MG is the fashion brand. And we would have to be very wrong for the return of a historic British brand like this, now under the capital of SAIC (the image above, which illustrates this article, is of one of its models) and with products made in China that have broken, for complete, the Spanish market, did not culminate by placing it at the top of the best-seller lists.
The MG ZS achieved two milestones in October, ranking that month as the fourth best-selling electric car in Spain (in its ZS EV version) and as the fourth best-selling gasoline car in Spain (in its internal combustion version), thanks to a claim as powerful as it is to offer one of the cheapest cars on the market – even more than a Dacia Sandero – with a spacious SUV body and very complete equipment. The price of gasoline MG ZS starts at €12,950while that of the electric ZS EV starts at €22,280including discount for financing and aid from the MOVES Plan. In its electric version the ZS is even cheaper than many of the gasoline SUVs of its size.
The MG4 Electric has been the last great launch of MG, starting with a price from €19,280including discounts for financing the purchase and aid from the MOVES Plan – which MG anticipates with an advance of the amount of the aid in the form of interest-free credit for one year.
However, what will be MG’s next big release?
The MG ZS has already taken a position in the lists of best-selling gasoline and electric cars in Spain
MG Marvel R.MG’s not-so-cheap SUV
The MG Marvel R is one of MG’s least known products, at the moment, but no less interesting.. The MG Marvel R, for example, is not marketed in the UK and is only available in right-hand drive European markets. In fact, the Marvel R is not a product that was initially designed to be marketed as an MG. In China, SAIC, the largest carmaker in China (with more than half a million vehicles sold per month), and parent of MG Motor, launched the Marvel R as part of Roewe’s premium range.
Available with a starting price of €31,290including discounts and aid from the MOVES Plan, MG wanted to support its electric range in Europe with an SUV that advocates a more premium approachwith considerable dimensions (it is 8 and 9 centimeters longer, respectively, than a Volkswagen ID.5 and an ID.4), a large trunk (with a capacity of 507 liters) and a lot of technology on board, with a dashboard dominated by a huge central screen.
In the United Kingdom there is already talk of a possible successor to the Marvel R. But, for now, we will stay with how interesting it is that MG Motor can have in Europe any of the products from SAIC’s extensive catalog in China. And that precisely could be the next big release from MG.
The MG Marvel R is a product of the Chinese giant SAIC with a more premium position, which MG has taken advantage of to diversify its range in Europe.
MG4 Electric.An electric cheaper than a diesel or a gasoline
The MG4 Electric has been, without a doubt, the great launch of this year. We have been talking for a long time about the moment when electric cars will match their price with their diesel and gasoline alternatives. And that is precisely the milestone achieved by this electric compact that, thanks to the MOVES Plan, has been able to position itself, with the size of a SEAT León (starting at €22,990 with a gasoline engine), with a starting price of €19,280. € and a really complete standard equipment and superior to that offered by most of the compacts on the market in their access versions.
If this MG4 Electric has shown anything, it is that MG Motor is capable of selling state-of-the-art, well-equipped electric cars at prices unattainable for its European rivals. But this is only the beginning. The MG4 debuts an electric platform and technology, which includes the finest battery on the market, and that MG Motor has already confirmed to us that it will be available in the new generation of MG electrics.
We will see many products based on the platform and technology of the MG4. And we will see many products that are expected to enter the market with prices that will be well below those of their traditional brand rivals. And there could be the next big release from MG.
The MG4 Electric is the first of a whole series of electric vehicles, technologically advanced and well-equipped, whose prices will be well below the market average.
IM Motors L7.MG, competing against Tesla?
As we told you, MG has the entire SAIC catalog to launch in Europe any product they deem appropriate to achieve their goals. And we know that MG Motor has considered expanding its catalog with some of SAIC’s most outstanding products, among which could be its most premium electrics, which would compete directly with Tesla, and even with the German premiums. And be very careful with the catalog available to SAIC.
In its premium catalog, SAIC has brands such as IM Motors, started together with the technology and logistics giant Alibaba. And it has different products that stand out for a very high technological endowment that is reflected in its interior (see the first image that illustrates this article), luxury sedans and SUVs around 5 meters in length, removable battery systems and with wireless charging, more than 90 kWh and autonomy of more than 600 kilometers and electrical systems that can reach around 600 CV of power.
With an increasingly extensive distribution network in Europe and under the protection of the volume that its most affordable and popular products have already reached, MG would find much greater support than that of brands such as BYD and WEY, at least initially. They have set out to land in Europe with high-end electric (and plug-in) vehicles.
MG Cyberster Concept, prototype that anticipates the future electric sports car of MG.Anticipating the next big MG release
To recap, there are two possibilities for MG’s next big launch, joined by a third, which has already been confirmed and is getting closer:
- MG’s next big release will be a new electric that inherits the technology of the MG4 and that regardless of whether it is positioned in the market above or below it (probably the former), it should be at very competitive prices compared to its European rivals, in line with what happened with the launch of the MG4. We could think of a new SUV, and even that this was the successor to the Marvel R, as they have pointed out in the United Kingdom these days (coach.co.uk)
- MG’s next big release could also be a premium product from the SAIC catalogan option that MG Motor would have valued and that it would have carried out in the past with the Marvel R. With this launch, MG would enter the struggle, not only with economic and general products of traditional brands, but also with electric ones such as those of Tesla.
- And one of the big launches, which will also arrive sooner rather than later, will be that of an electric sports car, with a futuristic design and a passionate approach, whose image would have inspired the MG Cyberster Concept prototype presented in 2021. We know that MG wants to offer more passionate products. Let’s remember that in the past it had products such as the MG TF, a two-seater roadster. And, as a final curiosity to end this article, just remember that among the many rights and brands that were transferred to SAIC in the purchase of MG Rover, there are other emblems as legendary as Austin-Healey.
