Game Changer : This announcement also makes the MG Windsor a milestone in production; as per the official announcement from MG Motor India, it has produced 15,000 units of the EV at its Halol plant. The brand has now also stated only 15 percent of MG Windsor buyers have actually gone ahead with the Battery as a Service (BaaS) scheme, as well as that it receives around 200 bookings a day for the EV, leading to production ramp-up.
MG Windsor BaaS sales
It seems MG Windsor buyers would rather purchase the EV outright than go for a battery rental schemeThe fact that only 15 percent of Windsor customers opt for the BaaS scheme shows a clear preference to purchase the model outright. As you can see below, with the recent increase in Windsor prices, there is a constant Rs 4 lakh price gap between the total ex-showroom price and what a person choosing the battery rental scheme would pay initially. Though mind you, the cost of a battery rental has also increased from Rs 3.5 per km to Rs 3.9 per km.
Prices (ex-showroom, India): MG Windsor Variant Without Baas With BaaS Battery rental Excite 14 lakh 9.99 Rs 3.5/km Exclusive ₹15 lakh ₹10.99 lakh ₹3.9/km Essence Rs 16 lakh Rs 11.99 lakh Rs 3.9/km MG BaaS scheme could be too complicated for buyersOne of the reasons buyers may be choosing to purchase the Windsor outright rather than going for the battery rental option is that the BaaS scheme can seem complex to comprehend. As our MG Windsor battery rental feature outlined, BaaS is
essentially a finance scheme and will be underwritten by specific third-party financiers, which will each have their own terms and conditions. Resale of an MG Windsor purchased through the BaaS program will also get more complicated. To address some of the issues of selling a second-hand Windsor, the brand does have a buyback scheme in place — one that is a part of its MG Shield plan, and which can be up to 60 percent of the car’s price.Essence trim in top-spec MG Windsor accounts for 80 per cent of orders
MG Windsor showroom
IMAGE SOURCE MG Motor India has also confirmed that the brand is receiving around 200 bookings for the Windsor every day, with approximately 80 percent of the bookings being for the top-spec Essence variant, which retails for Rs 16 lakh. The two variants — entry-level Windsor Excite and mid-spec Exclusive — contribute to 20 percent of bookings.
The Windsor is doing well in terms of sales, benefitting MG Motor India, which saw that in the first three months after going on sale, the EV already made up 49 per cent of total MG sales. In fact, MG Windsor wholesales surpassed 10,000 units before the end of December.
The growing demand for the MG Windsor has necessitated plans for an increase in production capacity at the brand’s plant situated in Halol, Gujarat. Biju Balendran, deputy MD, JSW MG Motor India, stated that they were expanding the capacity to cater to the growing demand, and added, “We are making certain modifications in the facility also to prepare for new products under MG Select, which is expected to be launched in the first half of this calendar year. So we expect a production slowdown during February, which could impact our wholesales in that periodoy.” Prices for the first MG Select model, the Cyberster, will then be released before the M9 MPV is made available by March