After a lot of wait, MG has finally unveiled the Astor! The Astor is going to be MG’s cheapest offering in India. The Astor is going to compete against the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq and the upcoming Volkswagen Taigun in the mid-size SUV segment. Let’s take a look at what the Astor has to offer:
Exterior
The Astor is basically the facelifted version of the ZS which was unveiled last year globally and it looks like MG is bringing in the latest ZS petrol or the Astor to India. Coming to the looks up front, the 2020 MG ZS features a revised profile. A new hexagonal grille and full-LED headlamps with LED DRLs highlight the visuals upfront. The side features 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels and red brake callipers. The rear gets LED tail lamps and a faux skid plate.
Interior
The interior gets a soft-touch leather dashboard with aluminium accents. There will be an option of three interior colour schemes, including a dual-tone Sangria red, dual-tone Iconic Ivory and Tuxedo black. The centre stage is taken by the 10.1-inch HD touchscreen which features Jio e-sim for connected car features such as voice commands.
It also gets an AI assistant which is basically a droid placed on the Astor’s dashboard that can interact with you. Perform certain functions and it can also change its expressions! Think of it as MG’s version of the ‘OK Google!’ voice assistance that we have on our Android smartphones but giving it a separate physical entity is one cool move! Other features include a panoramic sunroof, push-button start/stop, 6-way electrically adjustable driver seat, PM 2.5 filter for the A/C, three modes for the steering wheel, heated ORVMS, rain-sensing wipers, digital key with Bluetooth technology and a 360-degree parking camera.
The Astor will come loaded with active and passive safety features. It will come with 6 airbags, traction control, electronic stability control and hill descent control. It will also feature autonomous level 2 capability such as adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, speed assist system, blind-spot detection, forward-collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert and intelligent headlamp control.
Powertrain
The MG Astor will only come with two petrol engines. The first is a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre engine producing 110hp and 144nm of torque. It comes mated to an 8-step CVT gearbox or a manual gearbox. The more powerful engine is a 1.3-litre turbocharged engine that produces 140hp and 220nm of torque and comes mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox.