MG MG5 vs Mercedes-Benz A200

What's the difference?

The MG5 works well as a budget-friendly small car, and it’s genuinely good to drive.

Some small let-downs in terms of packaging don’t detract from this car in any major way, but the lack of active safety is a concern considering the features most of its rivals offer.

If it’s on your shopping list, make sure you know what else is on offer in terms of safety before you lock in the MG5 for the savings.

Mercedes-Benz knows its way around a sedan, and this A-Class is a well-equipped, comfortable and efficient city-sized four-door.

But more than that, to my eyes anyway, it’s a perfect example of restrained form matching aero function with beautiful results.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

The MG5’s styling might be a little divisive, with the overall shape and look of the small sedan sitting somewhere between its direct rivals, like the Hyundai i30 Sedan, and aspirational models like the Mercedes CLA.

In this Essence variant, the grey insert for the grille gives the front a darker, more aggressive look, though the way the grille mesh weaves makes it look a little like moustache hair.

The large ‘intake-style’ design at the sides gives it a sportier look than its outputs have perhaps earned - not to say the MG5 is sluggish - and following those around to the side of the car leads to a fairly minimalistic and tidy silhouette.

Here, probably most notable is the rather tall gap between the tyres and wheel arches.

The rear, with that sloped-up roofline, transitioning into a gentle lip spoiler, flanked by those lights, is where CLA fans might have the most to say about the MG5’s design.

Notably, the exhaust vents at the bottom are fake. The real exhaust exit is hidden well underneath.

A global carmaker can’t hold its head up in public without a formal design strategy, and Mercedes-Benz uses ‘Sensual Purity’ as a guiding principle in developing the look and feel of its current models. It may sound airy-fairy, but I for one reckon it’s accurate in describing the A-Class sedan.

The overall form is flowing and minimalist, the major exception being a hard character line running down the side of the car from the trailing edge of the angular LED headlights and along the top of the doors to link with the tail-lights.

A rear-biased glasshouse emphasises the length of the bonnet, at the same time delivering a broad, muscular stance with short overhangs front and rear.

Ultra-fine panel gaps, careful sealing around the headlights and curved strakes either side of the bonnet keep the look clean and simple, not to mention super-slippery.

The interior has been styled to within an inch of its life, the dash dominated by the slick twin 10.25-inch widescreen ‘MBUX’ display covering instruments, ventilation, media and vehicle settings.

Five signature, turbine-style air vents (three in the centre, and one at each edge) lift the dash’s visual interest, and the quality of fit and finish is top-shelf.

Some newer brands to Australia, often MG’s compatriots from China, get some of the ergonomic or tech basics wrong as they focus more on an impactful first impression. Fortunately, MG doesn’t do that, for the most part.

Inside the MG5 is a cabin that looks more expensive than it is, but has some useful features to back it up without the superfluous add-ons.

Aside from the lack of physical climate controls - an annoying cost-saving or interior-tidying trend embraced by brands from budget to bougie - the MG5’s interfaces and ergonomics are pretty sensible.

Accessibility ticks for the steering wheel buttons being few and large enough to use without needing to look, as well as the lack of a panel of buttons and switches in the centre console. Looking at you, BMW.

The screen is also functionally sound, with obvious menu layouts and fairly large buttons as touch points, so it doesn’t feel like trying to operate a tablet while you’re driving.

It does, again, lose points for the climate control situation, which weirdly features a temperature slider as a colour gradient rather than numerical temperatures.

No wireless phone charger means needing space for a plugged-in phone, which the MG5 has just enough of, though similarly ‘just enough’ is the size of the cupholders, which won’t fit a big water bottle.

In the rear, there’s space enough for an adult to sit comfortably behind another adult, though it’s not the place for long journeys.

Strangely, there’s only one central vent control in the rear so only one passenger gets cool air or heat, plus there isn’t a great deal of storage. No armrest or cupholders for rear passengers, either.

Also noteworthy is the single-piece rear seat, which means if longer items need to be transported in the 401-litre boot, the whole rear seat must be folded down and the MG5 temporarily becomes a two-seater.

Under the boot floor is a space-saver spare, though, so bonus points for a more useful addition than a simple repair kit.

At a bit over 4.5m long, a fraction under 1.8m wide, and close to 1.5m tall the A-Class sedan is 130mm longer and 6.0mm higher than the hatch version.

The A-Class sedan driver is presented with the same sleek widescreen display as found in the hatch, and storage runs to two cupholders in the centre console, a lidded bin/armrest between the seats (including twin USB ports), decent door pockets with room for bottles and a medium-size glove box.

