5 Technological Advantages Of The MG Astor Over The Hyundai Creta

MG has officially teased its upcoming SUV, the Astor, and detailed some of the impressive technology that will be on offer. It will be competing against the likes of the Hyundai Creta which has dominated the compact SUV segment in India for years. Even though the second-gen Creta is fairly well-equipped, here are some of the features that the MG Astor will be offering over the Hyundai:

Personal AI Assistant

While digital assistants integrated into a car’s infotainment system for voice enabled features are somewhat common in this segment, like Hyundai BlueLink in the Creta. MG will take things a step further. The Astor’s dash will feature a robot’s head that looks a bit like an alarm clock which will be the car’s personal AI assistant. This ornament will have a display for its animated eyes and expressions as it engages with the user and can even “look” at the person interacting with it. 

It will be activated by the voice prompt “Hello Astor” and can provide information and interactions such as news, jokes, wikipedia pages, navigation, select in-car controls and critical in-car warnings. The AI will be able to understand ‘Hinglish’ like the connected car tech system in other MG models sold in India.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

Using mid-range radars and cameras, the Astor will be able to offer an additional layer of safety and convenience. The ADAS systems confirmed by MG include:

• Automatic emergency braking

• Lane keep assist,

• Lane departure prevention

• Speed assist (can automatically or manually limit your speed to match the speed defined on road signs in the area)

• Adaptive cruise control

• Rear cross traffic alert

360-degree camera

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While the Astor will not be the first to offer a 360-degree camera in this segment, it is something that the Creta misses out on. Other benefits from multiple cameras for a 360-degree field of view include features such as blind-spot monitoring and rear view driving  monitor.

Integrated services via partnerships

MG had recently announced that it had partnered with network provider Jio to develop a fully-integrated ecosystem for the connected tech features on the Astor. As part of that association, the MG SUV will also offer Jio Saavn for streaming music to your car’s infotainment system. Other partner-based features and conveniences include navigation and traffic updates with MapMyIndia, and parking reservation in malls via Park+.

Digital driver’s display

While MG is yet to reveal the Astor in its entirety, we noted that it featured a digital instrument cluster. This display not only enhances the premium experience of a vehicle, but also opens up for features and information to be displayed to the driver with ease. For instance, features such as blind-spot monitoring where the camera feed can be relayed on the driver’s display.

Meanwhile, the Creta only gets a semi-digital cluster with a 7-inch display that only shows a limited amount of information.