MG Windsor EV Chases 70% Localisation: Smart Move, But Buyers Should Still Wait
JSW MG Motor India has said it will push localisation of the Windsor EV past 70 per cent to insulate its best-selling electric car from supply chain shocks, as it targets double-digit sales growth in calendar 2026. The Windsor has crossed 75,000 cumulative wholesales in 21 months since its October 2024 launch.
What was announced
JSW MG Motor India Managing Director Anurag Mehrotra told PTI the company will lift Windsor EV localisation to over 70 per cent, framing it as a supply-chain resilience move rather than a cost-out exercise. The Windsor, launched in October 2024 in a battery-as-a-service format, has crossed 75,000 cumulative wholesales in 21 months, making it MG's best-selling EV in India and a bigger contributor to volumes than the Hector or the ZS EV.
Localisation past 70 per cent is how the Windsor holds its price band; reliability track record is how it holds its buyers.
The Windsor is currently priced between Rs 14.09 lakh and Rs 18.60 lakh ex-showroom, with the battery either bundled into the on-road price or leased separately under the BaaS plan at a per-kilometre rate. MG says demand is no longer concentrated in metros, with tier-2 and tier-3 cities now contributing a meaningful share of bookings. The company sold 70,554 vehicles across its portfolio in the previous fiscal and is targeting double-digit growth by the end of this calendar year, with the Windsor expected to remain the volume anchor.
The localisation push comes against a backdrop of tightening rare-earth magnet supplies from China and a broader industry scramble to reduce dependence on imported EV components, particularly motors, battery cells and power electronics. MG has not disclosed which sub-assemblies will be localised first, but drive units and battery pack assembly are the usual early candidates.
The Car Jury verdict
Localisation is the right lever to pull. A 70 per cent local content floor cushions the Windsor against rare-earth curbs, rupee swings and Chinese component uncertainty, and it is the only credible path to holding the current ex-showroom band of Rs 14.09 lakh to Rs 18.60 lakh. Rachit Hirani of MotorOctane has flagged that MG's product strategy, launching the Windsor as both EV and ICE-adjacent BaaS, has clearly worked at scale.
That said, buyer caution stays. Arun Panwar has publicly questioned MG's long-term reliability track record versus established rivals, and the Windsor's resale and service depth are still unproven over a full ownership cycle. Our standing call on the MG Windsor EV remains WAIT: let the localised cars reach showrooms and the first ownership horror stories, or absence of them, show up before you sign.
