No immediate production impact due to rare-earth crunch: JSW MG Motor

Company says parts pipeline remains steady for now as orders placed in April are arriving; rare-earth supply disruption remains under close watch for future impact

JSW MG Motor India, which is now focussing on launching more premium cars after tasting success with its mass-market electric vehicle (EV) Windsor, says that the shortage of rare earth components is not impacting the company's production plans at the moment, and that it is keeping a close watch on the situation.

 

Anurag Mehrotra, managing director, JSW MG Motor, told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the company’s first premium car showroom “MG Select” in Thane on Wednesday that the firm is as impacted as other players, and that the automotive industry body — Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) — is working with the government to find some resolution to the issue. JSW MG Motor has a Chinese link as it is a joint venture between India's JSW and China's SAIC Motor. "We are as impacted or not impacted as any other vehicle maker in the country," Mehrotra said, adding that it is a very serious issue as it impacts many components, both in ICE (internal combustion engine) and EV.

   

 

"The association is working very closely with the government to ensure that this issue does not impact the production for all vehicles. Whether it’s passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles or two-wheelers, everybody is going to see an impact," he added.

 

The company's production is unlikely to be impacted in the "immediate future", but it will have to "watch the situation very carefully”, according to him. "Because at this point of time, we have a longer lead time of three-four months of cycle. So, the parts that we are getting today had a three-month cycle, which means the orders placed in April are being delivered now. Since the issue has surfaced in the last three-six months, we have to very cautiously watch what happens in the coming months for us," Mehrotra said.

 

At the MG Select showroom in Thane, the company will display MG Cyberster and M9 Presidential Limousine in the initial phase. It has announced plans to set up 14 such outlets in 13 key cities by the end of the third quarter of 2025 calendar.

 

JSW MG Motor has a manufacturing facility at Halol in Gujarat, with an annual production capacity of over 100,000 units. Stating that the two premium car models — Cyberster and M9 — are built in many ways for India and are "affordable luxury", JSW MG Motor Director Parth Jindal said this will elevate the MG brand.

 

 

 

"It will showcase the true power of the technology that we have, the true power of the joint venture that we have between JSW and Shanghai Auto, and we look forward to bringing more cutting-edge products every year, (and) this will be the first (in the series),” Jindal said.

 

"Therefore, we have decided to first bring these two products in. Of course, there will be other products that we will bring. But the first two products are really where we believe we can disrupt the market and create a differentiation in the marketplace. Next year we hope to bring in more products, and we will always bring in cars that are the newest in technology… They will be either electric or plug-in hybrid," he added.

 

The company is set to reveal the prices of the two luxury EV car models later this month.

 

Asked whether the company was looking at launching hybrid models as well, Mehrotra said: "So, we have clearly articulated our playbook that we will focus on new energy vehicles to deliver clean mobility solutions. That is really the goal that we are working towards. And for clean energy, all powertrains that are required will be made available depending on the business case, whether it is for EVs, plug-in hybrids or hybrids." 

(With inputs from PTI)