In a swap to the rear, sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my (183cm) position, I enjoyed adequate knee and headroom, although stretching up a to a straight-back position led to a scalp to headlining interface.

In the A 200 a centre fold-down armrest incorporates two cupholders, again there are generous pockets in the doors with room for bottles, and adjustable ventilation outlets are set into the back of the front centre console. Always a plus.

There are three belted positions across the rear, but the adults using them for anything other than short journeys will have to be good friends and flexible. Best for two grown-ups, and three kids will be fine.

One snag is the size of the rear door aperture. Okay for taller people on the way in, but a limb-unfolding gymnastic exercise on exit.

But of course the reason we’re all here is the boot, and the sedan’s extra length translates to an additional 60 litres of luggage space for a total cargo volume of 430 litres (VDA).

Extra space is one thing, but usability is another. The benefit of a hatch is a large opening that allows bulky stuff to find a home, and Merc has pushed the sedan’s boot aperture to just under a metre across and there’s half a metre between the base of the rear window and the lower edge of the boot lid.

That’s made a big difference and access is good, with the rear seats folding 40/20/40 to add extra flexibility and volume. There are also tie-down hooks at each corner of the floor (a luggage net is included) and a netted pocket behind the passenger side wheel tub (with 12-volt outlet).

At the time of writing Mercedes-Benz wasn’t quoting towing specifications, and don’t bother looking for a spare wheel, the tyres are run-flats.

The A-Class sedan is launching with two variants, the A 200 at $49,400, before on-road costs, and an entry-level A 180, arriving in August 2019 at $44,900.

We’ll cover active and passive safety tech in the safety section, but above and beyond that standard equipment for the A 180 runs to 17-inch alloy wheels, ‘Artico’ faux leather upholstery, the ‘MBUX’ widescreen cockpit display (two 10.25-inch digital screens), auto LED headlights and DRLs, keyless entry and start, auto-dimming rearview mirror, climate-control, sat nav, multi-function sports steering wheel, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, ‘Active Parking Assist’ (with ultrasonic proximity sensors front and rear), tinted glass, plus nine-speaker, 225W audio with digital radio, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The A200 steps up to 18-inch alloy rims, and adds a dual exhaust system, four-way electrical adjustment for the driver’s seat (with lumbar support), a folding rear armrest (with twin cupholders), adaptive high-beam assist, and a wireless device charging bay.

Both versions of the MG5 come with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that drives the front wheels, but the similarities mostly end there.

In the entry-level Vibe, that engine is naturally aspirated and makes 84kW and 150Nm - similar to the MG3. Power is transferred to the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

In our Essence variant the engine is turbocharged and makes a suitably higher 119kW and 250Nm, driving the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Both models are powered by the same 1.3-litre (M282) direct-injection four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine as the hatch, the A180 tuned to deliver 100kW (at 5500rpm) and 200Nm (at 1460rpm), with the A 200 bumping that up to 120kW (at 5500rpm) and 250Nm (at 1620rpm).

Drive goes to the front wheels only via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The naturally aspirated Vibe's official combined cycle fuel economy figure is 5.7 litres per 100km, while the turbocharged Essence drinks a little more at 5.9L/100km.

For comparison, Toyota claims its non-hybrid Corolla Sedan will sip 6.0L/100km, while a Mazda3 Sedan claims 6.1L/100km. Not bad, then, if you can keep it near MG’s claim.

During our testing, with a mix of city, suburban, highway, and rural driving, the MG5 Essence burned through 95 RON premium fuel at a rate of 9.1L/100km, checked at the pump, though I wouldn't expect this to be representative of normal, calmer day-to-day driving.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 5.7L/100km for both models, with a CO2 emissions figure of 130g/km.

Over roughly 250km of open highway driving on the launch program the A 200’s on-board computer coughed up a figure of 6.3L/100km. So, the real-world highway cycle figure is higher than the claimed combined number. Which is a miss, but not a massive one, and fuel-efficiency is still pretty impressive.

Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded, and you’ll need 43 litres of it (plus a 5.0-litre reserve) to fill the tank.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about the MG5 is that it’s quite good to drive. And not just ‘for an MG’ or ‘for a car from China’. It’s actually good.

The turbocharged engine takes a moment to get going, and the dual-clutch can be a little hesitant off the mark.

The combo of the two means sometimes you need to plan your take off ahead of time - but in its above-3000rpm sweet spot, the Essence has a good bit of urgency to it.

That’s fortunately paired with a combination of comfortable suspension and a composed chassis, with well-weighted steering.

