ISLAMABAD- The automotive industry has become a hot topic of discussioneven among the common folk of Pakistan due to the several developments thathave taken place recently. One of the names that come up in thesediscussions quite often, is Morris Garages (MG).
Ever since its debut, speculations were made about the automaker’s fate inthe Pakistani market, due in some part to several noteworthy events and abit of controversy, but mostly due to the business and marketing acumen, aswell as the social media activity of its key stakeholder, Javed Afridi.
Recently, Afridi sat down with a UAE-based media outlet for a briefdiscussion, where he stated that the company is set to largen the magnitudeof its impact on the Pakistani automotive industry. He added that two ofthe company’s local assembly plants are in the works, one in Karachi andthe other in Lahore, with the latter almost near completion.
He added that both plants will allow the company to sell locally assembledEVs to the Pakistani public at a reasonable price. He also said that in thecoming days, the company will add three more vehicles to its lineup,including a “surprise” budget family car that would be targeted towards themiddle class.
Although Afridi didn’t share any details about the vehicles that are to belaunched, we have a reason to believe that these three vehicles will be thefollowing:MG Gloster
Out of all the vehicles that Afridi has teased on his social media account,Gloster is the name that has come up more than once. For the unaware, MGGloster is a full-size 7-seater luxury SUV that is larger in size thanboth, the Toyota Fortuner and KIA Sorento, which implies that it would bein a class of its own after launch.
The Gloster is also a proper body-on-frame SUV that comes equipped with a2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 211 horsepowerand 350 Newton/meters of torque and can be mated to a 6-speed manual or an8-speed automatic transmission. In Australia and New Zealand, the vehicleis also offered with turbocharged and twin-turbocharged 4-cylinder dieselengines as well as an all-electric motor.
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The SUV offers several impressive features such as front collision warningsystem, automatic emergency braking, automatic park assist, hill startassist and descent control, power-tailgate, 12.3-inch touchscreeninfotainment system with Applelink CarPlay,and Android Auto connectivity, 6 airbags among many other features.
Being a full-sized 7-8 seater luxury SUV, it is hard to determine a pricepoint for the Gloster SUV. However, it is likely that the Gloster would bepriced almost the same as a locally assembled Toyota Fortuner, between Rs.8 million and Rs. 9.5 million.MG Extender
In several reports, it has been reported that MG will also be bringing theExtender pickup truck to the Pakistani market. A couple of months ago,Javed Afridi, in one of his social media posts, asked the people to suggestthe price of the vehicle as well.
To recap, the Extender is MG’s midsize sports utility pickup truck thatshares almost 75 percent of its underpinnings with the MG Gloster SUV. InPakistan, it is likely to go up against the Toyota Hilux, the Isuzu D-Max,and the upcoming Volkswagen Amarok.——————————
The truck is most commonly available in the international market with a2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel engine that puts out 161 hp and375 Nm of torque. It comes with two drivetrains, a 6-speed manual thatsends power only to the rear wheels, and an all-wheel-drive 6-speedautomatic.
The truck has several modern features such as various driver assists, drivemode selector, smart infotainment system, adaptive cruise control,reversing camera along with the 360-degree top-down view, smartphoneconnectivity, modern head unit display with essential information, tirepressure monitoring system among other features.
The Sports Utility Truck market in Pakistan is as old as time itself withonly one name remaining at the helm, i.e. Toyota Hilux. With that said, theExtender would have to offer a fantastic value in order to beat the king ofpickup trucks. The best price point for the Extender should be between Rs.6 million and Rs. 7 million.MG 3 (The Budget Car)
Quite possibly the car that everyone is most excited about is the MG 3. Acompact, modern, and attractive-looking vehicle, the MG 3 won the hearts ofthe people instantly after having been teased by Javed Afridi on his socialmedia a few months ago.
MG 3 is a sub-compact family hatchback that is likely to rival the SuzukiSwift, KIA Rio, Toyota Vitz, and other similar compact hatchbacks.
In the international market, the vehicle is available with two engineoptions, one of which is a 1.5-liter, naturally aspirated, four-cylinderpetrol engine that makes 105 hp and 137 Nm of torque. The other is also a1.5-liter, four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 109 hp and 150 Nm oftorque. The former comes with a 5-speed manual transmission and the latterhas a 4-speed automatic transmission.
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