JSW MG Motor India on Wednesday said it intends to move away from conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as it focuses on new energy vehicles (NEVs) for the future, and the company expects 50 per cent of its total sales to come from NEVs in the current calendar year.
“We want to bank on the NEVs. So, whether that is strong hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery electric vehicles, these will be the cornerstone of MG, going forward,” Parth Jindal, Director at JSW MG Motor India, said.
The company launched electric crossover utility vehicle (CUV) ‘Windsor’ — the first launch after JSW Group invested in MG Motor India – offering a unique ownership programme, Battery as a Service (BaaS).
It has an introductory price of ₹9.99 lakh + ₹3.5/km for battery rental (as optional) and a lifetime battery warranty to the first owner with assured 60 per cent buyback after three years/45,000 km and one-year free charging at public chargers through the eHUB by MG app.
The Windsor is powered by a 38 kWh Li-ion battery pack and has a range of 331 km under standard conditions on a single charge. It can be charged in 40 minutes at any DC fast charger.
Moving away from ICE
“The traditional ICE, as we call it, without even a mild hybrid option, is something that we want to do away with. We are not very keen on bringing that into the country,” Jindal said.
However, he also noted that for certain models, if the technology has not developed, the company may take the call. “It is not that MG will never bring it (ICE), but as much as we can avoid it, we would like to avoid,” he added.
Rajeev Chaba, CEO Emeritus, JSW MG Motor India, said that currently, EVs account for 35 per cent of the company’s total sales.
“We have five cars right now and Windsor is the sixth — a total of three EVs and three ICE vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, our EV sales volumes have grown 52 per cent,” he said, adding that bookings of Windsor will start on October 3, and deliveries will start from October 12.