MG MG4 Advice

Why are MG cars so cheap? Obviously if you asked someone at MG they’d answer with “they’re not cheap, they’re affordable, and amazing value”, but the most obvious answer is - because they’re made in China.This may come as a shock to many readers, who might assume MG is still the same storied old brand from England that used to make sexy, sporty little roadsters and not much else (it was founded in Oxford, UK, in 1924).MG is the same 'brand', in a literal sense, and you’ll often see Union Jacks and words like 'heritage' associated with its vehicles, but the fact is it’s very much a Chinese concern these days.Back in 2005, Chinese manufacturer Nanjing Automobile Group bought the rights to the MG badge, along with the rest of MG Rover Group (Rover was another UK marque that did not survive and if you'd driven its cars, you'd be grateful), and then, in 2007, Nanjing was swallowed whole by SAIC Motor - a Shanghai-based car manufacturer that is, in turn, owned by the Chinese state, and which owns MG to this day.Just pause on that for a moment. Imagine if the Australian government was in charge of building cars locally, if it had bought Ford and Holden for example. Motor vehicles built by committee, car companies run by governments that can change their priorities - between EV and burning oil for example - every few years. Just, wow.Fortunately, China’s communist government does not change and the almost limitless financial backing the Chinese state can give to the companies it owns and runs - often with the stated goal of competing with and beating the western world - is a significant advantage for a brand like MG/SAIC.To be clear, when the Chinese bought MG it wasn’t exactly a going concern, but they obviously saw value in the badge, as opposed to selling cars called things like “Yangwang” or “Build Your Dreams”.In 2011, the first new MG model in more than 15 years was launched; the MG 6, and it was notionally built, or partly built, in the UK at MG’s Longbridge plant, but also partly in China.This allowed the brand to continue proclaiming its British-ness but in 2016 the company shut down its operation in England and all MGs since then have been designed and built in China.Cars built in China are cheaper partly due to the effect of economies of scale and SAIC is quite huge; indeed it is the largest single-marque exporter in China.In 2024, it sold 707,000 vehicles in total. For comparison, the entire new car market in Australia in a typical year is around 1.2 million.It’s also a lot cheaper to build cars in China because the wages for the people that do it are amongst the lowest in the world (although not as low as Mexico and India).Workers in an SAIC factory are reportedly paid as little as $3.60 to $6.60 an hour, which means the labour costs of building an MG are going to be far, far lower than those going into a vehicle built in the US, Europe or Japan.When it comes to EVs, which MG, like most Chinese car companies, has a heavy focus on, Chinese manufacturers also have a huge price advantage because China controls so much of the global EV battery market (and batteries are the most expensive part of an EV), so it can access them at lower rates.According to the International Energy Agency, China is projected to hold more than half of the global EV battery market by 2030. More than 70 per cent of all the EV batteries that have ever been made were produced in China.It should thus come as no surprise that China dominates the global EV market in general, with a 62 per cent market share.According to Nikkei Asia, China also holds a significant share in the production of key battery components, such as cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and separators.In Australia, MG has taken advantage of its ability to produce and import cars that are cheaper, in a wholesale sense, than competitors from established brands in this country by adopting an aggressive pricing strategy.It has promoted a lot of 'dynamic pricing' or drive-away pricing and you will often see or hear advertising suggesting it is offering the cheapest vehicle in a particular segment.At the time of publishing, the cheapest new MG car you can buy is an MG ZST 1.5 CVT Vibe, with a drive-away price of just $23,888.MG offers sharply-priced vehicles across many segments from hatches to small and mid-sized SUVs, and even a new electric roadster, the $115,000 Cyberster, which is clearly designed to bring to mind the MG sports cars of old. It’s also clearly not a cheap MG car.MG also offers hybrid and EV power plants. According to Compare the Market, “MG cars in Australia generally have a lower resale value compared to more established brands like Toyota or Mazda”.This is an important factor to keep in mind when considering how cheap they might seem in terms of upfront costs.In terms of safety, MG is not an entirely maximum five-star rated brand. The MG HS (petrol) and MG 4 Electric have five-star ANCAP ratings, but the MG ZS hybrid only gets four stars, the MG 3 has three stars and the MG 5 has zero stars (safety system upgrades are expected “early in 2025”).So, in summary, MG cars are cheap because they are made in China, one of the cheapest places to build cars, and EVs in particular, in the world, and they are thus able to be aggressively priced in Australia.

Affordable electric cars are an emerging market in Australia - and the timing couldn’t be better.

