MG 7-seat options in Australia

Is there an MG 7-seater Australia-bound? It’s one of the big questions doing the rounds right now, especially after recent speculation of everything from a full-sized Indian-market off-roader to an ICE-engined crossover model landing here.

So what’s the reality, and is there an MG 7-seater car coming at all? Does MG have a 7-seater in other markets that could be made to work here?

Right now, there’s no MG HS 7-seater and no MG ZS 7-seater SUV, nor are there plans to cram a third row into these models.

So, it’s probably worth going back a few months to August last year when CarsGuide interviewed one of MG’s senior product planners. At which point, the notion of a seven-seater SUV with an MG badge was more or less confirmed for some time this year. Typically, though, details were a bit thin on the ground.

But what will it look like? What competition makes and models will it take on, and what will it cost?

Well, here’s the skinny as we understand it to this point, based on what MG Motor Australia has told us, as well as a bit of crystal-balling.

The first 7-seater MG SUV for Australia is set to arrive sometime this year (although the exact details are sketchy) and will slot into the local range above the ZS and HS models.

MG Australia knows it needs this vehicle, but is still not saying too much about what form it will take.

The smart money says the three-row MG SUV 7-seater will be based on the SAIC (MG’s parent company) Roewe RX9, but with a restyling job to make it more palatable to buyers from outside its home market of China.

In line with MG’s SUV naming strategy, it’s likely to be badged QS. It’s also likely to be the largest MG SUV, with more compact models to follow.

In other markets, the Roewe RX9 is an upmarket vehicle and uses a 2.0-litre, turbocharged petrol engine, but speculation is that MG would eventually engineer a hybrid version, again to suit other markets including ours. That doesn’t rule out the petrol version arriving here first, of course.

And even with the petrol driveline we know about, the RX9 makes 178kW of power, almost 400Nm of torque, drives through a nine-speed automatic transmission and can be had in either front or all-wheel drive.

Size-wise, the RX9 would be competitive with vehicles like the Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Santa Fe.

Of course, MG has other seven-seat SUVs it could call upon to serve here, including the Hector Plus sold in markets including India. The oddly named Hector Plus has a conventional three-row layout and is about 4.7m long, making it a size-competitor for the likes of the Mitsubishi Outlander seven-seater.

Would it work here? Given the parent company’s huge reach and resources, engineering something viable shouldn’t be a problem. For now, though, only the RX9-based vehicle appears to be in MG Australia’s sights but, as the brand becomes more entrenched, expect other seven-seat SUVs to arrive bearing the famous octagonal badge.

For MG Australia cars like a full-sized three-row SUV are going to be very important in market share terms, and MG has bullish intentions in that department.

Around the world, of course, MGs sell at least partly on their value for money equation, so while the MG 7-seater Australia price isn’t yet known, bank on it giving the competition a hurry up.

And while we’d love to see the new SUV in hybrid or PHEV form, given MG’s resources, don’t rule out an MG 7-seater electric car, either.

Watch this space.