Chinese carmaker Baojun has introduced an updated version of its popular 530 SUV. For those who don’t know, MG Motor India’s first product – the Hector – is based on the Baojun 530, as both the MG and the Baojun brands are owned by the same parent, SAIC Motor.
Coming back to the SUV, the Baojun 530 went on sale in China a few years before India received the MG Hector, which means the company has now given it a mid-cycle update for that market. The updated model is 40mm longer than the pre-facelift version and features restyled front and rear bumpers, new-look alloy wheels and mild tweaks to the interior as well. The pre-facelift Baojun 530 was sold with two layouts – a five-seat configuration in China and a seven-seat configuration. With this facelift, the manufacturer has introduced a new layout, one that includes four individual captain seats for the first two rows and a bench seat for the third row.
The refreshed Baojun 530 is on sale in that market with the same 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that also sees duty on the MG Hector.
The Hector currently is available with only a five-seat layout in the Indian market but the company has plans to introduce more seating configurations.
We broke the news back in May 2019 about the model receiving a three-row seating configuration in the coming months.
“Technically, we cannot call it a 7- or 8-seater due to its dimensions, but the Hector will get a third row of seats and that should come around the same time as the BS6 emission norms come into effect,” said Chaba.
While it is confirmed that the Hector will get a three-row variant in future, company sources tell us that it is this six-seat configuration (with captain seats for the second row) that will most likely be introduced in the Indian market. However, it is not yet confirmed if the Hector will get a design update as the SUV has been on sale for barely four months.
Despite MG Motor India launching the Hector at the end of June, the company has already sold more than 3,500 units and has a huge backlog of 28,000 cars. The brand has currently stopped accepting bookings for the SUV and is likely to reopen them early next month. The 5,000th MG Hector had rolled off the brand’s production line in Halol, Gujarat at the beginning of this month.
Expect the India market launch of the three-row Hector sometime early next year, around the same time as Auto Expo 2020. Key rivals to the MG Hector include the Kia Seltos, Tata Harrier, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500, Renault Captur and the Nissan Kicks.
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