Like Michael Kors in fashion? MG Select targets ‘accessible luxury’ car buyers

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SAIC Motor's India joint venture JSW MG Motor India on Monday said it will launch a new sales channel brand, ‘MG Select’ which will bring hybrid, plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs), picked from SAIC's global new energy vehicle (NEV) portfolio to Indian consumers under an accessible luxury banner. The new sales channel, akin to a Nexa from Maruti Suzuki, but more high-end, will cater to a growing base of premium car buyers, particularly those over 30 years of age, looking for cars priced above ₹30-40 lakh.

MG Select will launch four products in two years, starting with the first half of 2025. The channel will introduce the first hybrids and plug-in hybrids from MG Motor in India, which already sells the ZS and the newly introduced Windsor EV in the country. The Select channel will open in 12 cities in its first phase, with new standalone experience centres put up by existing and new MG dealers.

The initiative, which will first be adopted in India, will also serve as a testbed for MG's other global markets. “Our mandate that we are working on internally is that this should be the way going forward, which will help the MG brand globally also to have two distinct lines, MG and MG Select," Gaurav Gupta, chief growth officer at JSW MG Motor India, told Mint. MG Motor India sells models in a wide price range in India, starting with the ₹6.99 lakh MG Comet to the MG Gloster, which has variants priced well over ₹40 lakh.

But for MG Motor, building a luxury ‘aura’ around its premium products meant it decided to take the separate sales channel route. “To establish the luxury experience, and a unique, distinct aura around it, this (the sales channel) has to be separated. We