New year, new brand! According to an unnamed source familiar with the matter, the MG Motor brand will soon be making an official re-entry into Malaysia, sometime within the first quarter of 2024.
MG needs no introduction for us Malaysians, with the historic marque being here on our shores even during the colonial days. That said, today’s MG is a very different brand. It’s still headquartered in the UK, but MG is now owned by Chinese state-owned carmaker SAIC, and thus most of its models today are built on shared platforms (or rebadged) from within the SAIC group.
In contrast to MG’s previous focus on performance-oriented models (with the regular variants being sold under the Rover brand), the Chinese-owned marque now offers a wide variety of models ranging from compact hatchbacks to sports cars, with ICE, hybrid, and fully electric powertrain options on offer.
There’s currently no official word on which MG models would eventually be launched here in Malaysia, although test mules for the MG4 EV have already been spotted trawling the city streets in preparation of the marque’s re-entry into the country, hinting that it might be an EV-only brand here on our shores.
Over in Thailand, where MG operates a major production facility, the MG4 EV is offered with a single rear motor making 170 hp and 250 Nm, with power fed from a 51 kWh battery pack offering up to 425 km of range (NEDC). Charging takes 8.5 hours via the on-board 4.4 kW AC charger, or approximately 35 minutes from 10-80% using a 88 kW DC fast charger.
The model is also available in China with a larger 64 kWh battery pack, alongside the option for a more powerful 204 hp motor. Even more interesting though is the MG4 EV XPower in the UK, which comes with a dual-motor powertrain set-up with 435 hp and 600 Nm, enabling the hatchback to complete the century sprint in just 3.8 seconds!
Aside from the MG4 EV, another model that we can probably expect to make an appearance here in Malaysia is the MG ZS. Also offered in an EV form, the compact crossover packs a single front-mounted 177 hp electric motor, paired to a 50.3 kWh battery pack for a driving range of 403 km (NEDC).
We’ll likely be hearing about MG in Malaysia very soon, so keep your eyes peeled on our site – we’ll be publishing the latest updates as soon as we get them. For now, what are your thoughts on the revived MG brand? Sound off in the comments section.
RELATED: Chery Omoda E5 EV to launch in March in Malaysia – single variant only, ROI open
GALLERY
