Once again, the poster boy for MG Pakistan, Javed Afridi is trending on social media due to his latest post regarding MG 3’s “imminent arrival”. Javed Afridi has been teasing MG3 for years at this point but has never revealed the official launch date for the car.
In his latest tweet, Afridi can be seen standing next to an MG3, although the exact location is unknown. The caption of the photo says “COMING SOON.”
MG3 COMING 🔜 pic.twitter.com/2XiBBIKpKp
— Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) August 15, 2022
Public Response
Afridi’s recent social media exploits have received a great deal of heat from the public for three reasons:
- The government is trying to encourage the sale and purchase of small and cheap vehicles in Pakistan, while MG has its sights fixed on the premium vehicle market (MG 3 isn’t cheap).
- Afridi is “all talk and no walk.” He teased several vehicles for Pakistan in recent times, a majority of which never made it to Pakistan.
- MG has yet to sell a single locally assembled car in Pakistan, despite being in the country for almost two years. Chery and Haval — both of which came to Pakistan well after MG — have already started local assembly.
About MG 3
MG 3 is a sub-compact family hatchback that rivals Suzuki Swift, KIA Rio, Toyota Vitz, and other similar vehicles.
In the international market, MG 3 is available in two engine options. A 1.5-liter, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine (105 hp, 137 Nm torque) that comes with a 5-speed manual transmission and a similar but differently tuned engine (109 hp, 150 Nm torque) that comes with a 4-speed automatic transmission.
MG 3 has a standard eight-inch touch-sensitive infotainment screen with Apple Carplay, Sat-Nav, rear parking sensors, a reverse camera with dynamic guidelines, multi-media controls on the steering wheel, Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control, AC with dust and pollen filters, a four-speaker premium sound system, USB/AUX connectivity, and other basic features.
Price
It bears mentioning that, in the UK, MG 3 is sold as a locally assembled car. Despite that, its starting price is the equivalent of Rs. 3.4 million. Afridi, on the other hand, keeps insisting that it will cost “less than Rs. 2 million” in Pakistan.
With the features and specifications mentioned above, the UK price seems more realistic compared to Afridi’s tall claim.
Launching Soon?
Earlier this year, a senior representative of MG told ProPakistani that, although the company realizes MG 3’s potential and popularity in Pakistan, its launch is not on MG’s plans for the near future.
He reasoned that MG does not sell its hatchback in many Right-Hand Drive (RHD) markets. Resultantly, the production volume for it is quite low, which would make it a challenge for the company to meet its demand in Pakistan.
He clarified that the company plans to launch MG 3 in Pakistan, but only when it’s feasible. He added that the company’s focus is on bringing crossovers to the market first. Once that’s out of the way, then the company will focus on economy cars.
Based on these remarks, MG 3 is not “coming soon” as Javed Afridi has claimed.
