So in-demand are several of its models that MG has overtaken Skoda (161,210, -28%) in China, selling 163,053 (+5%) vehicles during the year to the end of August. SAIC’s reinvention of the brand as a maker of multiple SUVs (as well as a few cars too) has delivered the results it was after. Sales are also accelerating in many other countries. That includes the UK, Australia, Thailand and markets in the Middle East, while the range continues to expand and even now includes a pick-up.
SUVs and pick-up
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By GlobalDataThe ZS is MG’s smallest SUV. Following a world premiere at the Guangzhou motor show in November 2016, this 4,314mm SUV went on sale in China during March 2017 and in Thailand seven months later. The Thai market model is locally built.
The launch versions were available only in front-wheel drive form. British market deliveries commenced in October 2017 with engine choice consisting of 1.0-litre turbo and 1.5-litre petrol powerplants. A facelift premiered at the Chengdu motor show in September 2019. There was also a new 1.3-litre turbo, the outputs from which were stated as being 93kW and 230Nm. The ZS will be replaced in China in 2022 but the Thai-built model might not have a successor until 2023.
The eZS is easily MG’s best selling electrified model. This electric ZS was a world debut at the Guangzhou motor show in November 2018. The plug-in version looks almost identical to the petrol-fuelled ZS with the exception of a charging port behind a flap on the grille and unique alloy wheels. Power is claimed to be 110kW (150hp) with an NEDC maximum range of 335km. The battery pack is supplied by CATL.
SAIC is expected to also assemble the eZS in India from late 2019 as its second model after the Hector. The model name is yet known: the car is the eZS in China and ZS EV in Britain.
Eyebrows were raised at the unusual name but the Hector is off to a great start. Rather than develop a bespoke low-cost vehicle for India, SAIC cleverly took the Chinese market’s Baojun 530, a 4,655mm long SUV built by the SAIC GM Wuling joint venture, and modified it slightly for India’s often rough roads.
The Chinese giant took over General Motors’ former plant in Halol in September 2017 and invested in a refit. The plant’s stated capacity at the time of opening (April this year) was 80,000 units per annum.
Revealed in May and available in 50 dealerships nationwide from the following month, the Hector is a five-seater that’s aimed at the Jeep Compass and Tata Harrier among others. As for engines, a 143hp and 250Nm version of the 1.5-litre petrol unit which the Baojun original offers in China is available, along with a 48V mild hybrid derivative. FCA also supplies a 2.0-litre diesel with outputs of 170hp and 350Nm. A seven-seat Hector will become available in 2020. After that, there should be a facelift late in 2022 and a successor in 2026.
SAIC has struck gold with the HS, the MG brand’s newest SUV. Initially positioned in the range above the GS as a rival for the Haval H8, Ford Edge and others in the segment, in certain other countries, including the UK and Australia, this was the replacement for the GS. That has now happened in China too, with GS production having ended not too long ago.
The HS is based on SAIC’s Roewe RX5. It was also previewed by the X-Motion, a concept which was shown at AutoChina, the bienniel Beijing motor show, in April 2018. There might also be an electric variant. Engine choice at the time of sales commencing in China (September 2018) was between a 170hp 1.5 turbo or a 220hp 2.0 turbo. The mid-cycle facelift should take place in 2022 and the successor will probably be launched in 2025.
A plug-in hybrid variant called eHS has just been announced. Powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine and a single motor, this is the first vehicle to be built at a new assembly plant in Fujian province. The CNY5bn factory began series production at the end of September, just ahead of the eHS being announced by SAIC. Ningde is the group’s fourth factory in China, joining plants in Shanghai, Nanjing and Zhengzhou. Its opening raised SAIC’s annual production capacity in the country to 980,000 vehicles from 740,000.
The provisionally named JS will be a large SUV for MG. Due to share much with the Roewe RX8, that should mean it will be a 4.9m long SUV with the same body-on-frame platform as the Maxus/LDV T60 pick-up and D90 SUV. The launch date for China is believed to be the second quarter of 2020. A facelift would then take place in late 2023 and a successor would be due to arrive in 2027.
Aside from the eHS, the Extender is MG’s newest model but it is not for China, at least not yet. Based on the Maxus T70/LDV T70, this pick-up is produced in Thailand by the SAIC Motor-CP Co Ltd joint venture at its factory in the WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in Chon Buri province. When announcing the truck to the media in August, the JV said it aimed to sell 20,000 units annually. The life cycle will likely be eight years, meaning a facelift in 2023.
Cars
Easily the oldest MG, the 3 has been around since 2011 and should end up lasting for a decade or possibly even into 2022. This Polo-sized model has been updated multiple times and for what it costs, isn’t at all bad. It’s moderately successful in China and the UK, the main markets. The next generation 3 will again almost certainly be a five-door hatchback.
Images of the MG 6 were revealed to the media by SAIC in September 2017. This 4,695mm long five-door hatchback went on sale in China during November 2017. It is said to share much with the Roewe i6. The cars are very similar in length and have the same 2,715mm wheelbase dimension too.
The 6 is due for a facelift in 2021 and to be replaced in 2024.
A Plug-in Hybrid prototype called eMG 6 was revealed at the Guangzhou motor show in November 2017. That was said to be powered by a 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine and one motor with combined power of 167kW/228hp.
A battery-electric roadster would be on sale locally in 2021, the head of Sales and Marketing for MG Motor UK told just-auto in August 2018. The release date for the Chinese market was not stated. The car will reportedly look somewhat like the E-Motion, a concept which debuted at the 2017 Shanghai motor show.
The E-Motion had scissor doors and was a big coupé with a front end which made it look like a Jaguar. The roadster will be based on SAIC’s Electric Modular Architecture.
This might be one of the models for a new MG and Roewe factory. In September 2017, SAIC opened a plant in the city of Zhengzhou. Then in January 2018, construction on a second phase commenced. Phase two is scheduled to open in 2020.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE. That includes those Maxus and LDV models not named in this report.
This was the third of three features in a series which examined the current and future models of SAIC’s passenger vehicle brands. The first one looked at LDV/Maxus, with Roewe the topic of the second report. The next OEM to have its future models strategy explored will be Rivian.
