MG Comet lands in India with an unusual marketing campaign

The pocket-sized MG Comet went on sale in India starting at $9,700 with only one powertrain and one battery but as many as 250 decal options to spice up the exterior. MG Comet is a longer version of the two-seat Wuling Air with both vehicles being owned by the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture.

There is no getting away from it - the Comet is tiny. It is a few centimeters short of 3 meters and its turning circle is a ridiculous 4.2 meters meaning it can turn around on a normal road making the three-point turn useless. Those 12-inch wheels look seriously cute but dealing with potholes will be a nightmare.

The 17.3 kWh battery is rated for up to 230 km (143 miles) and the 40 hp electric motor won’t break speed records but it’ll get people from A to B. Funny enough, the Comet supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - something that Tesla is still struggling with.

The interior is functional, the 4 seats are small and it’ll be a tight squeeze for four people but personal space is not an issue in India. The large dual display takes care of infotainment and - honestly - there is a lot of it. The car offers over 55 connected features, it responds to over 100 voice commands, and it even comes with a digital key app that lets owners share their cars with whomever they wish. And the internet connection is free for one year. That’s a lot of tech crammed into a tiny car.

Then there is the marketing campaign which probably deserves its own article. Marketing campaigns are always over the top, people who come up with them spend sleepless nights trying to flower up the language as much as it’s possible without making it cringy. Well, MG took it a step further - a leap further in fact.

MG Comet apparently sports a design from the future, with a sleek 2-door look. Why the future? Because the car’s logo lights up every time the door opens. Then the company goes on a cringy trip sounding like your grandpa trying to be cool with grandkids - yikes. Just look at it:

MG thinks it is “cutting the crap” by “keeping it real” and offering 250 stickers for the car. The car that’s not even a car, it’s a glorified golf buggy with a roof and a wiper. It’s available in 3 colors - although MG will tell you it comes in 4. To us, white is white whatever you call it. Those poor kids in the photos gesturing at each other, trying to look as if they are enjoying this whole situation - they are definitely not buying the Comet.

But the cherry on the cake is the skateboard - how desperate is MG to stuff a skateboard in a photo? What’s the reason for that? Does it come free with the car in case it runs out of juice? Or is it here because it got lost and it thought the Comet was its big momma? Oh the questions - MG just exposed itself to a never-ending barrage of social media abuse. This one will be a meme.

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