On urban roads and with a little awareness of the slow take-off, the MG5 is capable and well-suited to small roads, though it can be a little frustrating in stop-start traffic.

On the other hand, outside the confines of city driving, the small sedan is more dynamic than you might expect, able to get up to speed and comfortably overtake on highways, as well as handle corners on twisty roads confidently.

Potholes and rough sections of road don’t rattle the MG5 as much as you might expect from a car in this segment, though road noise can be a intrusive on coarse roads - of which Australia has many.

Dare I say it - the MG5 is rather fun.

Three things stand out on first meeting with the A-Class sedan – ride comfort, steering feel, and road noise, or rather the lack of it.

The ‘biggest’ compliment you can pay a small car is that it rides like a bigger one, and behind the A 200’s wheel you’d swear the wheelbase was appreciably longer than the 2.7 metres it actually measures.

Over long undulations, even higher frequency bumps and ruts, the A-Class remains stable and composed thanks to a thoroughly sorted (strut front, torsion beam rear) suspension, with beautifully progressive damping a particular highlight.

Electromechanically-assisted steering points accurately and delivers good road feel without any undue vibration. And despite the A-Class launch drive loop covering typically coarse-chip bitumen roads through rural Victoria, overall noise levels remained impressively low.

Acceleration is brisk rather than properly sharp, but in the A 200 there’s more than enough oomph to keep things on the boil for easy highway cruising and overtaking.

With maximum torque available from just above 1600rpm, and a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission keeping revs in the sweet spot, the A 200 breezes through the cut and thrust of city traffic, too.

Auto shifts are smooth and quick, with manual changes via the wheel-mounted paddles adding even more direct access to your ratio of choice. And the bonus is no sign of the slow-speed shuntiness sometimes exhibited by dual-clutch autos, especially in twisting, three-point parking manoeuvres.

Special call-out for the cruise control which responds to adjustments quickly (including 10km/h jumps up or down with a firm press of the thumb) and rapidly retards downhill speeds.

Several unbroken hours in the front seat couldn’t generate a twinge of discomfort, the brakes are strong, and over-shoulder visibility is marginally better than in the hatch (not that it’s a weakness in the latter).

Add the sleek and intuitive multimedia system, high-quality audio, plus excellent ergonomics and you have a neatly resolved compact sedan that’s easy to use in the city and suburbs, keeping solid road-tripping ability up its sleeve as well.

Think automotive safety and Mercedes-Benz will be one of the first names to pop into your mind, and the A 180 offers in impressive suite of active features including ABS, BA, EBD, stability and traction controls, a reversing camera (with dynamic guidelines), ‘Active Brake Assist’ (Merc-speak for AEB), ‘Adaptive Brake’, ‘Attention Assist’, ‘Blind Spot Assist’, ‘Cross-wind Assist’, ‘Lane Keep Assist’, a tyre pressure warning system, the ‘Pre-Safe’ accident anticipatory system, and ‘Traffic Sign Assist’. The A 200 adds ‘Adaptive Highbeam Assist’.

If all that fails to prevent an impact you’ll be protected by nine airbags (front, pelvis and window for driver and front passenger, side airbags for rear seat occupants and a driver’s knee bag), and the ‘Active Bonnet’ automatically tilts to minimise pedestrian injuries.

The A-Class was awarded a maximum five ANCAP stars in 2018, and for smaller occupants there are three child restraint/baby capsule top tether points across the back seat, with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

MG offers a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty on the MG5 as with all its models - even electric cars. That also comes with roadside assist for the duration of the warranty, though only 160,000km is covered by the warranty if the car is used for commercial purposes.

Servicing prices for the MG5 range from $266 or $272 for the Vibe or Essence, respectively, up to $581 or $661 for the most expensive of the seven 10,000km/12-month scheduled services.

The total cost of servicing the Vibe over its seven years under capped-price servicing comes to $2661, or about $380 average per service. For the Essence, that bumps up to $2764 or an average of about $394 per service.

Mercedes-Benz covers its passenger car range with a three year/unlimited km warranty, like the other two members of the German ‘Big Three’ (Audi and BMW) .

That lags behind the mainstream market where the majority of players are now at five years/unlimited km, with some at seven years.

On the upside, Mercedes-Benz Road Care assistance is included in the deal for three years.

Service is scheduled for 12 months/25,000km (whichever comes first) with pricing available on an ‘Up-front’ or ‘Pay-as-you-go’ basis.

Pre-payment delivers a $500 saving with the first three A-Class services set at a total of $2050, compared to $2550 PAYG. Fourth and fifth services are also available for pre-purchase.