “continuation” of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) run on petrol and CNG, diesel powertrains may eventually be phased out.

Co-existence

“There will be a coexistence of various technologies. We will, of course, have a play in the NEVs as we go along and also having our stance on ICE vehicles also. So it will not be only in one area as we go forward,” added Gupta. In his view, any vehicle that contributes to carbon neutrality will be added to its product portfolio under NEVs.

In the EV space, the company is aiming to derive 25 percent of its total sales from ZS EV and Comet EV by the end of this year. MG has delivered 10,000 units of ZS EV since its launch in 2020. It has also delivered 730 units of Comet (launched towards March-end) in May and 1,184 units in June.  It is also looking at rolling out electric cars across different price points and segments.

Gupta says he can see the “turning point” very soon, where electric vehicles will become the primary vehicle for families.

“Electric vehicles right now are largely secondary vehicles in the family. We are already seeing that as the total cost of ownership is coming down to 60 paise per km, the usage (of EVs) is becoming more and more primary. This means that for all daily needs, EVs are being used,” reasons Gupta.

He also reveals that 95 percent of MGs customers are purely using home charging to meet all their travel requirements. “Additionally, with the increased chargers on the highways, you will be surprised that so many people are now encouraging themselves to even take on intercity travel,” says Gupta.

Sales on the up

MG Motor, a British brand owned by the Chinese SAIC Motor, entered the Indian market with its Hector in 2019 and is currently selling the Astor, Gloster, Hector 5-seater, Hector Plus and ZS EV SUVs, and the Comet EV in the country.   The company's domestic sales went up by 21 percent in 2022-23 to 48,886 units, according to SIAM data. As per Vahan data, the company has sold 27,689 units during this year so far (Year-to-date).

MG Motor India claims that it offers a host of connected features with over 50 percent penetration in its entire product portfolio. The British carmaker has recently announced its partnership with Jio Platforms to provide Hinglish voice assistant-enabled features in its recently launched Comet EV.

“Connectivity plays a major role for software to become the enabler, support the car as a platform, and take care of customer requirements inside and outside the car. So, inside the car it could be subscription services and outside the car, it becomes a lot more infrastructure support.  Nearly 75-80 percent of our customers will start looking at connected cars as we go forward,” Gupta says.

Meanwhile, MG Motor India had earlier announced that it plans to divest a majority stake to Indian entities in order to raise more than Rs 5,000 crore in two-four years. From the raised amount, it plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore on a second manufacturing unit once its first facility is completely utilised.

MG Motor India, which is expanding the annual production capacity of its current plant at Halol in Gujarat to 1.25 lakh units by 2023, is looking to add another 1.75 lakh units from the second plant and take its overall capacity to 3 lakh units per annum by 2025. Plans are also afoot to expand its export base beyond Nepal and explore other South Asian markets in the medium term.