MG Mg4 Urban vs Mercedes-Benz Vito

What's the difference?

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.

The latest VS20 Vito range, comprising Vito/eVito light commercials and Tourer/V-Class people movers, brings the first major facelift to Mercedes-Benz’s mid-sized (2.5-3.5-tonne GVM) van since 2015, along with numerous comfort, convenience, technology and safety upgrades.

The workhorse fleet is available in medium wheelbase (MWB) and long wheelbase (LWB) Panel Vans and Crew Cabs, with a variety of drivetrain specifications including the all-electric eVito LWB van.

We were recently handed the keys to one of the latest turbo-diesel variants to see how it measures up from a tradie/business perspective in one of Australia’s most competitive vehicle markets.