3 New MG SUVs for India: Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai Creta & Kona Rivals

Chinese owned British car marque Morris Garage (MG) is set to push a pure SUV lineup into India at least for the start of its venture into India. According to a new report by CarDekho, the first three launches from the British automobile marque will all be SUVs and that all three will be on Indian roads by September 2020.

MG has already confirmed that the first vehicle it will be bringing into India will be a new SUV. The new MG model, which is yet to be named will share its exterior design with the 530 SUV from Baojun, which is another car brand under MG’s current owners SIAC.

The differentiating factor between the Baojun 530 and the upcoming MG SUV will be in terms of the interior trim. The new MG SUV will compete with the likes of the higher-specced Hyundai Creta, Tata Harrier and the Jeep Compass when it arrives in the month of June 2019.

The new SUV will be offered in both petrol and diesel guises and at first, will be offered only as a 5-seater. A 7-seater version will arrive sometime later in the SUV’s product cycle. The diesel engine on the SUV will be the 2.0-litre turbocharged unit found on the Tata Harrier and the Jeep Compass while the petrol unit is said to be a motor developed in-house by Morris Garage. The SUV is expected to be offered with both manual and automatic transmission options when it arrives in June 2019.

The second SUV, which again has been already confirmed for India by MG will be an all-electric SUV which will compete with the Hyundai Kona in the Indian EV market. The all-electric SUV from MG will arrive in India by April 2020. Cardekho speculates that electric SUV could be an electrified version of the MG ZS.

Another option that the blog has put forward as an option that MG could consider is the Rowe RX5, which could end up costing quite a bit more than the Hyundai Kona that MG is targeting with the new electric SUV.

Car Dekho goes on to claim that the third and final SUV from Morris Garage for India will arrive in the month of September 2020. The blog claims that MG is currently considering two different types of SUVs for this third slot in its lineup for India.

The carmaker is currently deciding on whether to say yes to either a compact SUV or a full-sized SUV. While the first could compete against the likes of the Hyundai Creta while the larger option will take on the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq and the Honda CR-V as a premium offering in a segment dominated by the Toyota Fortuner.