MG’s Renault 5 rival could hit roads by 2027 priced from below £25,000 – and it will be fully designed in the UK.
Likely to be called MG 2, the new EV will sit below the MG 4 as the entry-level model to MG’s seven-strong EV line-up, which has been bolstered recently by the S5 EV and S6 EV.
MG UK boss David Allison told Autocar that “It’s the obvious area of the market that’s next to happen”, adding: “we will absolutely be in there.”
Regarding an arrival date, he said that the brand was “still probably over a year away from it”, suggesting a 2027 launch is viable.
Asked about pricing, Allison said that the car will be focused on value, rather than just an enticing sticker price. He added: “I think we have moved on. Not consciously, but other brands and other products have come in that are the cheapest.
“If you look at the price of the Dacia Spring and you look at the price of the Leapmotors – that’s not the space we occupy.
“And I don’t necessarily think it will be the space that we can occupy. I think our ethos has always been about value. You know, it’s not necessarily been about being the cheapest. It’s been about providing the most that we can for the best value for money.
“You know, the ZS is Qashqai sized, but it’s Juke money. And I dare say, we’ll see something similar with the 2.”
Technical details are thin, but it is understood that the new entry-level MG will use the same SAIC battery-electric Modular Scalable Platform as the MG 4.
MG will also likely benchmark the 2 against the Renault 5, which is powered by a single 150bhp motor and offers a top-end range of 250 miles from a 52kWh battery.
On design, Allison wouldn’t disclose any details, but did confirm that “fairly advanced” concepts have already been built, which suggests that production mules could soon begin testing.
Offering smaller model now ‘much more important’
Allison said the sales response to the Renault 5 has shown the market for small, affordable electric cars is much bigger than previously anticipated – and therefore it is crucial to launch such a model as soon as possible.
“The Renault 5 has made the job much more important,” he said. “I’ve always felt that was the next market that was going to happen, because as Europe transitions towards EVs, inevitably the easiest way of making them more affordable is downsizing.”
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