These latest spy pictures show an undisguised version of the new MG 5, which is expected to go on sale in China in the middle of next year and reach Europe in 2013.
The images, from auto.sohu.com, are the clearest indicators yet of the new MG 5’s styling. It closely resembles the Focus-size Concept 5 hatchback displayed at the Shanghai motor show earlier this year.
Concept 5 was the work of MG’s Longbridge design studio and the show car itself was built in the UK. The production version of the Concept 5 is codenamed AP12 and rides on a version of the 350 platform MG shares with Chinese partner Roewe. A torsion beam rear suspension setup has been rumoured.
By the time of its UK launch, the MG 5's dynamics and some aspects of its design will have been reworked to suit European tastes. It will initially be powered by the existing NSE petrol engine range of 1.3 and 1.8-litre engines.
The MG 5 is designed to slot beneath the slightly larger MG 6 that went on sale in the UK last year. Read our road test of the MG 6 here.
The car's appearance will bolster the manufacturer’s range and, with the MG 3, take the brand back into the UK market’s heartland. At the Shanghai show earlier this year, MG and Roewe design director Tony Williams-Kenny said MG is being pitched as “youthful, on trend and progressive”.
The MG 5 is part of a raft of planned new models that include an all-new sports car, a hybrid and a crossover version of the MG 3.
