MG Motor India has revealed its new Astor SUV for the Indian market. The Astor is MG’s new offering in the mid-size SUV space that sits below the Hector and will take on the likes of the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.
In terms of styling, the MG Astor for the most part looks just like its all-electric counterpart — the ZS EV. However, the Astor carries the styling of the facelifted ZS available abroad, giving it a differentiated styling from the ZS EV. The Astor gets a new front end design with a hexagonal ‘Celestial’ grille, revised front bumper, new fog light housing and new headlights with LED Daytime Running Lights. In profile, the Astor looks just like the ZS EV, though the rear sports a new bumper with faux dual exhausts and a faux skid plate. The Astor’s new diamond cut 17-inch alloy wheels also help differentiate the two models.
MG has packed the Astor with features and tech such as a new 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system which will feature a Jio e-SIM for connected car features. It also gets an AI-based personal assistant that can follow voice commands and answer queries from online sources. Besides this, the top-spec model also comes with a panoramic sunroof, heated ORVMs, digital key, automatic climate control, rain-sensing wipers, 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, a powered driver’s seat and leather upholstery.
The biggest highlight though is the Level-2 ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) functions which brings with it multiple active safety features. These include adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, lane departure prevention and speed assist.
The Astor will be available with two petrol engine options. The first is a 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine developing 110hp and 144Nm. The other is a more powerful, 1.3-litre turbo-petrol engine that churns out 140hp and 220Nm. The 1.5-litre petrol engine will be offered with a manual gearbox as well as an 8-step CVT automatic gearbox, while the 1.3-litre turbo-petrol will only be available with a 6-speed automatic gearbox.
