MG Hector Plus has been launched in India and has made the automobile fraternity excited with its aggressive pricing with the fact that it comes with added practicality beside all the goodness of the Hector. It has the potential to become a potent segment leader. As interesting as it may come across, Hector Plus has some task at hand for coping up well with some popular 7-seater cars including the Toyota Innova Crysta (MPV) and Mahindra XUV500 (SUV). This article intends to put up a straightforward specification comparison in order to check whether it really gets what it takes to put up a serious fight against both the cars.
MG Hector Plus Vs Toyota Innova Crysta Vs Mahindra XUV500
Dimensions
| MG Hector Plus | Toyota Innova Crysta | Mahindra XUV500 |
Length (mm) | 4720 | 4735 | 4585 |
Width (mm) | 1835 | 1830 | 1890 |
Height (mm) | 1760 | 1795 | 1785 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 2750 | 2750 | 2700 |
| Ground Clearance (mm) | 190 (not officially confirmed) | 193 | 200 |
| Fuel Tank Capacity (litres) | 60 | 55 | 70 |
| Seating Capacity | 6 | 7 / 8 | 7 |
| Kerb Weight (kg) | – | 1840-1930 | 1785-1860 |
Here, The Toyota Innova Crysta is technically from a different segment (MPV). It is longer than both the cars. However, its wheelbase is identical to hector plus which means that there will be ample amount of legroom on offer with the three rowed version of Hector.
It is also important to note that, while the Innova gets a 7 / 8 seater configuration and the XUV500 gets a 7 seater configuration, Hector Plus is being offered only with a 6-seater configuration for time being and a seven-seater variant could hit the dealerships somewhere around the festive season.
Engine Options
Both MG Hector Plus & Toyota Innova Crysta are offered with the choice of petrol and diesel. However, the hector plus misses out an automatic gearbox with the diesel engine. Unfortunately, the BS6 Mahindra offering gets only a diesel manual option.
PS: The official fuel economy figures are yet to be revealed for the MG’s Hector Plus, However, we believe that the economy figures for the three rowed version of the popular SUV will be quite similar to its 5 seater MG sibling, the Hector and thus we have listed the fuel economy figures of the Hector
Diesel
This engine-gearbox combination configuration is the only common ground to compare all these cars since it is the only configuration combination available with the XUV 500.
| MG Hector Plus | Toyota Innova Crysta | Mahindra XUV 500 |
Engine Displacement | 1956 cc | 2393 cc | 2179 cc |
| Gearbox | 6-Speed Manual | 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic | 6-Speed Manual |
Power (PS) | 170 | 150 | 155 |
Torque (Nm) | 350 | 360 | 360 |
Fuel Efficiency (kmpl) | 17.41 (expected) | 13.68 | 15.1 |
- Hector Plus gets the most powerful diesel engine of the three, the effective power output from the 2.0-litre diesel engine significantly trumps the Innova Crysta and the XUV 500. Even the torque figures for all the three stand around similar figures hovering around 350 Nm mark.
- As mentioned before that the fuel economy figures of the Hector Plus are not yet out, deriving assumptions from Hector’s figures, we can assert that Hector Plus will deliver a fuel efficiency at least equivalent to XUV500, if not more than the XUV 500.
Petrol
As mentioned earlier, XUV500 is already out of contention, as it does not get a petrol manual option.
| MG Hector Plus | Toyota Innova Crysta | Mahindra XUV 500 |
Engine Displacement | 1451 cc | 2694 cc | – |
| Gearbox | 6-speed Manual or dual-clutch automatic | 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic | |
Power (PS) | 143 | 166 | – |
Torque (Nm) | 250 | 245 | – |
Fuel Efficiency (kmpl) | 13.96 kmpl (DCT), 14.16 kmpl (MT), 15.81kmpl (hybrid) – Expected | 11.25 kmpl (MT), 10.75 kmpl (AT) | – |
- Hector Plus is being offered with a 48-V mild-hybrid system as well that works in conjunction with a manual transmission. Interestingly, it is the only petrol car here that offers a mild-hybrid system.
- Innova Crysta straightaway will take the honours as far as power output is concerned, with a much larger engine on offer.
- In the real world, we believe that MG Hector will deliver a lot better in terms of fuel efficiency.
Prices
Car | Price Range |
MG Hector Plus | Rs 13.73 Lakhs – 18.68 Lakhs |
Toyota Innova Crysta | Rs 15.65 Lakhs – 24.67 Lakhs |
Mahindra XUV 500 | Rs 13.19 Lakhs – 17.69 Lakhs |
*All prices are ex-showroom Delhi
- Mahindra XUV 500 is priced marginally lesser than Hector Plus. We believe the small price difference will surely not be a deal-breaker and Hector Plus can still fare well against XUV 500.
- As a big advantage, Hector Plus is priced significantly cheaper than the Innova (its base variant undercuts Innova with a price difference of around Rs 2 Lakhs) and the price difference widens as we move towards the creamier trims (the top Innova trim is priced at a staggering price difference of around Rs 6 Lakhs).
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, the Innova Crysta is priced on the higher side, which is suggestive of the fact that it is not even a direct Hector Plus or XUV 500 competitor. While it is more spacious, gets a much larger boot and also has been around for quite some while. The fact that the Hector Plus will serve more or less the same purpose at a significantly lesser price tempts the comparison. If you do not have a strict requirement of a 7 / 8 seater, Hector Plus does come across as a worthy choice and can be definitely given a go-ahead against the favourite Indian MPV.
By the looks of it, Hector Plus is more suited to be perceived as a direct XUV500 competitor. They are priced very closely and even happen to be a mid-size SUV as compared to the Innova Crysta which is an MPV. Hector Plus seems to weigh well upon the popular Mahindra car, at least on paper.
