MG Extender Reviews

A new year brings a fresh array of vehicles for Australia — but some get us more excited than others.

As the top vehicle class for Australians for six of the last seven years, the medium SUV segment is our nation's most competitive.

Many so-called “all-new” models aren’t all that new. In fact, a sizeable chunk are reskinned versions of what came before, with fresh sheetmetal over the same general hard points.

We're lucky, us car journalists. We get to drive oodles of exciting new cars throughout the year — sometimes so many you start to forget your favourites — so making this list was a nice walk down medium-term memory loss lane.

The federal government will offer low-interest loans for Australian workers earning less than $100,000 to purchase an electric car.Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, this week announced the move, which will open up $150 million worth of funding through the Commonwealth Bank, cutting interest rates to 5.49 per cent per annum from between 6.49 per cent and 10.49 per cent.Essential workers – such as police officers, firefighters and nurses – will qualify for the loan regardless of income, which will only apply to new and used EVs worth up to $55,000.That covers EVs like the GWM Ora, MG4 and BYD Dolphin, as well as larger models such as the BYD Atto 3 and Leapmotor C10.The government claims the loans will help save Australians more than $8000 on a $40,000 loan with a seven-year term, on top of fuel savings.“Discounted loans help remove barriers to ownership, helping more Australians drive cars that can save them thousands of dollars a year,” said Chris Bowen.In addition to the loans, car buyers are already exempt from paying fringe benefits taxes (FBT) on EVs and plug-in hybrids purchased through a novated leasing agreement.FBT exemptions will end for plug-in hybrid cars on April 1 next year, though the deal will continue for EVs.The news comes as EV demand has softened in Australia as buyers increasingly look to hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles as an alternative.Using combined data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Electric Vehicle Council, Australians have purchased 178,785 hybrid or plug-in hybrid models to the end of November this year, compared to roughly 70,000 EVs.Interested buyers can access the loans from today.

An MG-badged version of the SAIC Motor Maxus Interstellar – to be sold locally as the LDV Terron 9 – has been spotted in China, seemingly giving us a first look at the incoming MG ute.

If there has been a single story that has come out of the automotive world over the past five years, it has been the rise of China.

Just when you thought utes and SUVs were about to completely take over Australia’s automotive scene, small cars are making something of a comeback.And it’s not the usual suspects like the Toyota Corollas and Mazda3s of the world that are bumping up interest in small sedans and hatchbacks. It is also electric cars.According to official year-to-date sales data to the end of November this year, small-car sales are up by 12 per cent compared with the same period in 2023. While that doesn’t sound like a massive increase, it represents the biggest percentage increase out of any SUV or passenger car segment.So what is driving this interest in smaller models? A couple of factors it turns out.The biggest contributor to the rise in sales is the influx of electric cars to the segment. Previously, the only electric small car was the Nissan Leaf which, while it was a pioneering EV model, never sold in huge numbers.Now there are a trio of EVs boosting the segment. The biggest selling small EV in Australia, by some margin, is the MG4 hatch. With 6079 sales, an increase of 140.6 per cent to the end of November, the MG4 is also the fifth best-selling small car.Sharp retail deals on model year 2023 MG4s, including a limited $30,990 drive-away price on the entry-level 51 Excite, helped boost interest in the Chinese-built EV.Another couple of small Chinese electric hatchbacks that are selling well include the BYD Dolphin which has found 1885 homes so far this year, an increase of 174 per cent over 2023.The GWM Ora has also nabbed 1182 sales, up by 175.5 per cent year on year.Two small EVs have seen sales drops, like the Cupra Born which has dipped by 47 per cent to 439 units, as well as the Nissan Leaf, which is down by 30.5 per cent, but that model is in runout in Australia following the end of UK production earlier this year.While EVs are doing the heavy lifting in the resurgent small-car sector, traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) small models are doing their part too.After a serious sales blip due to stock issues, the Kia Cerato is having a bumper year, with sales up by 187.5 per cent to 14,807 units, making it the second best-selling small car behind the dominant Toyota Corolla.The Cerato result is interesting given this generation went on sale in mid-2018. It is also now in runout ahead of quarter one, 2025 launch of its replacement, now dubbed the K4.The Corolla is also having a good run this year with 22,526 sales (up by 24.5%), ensuring a likely top 10 placing in the overall make/model sales chart. The Mazda3 is also in positive territory, up 13 per cent to 9618.A couple of other famous nameplates have seen sales declines, like the Hyundai i30 (11,616, -40.7%) and Volkswagen Golf (2593, -22.6%).At one point in history small cars made up one of the largest sales categories, but now with a 7.7 per cent slice of the overall market, it trails medium SUVs, 4x4 pick-ups, small SUVs and large SUVs.From 2011 to 2015 small cars ruled the top spot of the sales charts in Australia, with the Mazda3, then the Toyota Corolla taking top spot, before the Toyota HiLux ute came along and changed the face of the new-car market in 2016.

The replacement for the MG ZS electric SUV is inching closer to sale in Australia.

Chinese company IM Motors, which is a stablemate of MG, has debuted a new electric car with an astounding claimed driving range.