MG Comet EV Launch Soon, Expects Electric Car To Cover 30 Percent Of Sales In 2023

Bullish on electric mobility, MG Motor India expects 30 percent of its sales to accrue from the electric vehicle segment this year as it gears up to introduce its second offering in the vertical next month, according to the company's President and Managing Director, Rajeev Chaba. The company, which currently sells ZS EVs in the country, has unveiled a two-door electric vehicle, 'Comet,' which it plans to introduce in phase wise manner starting next month.

"This year, we expect that 30 percent of our sales -- 80,000 or 90,000 units -- should come from the two electric models," Chaba said. He noted that the sales of electric passenger vehicles are set to rise dramatically in India. From around 50,000 units last year, it is expected to touch 1.2 lakh units this year, Chaba said.

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Citing global trends, he noted that electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales were now accounting for 30 percent of the overall new sales in China. Similarly, Chaba said it accounts for 20 percent of sales in Europe and 10 percent in the US market.

"In India, we are less than 2 percent, but this number will continue to increase. For India, the tipping point would be when the penetration levels reach 10 percent, and there are more choices for consumers around Rs 10 lakh price range," he stated. MG Motor has already sold around 10,000 units of ZS EV so far and expects sales of the model to touch 1,000 units a month soon, Chaba said.

He noted that the company has increased the installed manufacturing capacity at its Halol-based plant to 1.2 lakh units a year from 60,000 units in the erstwhile GM regime. "If we are lucky, we could produce between 80,000 to 1 lakh units this year, and next year it should be 1.2 lakh units," Chaba said.

Chaba noted that the company hit break-even in March this year. "We broke even in March, and we should be able to make a little bit of money this year if we can sell 80,000 to 1 lakh units," he added.

Chaba said the automaker has invested between Rs 600-700 crore on Comet's development, which would be rolled out from its Halol-based plant in Gujarat with a localisation content of around 53-54 percent.

Expecting a robust response, MG Motor is looking to gradually ramp up the production capacity of Comet to around 3,000 units a month, he added. Chaba said the car, which could run for around 230 km on a single charge, is well suited for intra-city 'practical' usage. The cost of ownership is going to be very economical, Chaba said.

He noted that the company would discourage buyers who do a lot of inter-city trips. "We are going to be very serious about not selling this car to certain categories of people," Chaba said.

Comet comes with a 17.3 KWH Li-ion battery and can be fully charged in around 7 hours. It comes with automatic transmission, two front airbags, and a reverse parking camera, among other features. MG Motor is a wholly-owned arm of China's SAIC Motor Corp.