Honda Accord vs MG U9

What's the difference?

Will the new Honda Accord e:HEV RS topple the SUV throne? Unlikely, but it proves sedans can still haul the family around in relative comfort and style.

The new Accord drives stupidly well and offers great ongoing ownership costs, even if it's price tag is a little steep. It's hybrid powertrain also offers fantastic efficiency and that's a big win.

I can’t give you a definitive verdict on the U9 based on our limited time behind the wheel. However, what I can say with certainty is MG is serious about making its first ute a success. The price alone demonstrates how motivated the brand is to win buyers over. Undercutting the likes of the Ranger and HiLux with a physically larger ute is a strong opening move from MG.

The clever features, spacious cabin and smart technology will also help to win over buyers, as will the choice of a conventional diesel engine. But none of that guarantees success. As the dominance of the Ford and Toyota demonstrates, ute buyers are loyal and drawn to the most popular options, so MG will need to fight hard for every sale to ensure the U9 isn't lost in the increasingly crowded ute market.

The design for the new Accord is powerful with a sexy silhouette that features a rear spoiler, black accents and sporty 18-inch alloy wheels.

The old chunky grille is long gone and at certain angles you almost get a Nissan 200 SX vibe, which is gorgeously retro and a refreshing take for Honda - which has been playing it safe for the last few years.

The interior is simply styled but looks timeless. The dashboard has clean lines and a featured honeycomb mesh that hides the air-vents. It's a feature which might not land with everyone but it adds personality.

The black upholstery looks plush and there are enough soft-touchpoints to make the cabin feel like it deserves a premium tag.

While the fancy tailgate step and the Smart Hatch are the most obvious changes between the LDV and MG utes on the surface, arguably the biggest change is what’s underneath. MG has opted to buck the conventional leaf spring, live rear axle set-up and has instead opted for a more SUV-like independent, multi-link rear suspension.

This explains why such a big ute has a sub-one-tonne payload, but it speaks to MG’s aspirations to try and lure ‘urban’ ute buyers. There is no doubt a large group of ute owners who don’t go off-road regularly and instead use their vehicle as a family transporter.

To that end, opting for a more SUV-like suspension set-up should be beneficial to its on-road manners and unladen ride. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, we couldn’t test that because our drive was limited to unsealed roads. But it was enough for us to get an initial impression of how the U9 drives and the early signs are positive.

The engine sounds like a traditional ute, with the gruff diesel ‘chug’ and smooth pulling power. The towing test provided was well below the 3500kg maximum rating, only 1500kg, so naturally the U9 has little trouble pulling the horse float along.

As for the ride on the suspension, it's fairly well composed on a gravel road and offers no obvious signs of struggle on more challenging muddy trails and creek crossings. So there are promising signs that the U9 should be able to hold its own against the more established ute contenders.

Access to the cabin is great thanks to wide door apertures but the Accord is a low car to get in and out of with its 134mm ground clearance. Expect a couple of grunts when parked on a hill!

Both rows offer ample legroom but the front enjoys the best of the headroom. A 183cm (6.0ft) friend was lumped with the middle seat and spent the trip dreadfully hunched over and uncomfortable. Save the middle seat for kidlets.

The electric front seats offer decent comfort for a longer trip but it's disappointing that only the driver’s side gets lumbar support.  

The rear row enjoys well-padded seats and amenities, like retractable sunblinds, reading lights, two USB-C ports and directional air vents but it took a while for the back to cool down on hot days which my kid made known. Loudly. 

Storage consists of a large glove box and middle console (which can accommodate a small handbag), a sunglasses holder, four cupholders, four drink bottle holders and two map pockets. There is also a dedicated phone tray but a few extra cubbies up front would be welcomed.

The boot offers plenty of space with its 570-litre capacity, which is great for the class, and you can also open up storage options with the ski-port door, if need be. The powered boot release is a handy feature.

The touchscreen multimedia system looks nice but is a pain in the butt to use until you set some time aside to get to know it. It’s just not intuitive but the screen is responsive and it's a bonus that you get the built-in sat nav and Google apps. 

The new Accord gets wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but it took a few beats to get the wireless CarPlay to work.

The charging options are good throughout the car with four USB-C ports, two 12-volt sockets and a wireless charging pad to choose from.

That SUV-like interior and the larger dimensions make for a very pleasant cabin with loads of space. We didn’t get too much time to experience the multimedia system, but the 12.3-inch touchscreen looks good and operates smoothly, while the inclusion of large physical buttons for the air-conditioning and audio system is a positive for those who value ease-of-use.

There’s a generous amount of room up front, but it’s the back that really impresses. Unlike the sometimes cramped back seats in a conventionally-sized dual-cab ute, the U9 has plenty of legroom and headroom for four or even five adults to fit in comfort.

There’s also plenty of small item storage, including a wireless charging pad (but only on the high-grades) and USB outlets just ahead of the gear selector.

As for the tray out the back, that is so important to ute buyers, it measures 1600mm by 1600mm at the top, but narrows to 1230mm between the wheel arches. Despite its big size, the payload is only rated at 870kg for the Explore, 835kg for the Explore X and just 770kg for the Explore Pro.

However, MG has introduced a party trick no-one else, not even LDV offers, in the tray. At the press of a button, the rear tailgate opens and then with another press a section of the tailgate drops down, revealing a step. While not the quickest way to climb into a tray, it might be the nicest and is definitely the easiest this reviewer has experienced locally.

