How MG plans to take on Mazda, Ford and Toyota

The Roewe RX9 is expected to become the MG QS

MG has set its sights on becoming one of Australia’s top three best-selling car brands, putting it on a direct collision course with the likes of Ford, Mazda, Kia and Mitsubishi.

Last week we revealed the brand has plans to introduce an all-new ute, but that will be the final piece in the puzzle. Before then, MG will unleash a flood of new models in 2025, with at least eight all-new offerings coming our way. This will more-than-double the brand’s Australian portfolio as it looks to grow its reach beyond just the small car end of the market.

“Every major segment, we will cover… full-size SUV, ute, everything,” MG Australia CEO, Peter Ciao told Torquecafe. “And then, each segment, we won’t just have the product, we need to provide the best offer. Best offer includes [the] best price and good enough technology.”

Currently MG Australia offers the MG3 hatch, MG4 electric hatch, MG5 small sedan, ZS small SUV and the HS mid-size SUV, as well as the recently launched Cyberster halo sports car. In 2025 the brand has plans to complete the recently updated ZS and HS line-ups, introducing the petrol-engine variants of the ZS (having launched with the new ZS Hybrid+) and adding hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants to the HS range.

MG will expand its SUV line-up by introducing an all-new seven-seat option to sit above the HS and give it a rival to the likes of the Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Kluger.

While Ciao didn’t reveal any official details of this new model, besides referring to it as the QS, it’s expected to be a verison of the Roewe RX9. The Roewe brand is part of MG’s parent group, SAIC Motors, and Ciao has made it clear that his preference is to pull the best options from across the wider organisation but badge them all as ‘MG’ in Australia.

This is also expected to be true for a pair of more premium electric vehicles from SAIC’s iM Motors brand. Ciao has long talked about his interest in offering the L6 sedan and LS6 SUV and both models are locked in for a 2025 launch.

Finally, there will be two more electric options as the brand looks to diversify its range alongside its petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models. An all-new model, known as the ES5 in China, will effectively replace the ZS EV in the range. MG Australia will also add a mid-size electric SUV, which will be the replacement for MG’s current Marvel R, which was never built in right-hand drive so not offered here. However, the new model is confirmed for our shores as SAIC grows its global reach.

While conceding that much of its success is built on offering cut-price alternatives to the established brands, MG Australia’s management believes the time is right to start to shift away from this ‘cheap’ image and towards a ‘value’ focus. This is undoubtedly a risk, but MG Australia’s chief commercial officer, Giles Belcher, is confident that the new models will justify the expected price bump.

“Well, the quality and the technology in the cars is generationally different to the vehicles that they’re replacing,” Belcher told Torquecafe. “With that there is an increase in the price but it’s still the best value and that’s where the value idea comes from. In each segment we still want to represent the best value car in that segment.

“Now you know value means different things to different people, but if you have a look at the pricing of the MG3, the ZS hybrid, what you get in the car and the price it is, it just represents, we believe, the best value in the segment. And that’s kind of Peter’s vision for every segment we compete in is to offer the best value car. And that’s not just price now, it’s the technology, the performance, the quality, the fit and finish, you know, the whole package. That’s where we believe the product sits. And we believe once people experience it they’ll agree.”

What do you think about MG’s ‘top three’ aspirations? Can the brand win over more customers with its more affordable, ‘value’ led line-up?