JSW-MG Motor wants to go upmarket in a big way. To this end, the Indo-Chinese automaker has just announced plans to set up a slew of high-end car dealerships under the MG Select badge. Like Maruti Suzuki’s NEXA, MG Select will retail a special set of cars from the JSW-MG Motor stable. While NEXA sells mass market but slightly more premium cars for Maruti Suzuki, MG Select will go the whole hog to sell high-end luxury cars. In fact, sources tell us that the first big offering from the MG Select line-up will be the Cyberster – a Porsche 718 Boxster-rivaling electric convertible sportscar that made its global debut only last year. And it’ll be here in March 2025!
The MG Cyberster is an all-electric droptop sportscar that’s MG Motors’ global flagship. In India, it’ll be JSW-MG Motor’s flagship offering, and is expected to cost between Rs. 60-80 lakh. Porsche-like sportscar performance at a relatively affordable – stunning, if you may – price tag. JSW-MG Motor are likely to take a leaf out of BYD’s playbook, and do a Seal with the Cyberster in terms of pricing.
Talking of spec, the MG Cyberster convertible’s top-of-the-line variant GT packs in dual electric motors – one on each axle – juiced by a massive 77 kWH battery. Combined outputs are supercar-like: 544 Bhp-725 Nm. An all wheel drive layout is standard, and performance to put it simply, is electric.
The MG Cyberster GT will hit 100 Kph from standstill in a supercar-rivaling 3.1 seconds while top speed – in true electric car fashion – is limited to 200 Kmph. Claimed range (CLTC) is a very impressive 580 Kms. That’s a lot farther than your regular petrol sportscar or supercar can go in a single tank.
There are lower trims available internationally for the Cyberster, and those get a single electric motor, and a smaller 64 kWH battery pack. The lower trims are rear wheel driven and get power outputs varying between 310 Bhp and 335 Bhp. Torque remains mammoth here as well, at 475 Nm. Top speed is a smidge lower, at 193 Kph and 195 Kph respectively, while the 0-100 Kph sprints are also slower at 4.9 seconds. CLTC range is also lower, at 500 Kms per charge.
We expect JSW-MG to bring both specs of the Cyberster to India, a-la-BYD. This will allow the brand to talk performance while being able to launch at a stunning price tag to knock the wind out of competition’s sails, and sales.
The Cyberster will be the flagship offering from the JSW-MG combine in India, showcasing what the brand is capable of. Newly minted JSW-MG director and billionaire Parth Jindal, who famously quipped that he’s replacing his Audi eTRON GT with the MG Windsor may want one as well.
Meanwhile, JSW-MG Motor have already begun advertising for high-end MG Select dealerships. They’re calling entrepreneurs to set-up these high-end luxury car dealerships, and hope to have them up and running across 12 major Indian cities by the first quarter of 2025. JSW-MG Motor have also appointed Milind Shah as the chief marketing officer for the MG Select initiative, underscoring how serious the Indo-Chinese is about retailing high-end luxury cars in India.
After the big splash is made with the Cyberster, the MG Select dealership line-up is expected to launch more practical cars aimed at the likes of the Kia eV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq5. In fact, even hybrid luxury cars is something that MG Select is expected to retail. The launch cadence will be one car in every 6 months and by 2 years, the MG Select dealerships will have about 4 to 5 high-end luxury cars for the discerning customer to pick and choose from. Clearly, JSW-MG Motor mean business!
