'Everything will be MGified': Why Australia's most popular Chinese car maker won't expand into sub-brands to rival GWM, Lexus and Xpeng despite plans to conquer every segment

Australia’s original Chinese-backed success story, MG, won’t diversify into a range of sub-brands as its rivals challenge it from every angle.

Speaking to CarsGuide MG’s Chief Operating Officer, Giles Belcher, explained MG had no interest of expanding into sub-brands Down Under despite its SAIC parent company having many ready-made options to choose from.

When asked if MG was considering adding Lexus-rivalling Roewe or Zeekr-rivalling IM to its portfolio in Australia, Belcher said: “There are no plans to do that.”

“We consider any product we think could suit the Australian market, if there’s a Roewe product we could MGify for our market, we could do that. It would have to suit our brand and look and feel. You can’t just put an MG badge on, it takes more work than that.

“Right now, there’s a lot under consideration” he added, pointing to the rolling success of the brand in Australia and a range of new-generation products confirmed or at least being considered over the course of the next 12 months.

These include new segment additions for MG, like the MG7 liftback, which is one of the brand’s halo products in China and a next-generation version of the Marvel R electric mid-sizer currently sold in Europe.

The brand has previously confirmed it would be adding a product the next size-up from its current HS mid-sizer, a seven-seat SUV.

The brand told us to expect a reveal of this model imminently, but it’s not hard to sleuth out that it will likely be a version of the premium-segment Roewe RX9 sold in the Chinese domestic market.

Roewe could also be the source for an MG people mover, with its popular-in-China iMax8 seemingly a good fit to challenge the Kia Carnival.

Multiple MG executives have also pointed to the brand’s IM Motors division, which sells more aspirational electric vehicles which are designed to rival offerings from Tesla, Zeekr, and Xpeng, as a potential source for more electric offerings, although these too will wear MG badges if they reach our shores.

MG has form in re-badging and tweaking products overseas. The Thai market already has an ‘MGified’ ute, the MG Extender, which is a restyled LDV T60, and it sells a restyled LDV D90 large SUV known as the Gloster for the Indian market.

One thing is for sure, a ute is the product the brand most wants as part of its promise to cover every market segment. Just don’t expect it to look anything like the current Extender when it arrives as it’s no secret it is working on a next-generation offering more suited to global markets.

“Right now, the easy answer is a pick-up,” said Belcher of the product MG most wants.

“You have to do a lot of work, you can’t just want one in Australia. If we can find the right product, that would be great.” he added.

MG’s sister brand LDV is owned by the same SAIC parent company but brought in separately by importer Ateco, is launching its own next-generation ute, available in both electric and diesel forms.

It will first arrive in electric, dubbed the eTerron 9, featuring a massive 102kWh battery, twin motor propulsion and a claimed 3500kg towing capacity.

The diesel version, dubbed the Maxus Interstellar X in its Chinese home market, levels up with a bigger 2.5-litre diesel engine with increased power, payload and towing capacity. Whether some form of either vehicle ever wears an MG badge remains to be seen.

MG will be on the defensive in 2025. Now accepted as a mainstream automaker in Australia, it will now have to defend its position against an array of new rivals, including Geely, Leapmotor, GAC, and a revitalised Chery.