GWM ORA vs MG MG5

What's the difference?

When the GWM Ora showed up in Australia last year, it seemed to rely somewhat on its divisive cutesy looks and sub-$40K entry price to draw attention - and to some extent it worked.

Convincing Australians to buy an electric car is hard enough for any car company, let alone one that doesn’t have the brand cachet of Tesla or the traditional companies.

But an entry price under $40,000 doesn’t apply here, this is the GWM Ora GT: the top of the range for the small electric car.

It’s just had a massive price cut, but is it worth paying more than $10,000 over the price of a base Ora for some extra goodies when simplicity and fun styling was the original selling point?

MG has a knack for bucking market trends. The MG3 hatch currently makes up more than a quarter of the brand’s sales at a time when the ‘light car’ category is in gradual decline. Electric cars are too expensive? Here comes the MG4 for less than $40K.

So is this, the MG5, here to resuscitate the sedan? A market segment that’s on the way to flatline here in Australia (aside from the Tesla Model 3's relatively niche appeal)?

If it does, it’s going to do it the same way MG has before. Low pricing. Both MG5 variants come in at less than $30K drive-away and convincingly undercut rivals… but at what cost?

MG delivers a strong value proposition with its small sedan, but it largely only comes with the essential safety features needed to be sold in Australia.

Does the MG5 bring enough to the table to be worth considering without common active safety features like lane-keep assist or rear cross-traffic alert? Let’s find out.