MG Air EV to come early next year but is India ready for a two-door micro car?

MG Motors has finally unveiled that its two-door Air electric vehicle (EV) would be rolled out early next year, and as the Indian market is not too keen on micro cars, the company must price it judiciously to get a good response for its e-car.

Morris Garages or MG could showcase the Air EV at the upcoming Auto Expo 2023 for a preview.

MG Air EV would be targeted at urban buyers.

In India, the MG Air would most probably be offered as the British automaker’s entry-level electric vehicle.

The MG Air is based on the Wuling Air EV, which sells in Indonesia, but in India, the car is likely to come with some tweaks.

This would mainly be in the air con and battery thermal management system.

The two-door micro EV comes with a boxy silhouette and the detailing is smart and futuristic.

Its length is 2.9 metres and wheelbase will be 2010 mm, making the Air EV even shorter than the Alto, Maruti-Suzuki’s basic offering.

Notwithstanding its small size, the Air will be packed with a litany of features and may come with a different name in the Indian market.

There could be a dual 10.25-inch screen layout for infotainment and instrumentation purposes.

Even with this entry-level offering, MG plans to target upper-middle class urban customers and this would be a roundabout vehicle rather than a family car.

The higher variants may even get soft-touch materials and faux aluminum bits on the interior.

The Air EV is set to come with a battery pack capacity of around 20-25kWh, which may allow a range of up to 150 km on a single charge. This is commendable for city driving.

And, power output could be around 40 hp under a single motor, front-wheel-drive set up.

Battery pack for the MG EV will be sourced locally from Tata AutoComp.

This Tata firm had inked a pact with Chinese battery supplier Gotion for design, manufacture as well as supply and service of battery packs in India. MG will also use LFP cells, which are similar to those used in the Nexon EV.

Prices of the MG Air EV may start from Rs 10 lakh (Rs 10,00,000), which is very steep. But MG may be making a bold move with a two-door car at this price point and is hoping that the Air EV would find favour with those looking for a compact and efficient city runabout.

With the attractiveness of the Indian market going up, MG is all set to drive in the new generation Hector SUV to India this year.

The car giant has teased a litany of features of the SUV ahead of its launch, which is likely around mid-November.

From the various teaser images and videos, it is likely that MG is working on an upgraded variant of the Hector SUV.

The Indian market has not been an attractive one for small cars and we saw that the Tata Nano was not accepted by prospective buyers even as it targeted to wean away two-wheeler owners.

MG Air is set to take on the upcoming Tata Tiago EV and if prices of the two are similar, it could be likely that Indian car buyers would prefer the Tata Motors’ car rather than the MG two-door electric vehicle.