From Durham to Delhi: 2020 MG Hector, Featuring Benedict Cumberbatch

Foreign-market cars are always an interesting case study on these digital pages. The latest craft to catch our eye? The MG Hector, India’s newest family SUV.

When we said that brand, you may have thought we were going to say Britain’s newest family SUV. For that, you are easily forgiven. After all, the Morris Garages name is as quintessentially British as a kidney pie on a foggy morning. The brand was bought ages ago by Chinese interests, of course, and is now making inroads into the Indian market following a tough year of sales in its home country.

To amp things up, they’ve signed the devilishly debonair Benedict Cumberbatch to huck the Hector. About the length of the 2020 Ford Escape, this MG is packed with voice-activated and internet-connected technologies and priced at the equivalent of just $17,600.

Remind me again why cars like this won’t sell on our side of the pond?

Well, besides the obvious of course. The steering wheel is on the wrong side, and who knows how much fandangling it would take to switch it for left-hand drive markets. Perhaps a little; perhaps a lot. Only SAIC MG engineers know for sure. What the Hector does have are decent looks, the backing of a popular actor, feature-rich technology, and a rock-bottom price.

Engine selection is generally another knock against certain foreign-market cars, ones which allegedly don’t have the puff to cruise along Midwestern interstates. Hector makes 141 horsepower from its 1.5L turbocharged mill, compared to 179hp in a turbo Honda CR-V with the same displacement. A six-speed manual is standard.

But it’s the level of tech in that video advertising this $17,600 machine that gob-smacks your author. Sure, the company isn’t going to show the first 27 times Benedict had to ask Hector to turn on the air conditioning before it understood and carried out the command. But to have this feature on an extremely cheap SUV would probably be very compelling to some American customers and the 10.4-inch infotainment screen is much more seamlessly integrated than the iPad-on-the-dash look of the new Ford Explorer.

The names of its trim levels ⁠— Style, Super, Smart, and Sharp ⁠— are also very entertaining. “You’re looking Sharp today, Hector,” takes on a whole new meaning. Close examination of the brochure also reveals they call it a ‘co-pilot’ and not ‘passenger’ seat in this market, a phrase which is wholly satisfying to your author.