Small Cars

The electric car price war might be coming to an end, and MG has won. The Chinese brand has ripped about $10,000 off the price of its cheapest MG4 electric car with a new national drive-away price of $30,990. This represents a drop of about 25 per cent for the MG4 51 Excite.

The Puma is now extinct in Australia, with Ford expected to cancel the battery electric vehicle (EV) version of the European small SUV for this market, at least for the foreseeable future.This is despite announcing plans nearly 18 months ago to release the Puma EV (dubbed Gen-E) by the end of this year, as part of five new EV models for Australia by the start of 2025.At the time, Ford also revealed that the regular petrol-powered versions of the Puma would be discontinued after stocks of the current model depleted.As only a handful of these remain in dealerships to date, it was thought that Australian consumers would only have to wait for a few months before given the chance to buy a new, cheaper electric Ford.However, a reader tipped us off otherwise earlier this week, after being told of the fate of the Puma Gen-E by a Ford dealer.Since then, it has also come to our attention that Ford’s public website has deleted all references to the electric Puma, prompting us to reach out to the company for clarification.While Ford Australia has declined to comment about the Gen-E’s future, a spokesperson did email CarsGuide the following statement:“The Puma page on the Ford website was removed as we clear the last remaining stock of the current model. We will share more details on Puma Gen-E later in the year,” it read.Given the Gen-E does not officially exist in production form anywhere in the world (the facelifted Puma that it is based on has only just had a European press launch), it seems Ford Australia may have to wait until after the EV version's global debut before announcing the series' now-uncertain future in this country.With stalling EV sales globally, the decision to drop the Puma altogether in Australia would not be a surprising one.We also understand that meeting anticipated European demand first – especially in markets that have punitive carbon-related taxes – may also play a role in the decision to back out of the Gen-E locally, should that happen.The electric Puma's expected cancellation here does also raise concerns over how Ford plans to meet next year’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (known as NVES).With the diesel-powered Ranger and Everest combined accounting for about 90 per cent of total volume, the Blue Oval may face some very heavy fines moving forward.Today, the only electrified vehicles in the local artillery are the slow-selling Mustang Mach-E and full-sized e-Transit, though the smaller e-Transit Custom is still set for a 2025 launch, alongside one more mystery EV if the company's 2023 announcement comes to fruition.But all, along with the Ranger plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV), will likely only be niche sellers at best.Speaking of the latter and its powertrain, Ford did offer the Escape PHEV midsized SUV for a brief period from 2022, until the whole series was shockingly dropped towards the end of last year.Should Ford import the Puma Gen-E to Australia? Do Blue Oval fans deserve an affordable and accessible EV? Let us know in the comments below.

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Now in its second generation, the MG3 is thousands of dollars more expensive than before. We jump in the base petrol Excite to find out if the value is still there for this British-branded, Chinese-built hatchback.

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