The even more elaborate party trick the U9 offers is what MG calls a ‘Smart Hatch’. This allows for the rear glass to retract and the bottom of the cabin to recline into the interior, creating a direct connection between the tray and the cabin for especially long items. While MG is, rightfully, very proud and keen to promote the Smart Hatch, it must be noted it is only available as an option on the Explore Pro and costs $5500 (which is nearly 10 per cent of the total cost of the car) so you’ll want to really need the extra space.

By not having to worry about developing its own ute from scratch, MG was able to focus on its key selling strength - price. MG has a reputation for its aggressive pricing strategy in Australia, trying to win over buyers with the most affordable or best value products in any given market sector.

To that end, the MG U9 range begins at just $52,990, drive-away, for the U9 Explore, undercutting not only the Terron 9 Origin (from $53,674, drive-away), the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux dual-cab pick-up ranges. It's inline with the similarly-sized GWM Cannon Alpha (from $51,990 drive-away). 

For $52,990 the U9 Explore comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, side steps, painted tub liner, synthetic leather seats, keyless entry and ignition and a six-speaker stereo with digital radio and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

Next up in the range is the U9 Explore X, which starts at $55,990, drive-away. For the extra money you get 19-inch alloys, a cargo slide rail with a hook in the tray, heated front seats, acoustic glass, vehicle app connectivity, voice command, a wireless smartphone charging pad, satellite navigation, Amazon music and the ability to receive over-the-air updates.

The flagship Explore Pro is priced from $60,990, drive-away, and has 20-inch alloy wheels, an eight-speaker JBL sound system, a panoramic sunroof, suede headlining, heated outboard rear seats and the clever tailgate step we’ll detail later.

Our test vehicle has an electric continuously variable transmission and features a new self-charging hybrid powertrain that couples two electric motors with a 2.0L, four-cylinder petrol engine that combine to produce 135kW of power and 335Nm of torque.

Only being available in one powertrain may limit its audience but the combo delivers decent performance for a sedan of this size.

MG has plenty of hybrid knowledge, but has opted to keep it simple for the U9. It’s powered by a 2.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine, which should be popular with the ute crowd.

It produces a solid, if unspectacular, 160kW and 520Nm, enough for it to offer a 3500kg maximum braked towing capacity, which is also something that should be popular with potential buyers.

The engine is paired with an eight-speed (torque-converter) automatic transmission and 'Super Select' 4WD system capable of sending drive to all four wheels.

Like so many new brands in the ute market, MG was keen to highlight that the transmission is built by ZF and the 4WD system is from BorgWarner, both brands with a long history in their respective areas.

The new hybrid powertrain means lower outputs and the official combined fuel cycle figure is just 4.3L/100km! Which is only beaten by the Toyota Camry's 4.0L/100km.

The on-test figure pops out at 5.1L/100km after doing a some urban stuff but mostly open-road driving. Which is where hybrids tend to be the least efficient, so the fuel usage is excellent.

Based on the official combined (urban/extra-urban) fuel cycle and 48L fuel tank, you should see a theoretical driving range of up to 1116km, which is a little less than the Toyota Camry but still an amazing range for a family car.

That range figure drops to around 940km using our real-world average consumption number.

As all three variants are powered by the same engine and all return the same fuel economy. Rated at 7.9L/100km on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

As our test drive was limited to off-road only we can’t assess its real-world usage, so that will need to wait until we can spend extended time behind the wheel.

Notably, with an 80-litre fuel tank the U9 has a theoretical driving range of more than 1000km, which is great for anyone looking to take their ute on a long road trip.

In terms of safety, the U9 has all the usual features you should expect of any new car in 2025. This includes airbag protection for all occupants, plus active safety features including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and a host of others.

That’s enough for it to achieve a maximum five-star Euro NCAP score and MG expects the same from ANCAP. However, it must be noted Euro NCAP crash tested the LDV e-Terron 9, the electric version of the ute, which obviously has no diesel engine in the front of the vehicle and instead a smaller electric motor and a storage space.

It also worth noting even on our limited, off-road only drive, the driver attention system seemed very sensitive, which suggests better calibration is needed. So we’ll reserve final judgement on the other systems until we can fully experience them, too.

The Accord comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, and an eight-year battery warranty, which are now normal terms for the class.

You get a five-year capped priced servicing program and it costs just $199 per service, which is very competitive.

Servicing intervals could get annoying if you put a lot of kays on your car as they're set at every 12-months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first.

This is a crucial area for many ute buyers, so MG has tried to make itself as appealing as possible to discerning pick-up prospects.

However, the U9 is covered by MG’s seven year warranty, not the newer 10 year coverage from its passenger vehicles. And even then, that requires you to service the vehicle via an authorised MG dealer for the full seven years to apply.

However, this only applies to non-commercial use vehicles, so while tradies will be covered, fleet buyers are stuck with a five-year warranty.

Over the first five years, if you spend the $2395 capped price costs, you’ll get the extra two years of coverage. The first service is due after 10,000km, but the rest are at 12-months/15,000km.

MG has also worked on expanding its dealer and servicing network to respond to some growing pains and ensure owners aren’t burnt and are more likely to return for their next MG. There are currently 120 MG dealers across Australia with plans to gradually expand that footprint into regional areas following the launch of the U9.