During this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, MG unveiled its brand-new IM range, the MG IM5 sedan and MG IM6 SUV – marking a bold move into the premium EV segment under its “Intelligence in Motion” banner.
On the performance front, the MG IM5 Long Range features a 100-kWh battery, and targets a maximum range of up to 441 miles charging from 10 to 80% in approximately 17 minutes, with 0-100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds. The IM6 SUV comes with a 100kWh battery pack and is capable of up to 388 mile (WLTP) combined range.
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Prices in the UK start from around £39,450 for the MG IM5, (75kWh Standard), climbing to approximately £48,500 for the Performance variants. The MG IM6 begins around £47,995. With deliveries set for later this year.
Frankie Youd spoke with David Allison, head of product and planning, MG UK, to discuss the new launches and his thoughts on the developing brand.
Frankie Youd (FY): Could you tell me about the new badge design on the front of the vehicles?
David Allison (DA): These cars are sold in China under a separate brand, IM – which is part of the SAIC group.
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By GlobalDataIn international markets – including the UK – it will be a premium sub-brand of MG.
MG is very much an international brand, sold in over 113 markets around the world. We sell 80,000 cars a year, we have over a 4% market share. MG provides us with a solid base.
These two models fit perfectly into our range as a technology showcase, but that is still positioned very much within the MG family and these cars will be sold in Britain through our MG dealer network.
I think the strength and the power of the broader MG brand is so influential, and the fact that we spent the last four or five years building this brand up to the fact that it’s now so recognised. You see them everywhere and that has helped us establish a position where we can confidently sell a car at between the £40k to £53k price-point area. This fits nicely between the core range of MG4 EV, MGS5 EV, and the halo Cyberster model.
Could you provide an overview of the two models?
They are built on a dedicated EV platform; looking at dimensions they’re around 4.9 meters long. Wheelbase is 2.95 meters so they’re relatively big cars, bigger than an MG HS to put it into context. We’ve got the 100-kilowatt hour battery, the biggest battery we do on any of our cars is 100 kilowatts. They sit on an 800-volt platform and can charge up to 396 kilowatts; you can’t find one of those in this country at the moment, but we are future proofing.
When someone eventually brings out a 400 or 500-kilowatt hour charger, these vehicles can really perform. We could charge from 10% to 80% in 17 minutes, but the more powerful charging infrastructure isn’t there in numbers yet.
We do single motor and dual motor variants, the MG IM5 long range can travel up to 441 miles on a single charge. The MG IM6 long range has a 388-mile range.
We do a 75-kilowatt hour version in the MG IM5, to get to an entry price point below the expensive car supplement – that’s why we’ve done it – but even that has a range of 307 miles, so it’s still decent. We felt that the 100-kilowatt platform was the best one to use. The dual motors are branded the performance versions, the MG IM5 can do zero to 62 in 3.2 seconds, the MG IM6 can do it in 3.5 seconds.
With the influence of the design, you probably find there’s a little bit more emphasis in rear seat space than there is boot space. But the MG IM6 still has 665 litres, and there are 32 litres of frunk.
The thing for me about these cars – it’s about the refinement. They are incredibly quiet. You’ve obviously got the levels of performance, but the level of comfort you get in the cars, allied with the range is absolutely sensational.
What do these two new models mean for the MG brand?
We are positioning this as very much a technology showcase. I’ve always taken the view that technology filters down. The technology that we have in these cars will at some point find their way into the core range of cars. I can list ten features off the top of my head, which we can talk about with these cars, which we can’t talk about on MG4 EV or MGS5 EV.
They have an 800-volt platform, 396-kilowatt hour charging, 441 miles of range, four wheel steering, air suspension, active damping control system, 26.3 inch infotainment screen. The level of tech that’s in these cars is unbelievable. When you think about it, it fits really well in terms of what we’re doing.
We have to keep evolving this brand. We can’t keep selling the cars that we are doing and expect to keep growing. We’ve got to keep taking this brand in as many different directions that we think it’s capable of doing. I absolutely believe we’re going to achieve this.
At this year’s event there are several Chinese OEMs, so how do you aim to stand out – from others – in the market?
It’s a great question. I always come back to the heritage and I always come back to the fact that this brand has been in existence for 101 years. It’s an affectionately held brand in over 113 markets worldwide. We have two of the oldest functioning owners’ clubs and car clubs around the world.
Looking at all of the brands that are coming in or scheduled to come in, will all of them survive? Maybe not. I think with this one, when you’ve got that heritage to fall back on and that genuine affection then – providing we’re respectful of that – and we keep bringing out products that are worthy of it and fit, and positioned well in the marketplace, I think we can continue to be successful.
This was a very logical step for me. It was only ever a logical decision to put an MG badge on this car, because, like I said earlier, why go through all the expense and the resource that you need to try and establish a separate brand?
We can put this in over 150 UK showrooms across the UK and we’ve got some fantastic dealers. We’ve got some great dealer partners and some amazing salespeople in our network. They’re absolutely all over this car. Can’t wait to start selling them.
One of my jobs is to make sure that we’re not just introducing cars for the sake of introducing cars. Every single one of these that we sell, couldn’t have been another of our models – they are highly differentiated for market segment and customer needs. We will absolutely add incremental volume as a result of having these new models in the market. That’s how we keep moving forward.
When we spoke last year, you said there would be cars on the stand next year that weren’t on the stand, so what can we expect to see next year at Goodwood?
Yes, I remember saying to you last year that in 12 months’ time it’s very possible that we could have cars on the stand that we didn’t have then. I think that’s true.
We have Cyberster, and a MG HS, which we introduced last year. We have MGS5 EV, we have the MG ZS, which weren’t available this time last year. We’ve got the two MG IM variants, we’ve got Cyber X, and we’ve got the Cyberster Black Edition.
The way that this brand keeps changing and evolving, it is entirely possible that 80% of the cars, maybe even 100% of the cars, could be completely different if we come back in 12 months’ time.
It’s a fantastically dynamic brand to be working with, it’s really exciting.
