MG will put a Renault 5 rival on the road by 2027, priced from below £25,000 – and it will be designed in the UK.
Called the MG 2, the new EV will sit below the MG 4 EV as the entry-level model to MG’s seven-strong EV line-up, which has been bolstered recently by the S5 EV and S6 EV.
MG Motor UK boss David Allison told Autocar that “it's the obvious area of the market that's next to happen” and “we will absolutely be in there”.
Regarding an arrival date, he said the Chinese brand is “still probably over a year away from it”, suggesting a 2027 launch is viable.
Asked about pricing, Allison said the 2 will be focused on value, rather than just an enticing sticker price. He added: “I think we have moved on. Not consciously, but other brands and other products have come in that are the cheapest.
“If you look at the price of the Dacia Spring and you look at the price of the Leapmotors, that’s not the space we occupy. And I don't necessarily think it will be the space that we can occupy.
"I think our ethos has always been about value. You know, it has not necessarily been about being the cheapest; it has been about providing the most that we can for the best value for money.
“The ZS is Qashqai-sized, but it's Juke money. And I dare say we will see something similar with the 2.”
Technical details are thin, but Autocar understands that the 2 will use the same SAIC Modular Scalable Platform as the 4.
MG will also likely benchmark the 2 against the Renault 5, which is powered by a single 150bhp motor and offers a top-end range of 250 miles from a 52kWh battery.
On design, Allison wouldn't disclose any details but did confirm that “fairly advanced” concepts have already been built, which suggests that mules could soon begin testing.
Offering smaller model now 'much more important'
Allison said the sales response to the Renault 5 has shown that the market for small, affordable EVs is much bigger than previously anticipated, and therefore it's crucial for MG to launch such a model as soon as possible.
“The Renault 5 has made the job much more important,” he said. “I’ve always felt that was the next market that was going to happen, because as Europe transitions towards EVs, inevitably the easiest way of making them more affordable is downsizing.”
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Another very strange decision by Labour Gov if yesterdays Autocar's report is to be believed.
If the recently announced taxpayer subsidies are to exclude cars like this, is that an admission that EV isn't as green as they make it out to be?
If the goal is to get people out of ICE and in to EV, why would Gov exclude cars such as this?
Damn, why are most new cars so mind numbingly dull? The Renault 5 and 4, Mini and Fiat 500 maybe more expensive but I'll glaldly pay more to have a car with personality and so I don't fall asleep at the wheel out of sheer boredom.
How do you know what it's going to look like?
I don't think even MG know what's it going to look like?