If we had to elaborate a classification with the brands of cars, and the products, which were the great winners of the past year, MG Motor should be present.
The last year served to verify that, Despite the rise in the prices of most cars, the wave of manufacturers of Chinese origin that is arriving in Europe still gives us hope. The hope that it will continue to be possible to find cars at acceptable prices – and we are no longer talking only about the lowest ranges, but also about premium cut products.
And also that among new car buyers there is a need to buy cheap cars. And that this need is managing to overcome the misgivings that, in another time, could be had to a newly arrived car brand. Especially if it was a brand that produces its cars in China.
The Spanish buyer is increasingly looking for cheap cars, and this is managing to overcome the misgivings that newcomer brands generated until recently, especially if their origin was China.
The star purchase of SUVs in 2023
We started the year with a price rise. Of the €12,950 it cost last year, the MG ZS has come to have a price of €13,990. Despite the increase, no other car is capable of offering so much at the moment. As we said, the MG ZS is a car the size of a SEAT Ateca, with a large 448-litre boot.
At its price it is not possible to buy any other vehicle of its characteristics. But neither will you find a car so equipped as standard. In fact, its standard equipment even exceeds that of the SEAT Ateca cheaper, starting at €24,540€10,550 more than the MG, and that to have all the equipment of the cheapest MG ZS requires us to choose a more expensive and equipped version.
As standard, the MG ZS has:
- 17″ alloy wheels
- rear parking sensors
- Full LED headlights
- 10.1″ color touch screen
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
If we opt for the superior version, which already starts at €16,190, a 360º parking camera, digital instrumentation, heated front seats, six-way adjustable electric driver’s seat and imitation leather upholstery are added.
Why is it so cheap from the MG ZS?
We might be tempted to explain the price of the MG ZS, well below that of any other product available on the market, by the mere fact that it is made in China. And it is true that this is a factor that influences, and a lot. But, first, the mere fact of being made in China is not synonymous with an adjusted price, in fact there are many other products that are made in China (some Tesla, for example) and they are not necessarily cheap. Second, because to understand why an MG ZS can be so cheap, perhaps we should analyze why the rest of the cars are now so expensive.
The increase in the price of brands such as Dacia (the Cheaper Dacia Sandero already costs €13,040) has been closely related to the disappearance of the cheapest versions and also with the prioritization of production – due to the bottlenecks that have been caused in European factories – in the most expensive versions. Producing cheap cars, with gasoline engines without electrification, also has an increasing cost for car brands, since it penalizes their average emission reduction targets.
Hence, this type of car is disappearing or is becoming more expensive.
For MG Motor, by contrast, this is far from being a problem. And in fact it is one of the brands with the highest share of electrified vehicles sold. If we look at its new car sales in Europe last year (excluding the UK), of the 59,300 cars sold by MG, only 13,694 (23.09%) had a gasoline engine without any electrification technology, like the one in the MG. ZS cheaper. 14,190 (23.93%) of its sales were made by plug-in hybrids and 31,416 (52.98%) of them by electric batteries.
In fact, the MG ZS is also available for €23,480 (including Plan MOVES) in its electric version. And MG is selling in Europe almost as many electric ZS (12,963 units in 2022), as gasoline ZS (13,383). So MG is not feeling the toll that emissions are having on new cars and that will keep many new car prices going up for years to come.