JSW MG Motor India plans plug-in hybrid SUV in 4 new models this year

JSW MG Motor India plans to introduce four new models this year, including a plug-in hybrid SUV, as part of its five-year plan to pursue the next phase of growth, according to its managing director Anurag Mehrotra. The company, which has unveiled premium SUV ‘Major’, will increase its production capacity from the current 1.2 lakh units to 3 lakh units annually and increase localization besides introducing new models, with a total investment of up to Rs 5,000 crore, Mehrotra told PTI in an interview. “As we prepare for the next phase, we have made a five-year plan. The five-year plan calls for increasing the volumes to about 3 lakh units,” he said. Mehrotra further said, “We are looking to invest anywhere between Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore, which will be for plant expansion. It will be on products, and it will be on promoting localization. These three will essentially be where our capex will go.” In terms of funding, he said the company is looking at various options including internal sources and external funding. “The expansion will typically take about 18 months,” he said about the timeline for the annual capacity addition. The company’s Halol plant in Gujarat has a current annual capacity of 1.2 lakh units.

In 2024, JSW MG Motor India – a joint venture between China’s SAIC and Indian conglomerate JSW Group – had announced that it would spend Rs 5,000 crore to increase production capacity and launch a new car every 3-6 months. When asked about new products, he said, “This year alone we are looking at launching four products.” The first is MAJESTOR, which is expected to hit the market in April-May this year and will compete with vehicles like the Toyota Fortuner. “After this we will have three more products in this calendar year itself,” Mehrotra said. “The remaining three products outside of MAJESTOR will all be new energy vehicles, and one of them will be a plug-in hybrid,” he added. Mehrotra further said, ‘All the four products we are talking about will be SUVs.’ Three products will be in the MG channel and one will be for the premium range ‘MG Select’, he said. On the sales outlook, Mehrotra said the company sees overall passenger vehicle industry growth in ‘double digits’, “especially after GST rationalization and the base effect of the first half of 2025 when the growth was very low”. “A similar story will emerge in the case of EVs, where penetration is expected to increase further,” he said, adding that EV penetration is expected to increase from 4.5 per cent in 2025 to around 7-8 per cent in 2026.