MG Motor India revealed that it has invested roughly Rs 800 crore to produce the car locally at its plant in Halol, Gujarat while previewing its electric vehicle Comet. This two-door electric car’s production will be gradually increased to reach about 3,000 units per month because the company expects a strong response. The British automaker’s second electric vehicle (EV), following the ZS EV, which was introduced in India in 2020, will soon go on sale with the Comet.
In a roundtable discussion with reporters, Rajeev Chaba, President and MD of MG Motor India, stated that the Comet has a range of 230 km on a single charge and is ideal for ‘practical’ usage within cities. He believes that the cost of ownership will be extremely low.
“If you are driving 1,000 km a month, then you need to charge the car just five times. A single charge can do about 200 kms. Assuming that the electricity cost is Rs 6 per unit, you just need to spend Rs 500 for 1,000 kms a month. It means the cost of running this car is less than a pizza, or a PVR ticket, or two cups of coffee,” emphasised Chaba. He also stated, “As per our survey, people spend Rs 5,000 a month for petrol. In addition to that, maintenance costs are also huge.”
MG Motor India revealed that the Comet will have a 17.3 KWH li-ion battery and can be fully charged in about seven hours during the product unveil.
Although the product’s price was not made public, it is anticipated to be in the Rs 10–12 lakh (ex-showroom) range. Among other things, it will have an automatic gearbox, two front airbags and a reverse parking camera.
Chaba stated that MG Motor company would not target customers who frequently travel between cities, nor would it consider fleet operators. “We will start taking bookings for the Comet from May 15. We are going to be very serious about not selling this car to certain categories of people. Nor are we going to reach out to fleet operators just to push volumes,” Chaba said.
According to Autocar Professional, MG Motor India will add a third shift to its current plant to increase capacity to 1,20,000 units annually in order to meet the expected demand for the Comet. By the end of this year, the content localization will increase to 60% from its initial level of about 54 percent. In order to source batteries for the vehicle, the company has partnered with Tata AutoComp Systems (TACO).
MG Motor India says it anticipates the EV segment to account for 30% of its sales this fiscal year as it prepares to unveil the Comet next month. The company estimates that ZS EV sales will reach 1,000 units per month this year after having sold about 10,000 units of the model to date. The ZS EV accounted for 12% of its total sales volume in the previous year.
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