MG was one of the star performers in the UK market last year, with a 166% sales YoY gain. Glenn Brooks tries the new MG 6 diesel to see how the car measures up to its pricier class rivals.
Let’s put that sales surge percentage in perspective, first of all. The 6 might have outsold some former household names such as the Citroen C5 and Mitsubishi Shogun in 2012 but it still managed only 782 registrations. Nonetheless, that’s a huge improvement on the 360 cars sold in the previous year, though the 6 didn’t reach dealerships until mid-2011.
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You do wonder how SAIC can justify the costs of the SKD operation at the former MG Rover works in the English Midlands just for this car, but the firm plans to keep investing in the site. At the moment, workers fit engines, gearboxes, pre-painted body panels, and electrical systems to cars, all of which are shipped in from China. There is a paint shop on site but for now, it isn’t being used.
SAIC did its homework before relaunching MG in its original home market. The 6 was first seen in pre-production form at the Shanghai motor show in April 2009, with the production variant following at the Guangzhou show in November 2009. It would be a further 18 months before the UK operation was up and running, while the dealer network started out small, but continues to expand.
The 6 is a rebodying of another SAIC model, the Roewe 550, but unlike that car, the first bodystyle was a five-door hatchback. This, the MG 6 ‘Fastback’ went on sale in China in December 2009 with a sedan (Saloon in China, Magnette in the UK) following in November 2010.
In China, the MG 6 is available with the choice of normally aspirated and turbocharged 1,796cc four-cylinder petrol engines but for us, the 118kW (150bhp) turbo unit is standard. More recently launched is SAIC’s 1,849cc four-cylinder diesel, which produces 110kW (150bhp) and an even more impressive 350Nm of torque.
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By GlobalDataThe diesel has only been available in the UK since December, and it comes with a six-speed manual transmission that’s slick to use. Let’s hope SAIC is thinking of adding a self-shifting option at the time of the car’s first facelift, which should be later this year. As wagons of this size are not big sellers in China, it’s unlikely we’ll see one of those too but it would be a must-have for the next generation if the company is serious about tackling Europe’s larger markets.
There is a plan to re-introduce the brand in countries such as Germany, France and Italy but given the present downturn, it’s understandable that SAIC is choosing to wait. Would buyers in these markets embrace the 6? I really don’t see why not, though I don’t imagine sales would be anything but small in the first year or two.
One of the big advantages this brand has is heritage. In short, people have an image of an MG, though it might not be that of a C-segment sedan or hatchback. Some people’s image of a BMW is that of an SUV and in less than a year it could also be that of a range-extender EV, so who’s to say an MG has to be a roadster?
Stepping into the 6 for the first time, I will admit to being pleasantly surprised. I’ve sat in enough Chinese brand cars to recognise a pattern of low grade plastic but I didn’t find it here. Instead, your eyes settle immediately on BMW-like audio controls (surprise number one), a good looking steering wheel (number two) and then, as you have a fiddle, that thing I had almost forgotten about – an ashtray. The instruments are big and clear, the trip computer works intuitively and the handbrake is styled to sit flush with the centre console when off – a nice touch.
What’s not to like? Surprisingly little. The boot is vast and the opening extends down to bumper level, there’s a decent amount of head and legroom for all onboard and you get a good haul of standard equipment for the money. Diesel versions of the 6 Magnette start at £19,845, a mere £200 more than the petrol model.
If those prices sound steep, it’s worth starting that all four-door versions of the car come very well equipped, plus you won’t pay anything like twenty thousand pounds for the Fastback. The base GT S model grade starts at £15,125, while the cheapest diesel five-door is £16,645. That’s not a lot if you’re cross shopping a similarly equipped Focus, Astra or Golf, but remember, this car is larger than most C-segment sedans and hatchbacks so something like the Skoda Octavia is more of a natural rival.
No matter how impressed I was with the quality, pricing and handling of the car I drove, for now, the majority of UK buyers are, mostly through ignorance, yet to find out how good it is. That will change, slowly, but we’re unlikely to see sales rising too far above the 1,000 mark in 2013.
Sales numbers might be modest in the UK but in China, it’s a different story. I did some research and learned that while it only managed 37th place in the national charts by brand, MG sold 6,849 cars in January. For the full year 2012, the total was over 70,000 units (MG 3: 40,628, MG 5: 9,188, MG 6: 22,418). I should add that 5 sales only commenced in March.
I’m not sure how high the chances are for the 5 making it to the UK, but other models are certainly being planned to help push the brand onto more buyers’ consideration lists. Project AS21, a C-segment crossover, is due to appear in 2014. The Icon concept at April 2012’s Beijing motor show is expected to have offered a preview of this rival for the Nissan Qashqai.
UK dealers won’t have to wait until next year for additional new models: the smaller MG 3 is due to start rolling out of Longbridge alongside the 6 saloon and fastback during the second half of 2013. The brand will then have a competitor for Britain’s best seller, the Fiesta, not that Ford will take much notice. Brand sales should rise above 1,000 for the first time in many years, and from there, who knows how far they could go?
