Mercedes-Benz S-Class vs MG Mg4 Urban

What's the difference?

It's only in the running for the title of world's best luxury car. No biggie here, then.

Like Rolex and Concorde, S-Class has become a byword for ultimate, and deserved or not, the Mercedes-Benz defines its segment despite the best efforts of the BMW 7 Series, Audi A8, Lexus LS and (sadly now-defunct) Jaguar XJ, as well as pointing the way forward with new technologies that eventually trickle down to more proletarian models.

Replacing the half-million selling W222 unveiled in 2013, the W223 is the latest in a long line since the first W187 Ponton debuted in 1951, and includes the famous ‘Finnies' and Stroke-8 models that followed immediately afterwards, but it is the 1972 W116 that really set the template.

Now, seven generations in, the 2021 S-Class is all-new again, with progressive safety and interior features that should help keep it Australia's bestselling full-sized upper-luxury sedan.

MG needs a win, and the MG4 Urban may be the right car at the right time to give the Chinese brand a major boost.

It has been a rough few years for MG, with sales in decline for the past two years, which has seen it tumble from Australia’s favourite Chinese car maker to a distant fourth place behind BYD, GWM and Chery. 

Part of that could be because of its rapid expansion, both in terms of its total number of models but also the size of the vehicles it’s offering. The larger QS SUV and U9 ute have both received underwhelming responses from the car-buying public.

So, MG has returned to its roots - small, affordable cars. The MG4 Urban, not to be confused with the MG4 Hatch, is its new price-leading electric car and the company’s new management hopes it leads a sales revival.