Electric cars come in all shapes and sizes these days, but arguably the most logical shape is the hatchback. Why? Well, as much as Australians love SUVs and bigger luxury cars, the humble hatch makes the most efficient use of space. And if you’re going to buy an electric car, it makes sense to be concerned about efficiency.Thankfully, in contrast with an overall decline in the small-car market, there is an increasingly diverse range of battery-powered hatchbacks to choose from. The list of hatchback electric cars is getting longer each month with new brands jumping into the fray.And while space and size are key attractions of the electric hatch, there is another element that makes them popular - price. At the time of publication the most affordable electric car you can buy is an EV hatchback, opening up the nascent market for more people.One excellent example is the much-praised MG4, which has emerged not only as one of the better selling EVs in the country but is on track to be one of the most popular small cars over all. In 2023, it out sold the likes of the Subaru Impreza and Honda Civic and is trending upwards in 2024.Yet another reason why electric hatches are gaining popularity in Australia is availability, with those willing to look beyond an SUV discovering a good supply of electric hatchbacks in Australia.This is because of the volume of choice and diversity of models, with at least eight examples already in showrooms and more planned to follow in the near future.The biggest questions are what is the future of electric hatchbacks expected to look like in Australia?The answer to the question is more choice for smaller, more affordable EVs, but there is also likely to be more crossover between a true hatchback and a modern crossover. Models like the Renault Megane E-Tech and Volvo EX30 blur the lines between a hatch and an SUV but that appears to be a future trend.One key element missing from the market is a Tesla hatchback, and that would be a potential game changer. The American brand has repeatedly hinted at adding a hatch, likely to be known as the Model 2, as a cheaper offering to sit beneath the Model 3 sedan.In the shorter-term there are several new EV hatches likely to be hitting Australian roads in the not-too-distant future, including the Volkswagen ID.3, Peugeot e-208 and Renault 5 E-Tech.Not that we need to gaze longingly into a crystal ball to look for the next small EV. Below is a list of the best electric hatchbacks on the Australian market at the time of publication.Ranking the list of available electric hatchbacks by price is no easy task thanks to the highly competitive nature of the market at this moment in time.MG announced its small car would be the cheapest EV at $39,990, only for BYD to undercut it within days, and then GWM joined the party. It only gets more confusing thanks to a series of drive-away deals, such as the one GWM is currently (at time of publication) offering on its (not-at-all-a-Mini-why-do-you-ask) Ora small car.Its original asking price of $39,990 drive-away has been slashed to $35,990, making it the cheapest EV you can buy. For the money, you get up to 310km of driving range on a single charge and 126kW of performance.If you’re looking to Build Your Dreams of an electric car on a budget, then the Dolphin is for you. It arrived with a bang, sporting the lowest sticker price of any EV in Australia by starting at $38,890, which undercut the Ora and MG4 by $100 - at least on paper, at the time. However, the Chinese brand is offering a drive-away price of $41,490, which makes it more expensive than the GWM and MG in this current price war.For that money you get a Dolphin Dynamic, a small car with space for five, a 70kW/180Nm electric motor and a battery good for 340km of driving range. There’s a Dolphin Premium, with a 150kW/310Nm motor and 427km of range (plus bigger wheels, two-tone paint and other extras) but that’s an additional $6000.The price of the MG4 is another moving target in the battle for affordability being fought out amongst the three Chinese carmakers. It has floated up and down, reaching as low as $39,990 drive-away for the run-out sale of 2023 examples, but was sitting at $43,131 drive-away for the 2024 model at the time of publication.It’s a spacious and practical small car, with 350km range from its 51kWh battery and a 125kW motor for the entry-level Excite 51 model that has the sharpest price.There are three more variants in the range, the 64kWh and 77kWh standard models and the MG4 XPower electric hot hatch. The latter boasts impressive performance credentials, with 320kW/600Nm and 400km of range for $63,973 drive-away.The fully electric hatchback that arguably started it all, the Leaf was the first mainstream small EV hatchback that was broadly accepted in the local market (with apologies to the Mitsubishi i-MiEV) way back in 2012, when the Tesla Cybertruck wasn’t even a glint in Elon Musk’s mad eyes.Even though a second-generation model was introduced in 2018 (which was largely a makeover) the Leaf is starting to show its age in terms of both design and technology.The standard model is equipped with a 39kWh battery that’s only enough for 270km of range and it powers a 110kW motor. There’s a more powerful Leaf+ available, which gains a 58kWh battery to boost range to 385km.Its official list price is $50,990, but in a bid to keep up with its newer competition, Nissan Australia is offering it for $39,990 drive-away for the standard model and $49,990 drive-away for the Leaf+.If you’re looking for a truly compact electric car then look no further than this pint-sized city runabout. Fiat has managed to keep the tiny dimensions of the petrol-powered 500 and package up an all-electric powertrain inside a stylish small car.It’s not a cheap proposition at $52,500 plus on-road costs, which makes it a premium EV by many standards, but it is well-equipped for the price and does give you a more upmarket feel than most of the cars on this list.It doesn’t have a particularly powerful motor, just 87kW/220Nm, but it certainly feels zippy on the road. Being so small it can’t fit lots of batteries, so the range is limited to just 311km, which does limit it to being more of an urban EV rather than something for long-distance drives.If you like the Fiat but want something sportier, you can consider the Abarth 500e. The Italian brand’s performance division has wound up the power to 113.7kW/235Nm and added a sound generator for a more exciting driving experience.It carries a price premium, too, starting at $58,990 (plus on-road costs) for the Turismo and $60,500 for the Scorpionissima variant.The British brand may not be thought of in the same sentence as Tesla and Polestar, but it is surprisingly ahead of the curve when it comes to EVs. It has just launched its second-generation electric Cooper hatch with an electric Countryman and Aceman to follow soon.It’s arrived with a sharp $59,830 drive-away price for the Cooper E and $65,040 for the more potent Cooper SE, no doubt helped by the brand’s decision to share development and production with GWM.The Cooper E boasts 135kW and a 305km range, with the Cooper SE boosting those numbers to 160kW and 402km.While Volkswagen awaits its first EVs, its Spanish off-shoot is already leading the way with its electric hot hatch. While it’s significantly more expensive than the first cars on this list, it comes with more features, equipment, performance and range to help justify the extra ask.Key amongst its performance credentials is the fact it’s rear-wheel drive, something few other hatches can claim. It’s powered by a 170kW/310Nm motor to provide hot-hatch levels of speed and has a 82kWh battery that provides an impressive 511km of claimed driving range.

The hot hatch is in hot demand these days.