How much would you pay for the 2024 MG Cyberster electric convertible? More than a Mazda MX-5 or a BMW Z4? | Opinion

Remember when MG was a British sports car brand? You could wager that a fair few of the 26,692 people who bought an MG in the first half of 2023 aren't acutely aware of the brand's storied history, and then there are likely some who aren't aware the brand is no longer British.

But MG hasn't forgotten about its sports car history, and it's bringing the genre with it into the electric car age. The MG Cyberster is coming, but there's one question looming: how much will it cost?

The car was initially thought to be a rival to the likes of the humble Mazda MX-5, but it has outputs that put it square up against a Porsche Cayman or something from boutique brand Lotus.

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The price of the Cyberster isn't a mystery in some places, like the UK and China, but we'll get back to that. What makes it a challenge for Australia is working out the likely price of an electric car in a country that seems to still be hesitant to take up EVs.

Factors like MG's manufacturing power, the fact it's a ‘budget-friendly' brand and that it has in the past been able to offer electric cars for - comparatively in Australia - bargain prices all point to a likely fairly affordable car coming.

But, as mentioned, pricing for the two-door drop-top has already been confirmed in the UK, where it's sometimes possible to extrapolate pricing for Australian cars before they're confirmed here.

Announced in May this year, pricing for the MG Cyberster in the UK will start from £55,000 for the 231kW base rear-wheel drive variant, or about AU$106,000 in a direct currency conversion. The higher-spec 400kW version? That's £65,000, or about $125,000.

The car was initially thought to be a rival to the likes of the humble Mazda MX-5, but it has outputs that put it square up against a Porsche Cayman or something from boutique brand Lotus.

Using a potential rival as a reference, a BMW Z4 base model starts from £44,550 (AU$85,800) in the UK, and a Z4 M40i from £57,565 (AU$110,857). A direct conversion of those prices land well clear of equivalent Australian prices - $99,200 before on-road costs for the sDrive20i and $139,800 for the Z4 M40i.

So, are we looking at a six-figure car from MG?

Not if the domestic pricing for China is anything to go by, with the car set to start from 239,800 Yuan in its home country - around AU$50,000 here. There, its pricing goes up to the equivalent of AU$56,500.

Of course, pricing from market to market depends on various factors, and for China the key is that there will be no import or transport costs for the China-built MG Cyberster.

if MG is to get the most out of some competitive pricing, it’ll need to undercut the likes of the BMW Z4 and especially the Porsche Boxster.

In addition, market rivals will affect the pricing decided upon by a brand's local arm, and with so many domestic options for electric cars in China, it makes sense for the MG to be more competitively priced there.

In Australia, if MG is to get the most out of some competitive pricing, it'll need to undercut the likes of the BMW Z4 and especially the Porsche Boxster (which starts from $136,600 before on-roads).

What's clear is that it's not likely to be a rival to the MX-5, which tops out at $48,090 for a manual GT RS, as was initially thought when MG announced the Cyberster for production.

Time will tell whether MG is able to capture the hearts of buyers who look for fun as quickly as it has the minds of buyers who seek value.