MG MG7 Reviews

A new world order is forming in the electric car segment in Australia.Tesla and BYD might not be the mighty forces they once were as two EV princes wait in the wings to snatch the crown.The Tesla Model Y, which was streets ahead of the rest in sales through 2024, has come back to the pack.Tesla sales were down 33 per cent in January, following a more than 16 per cent drop in 2024.It shifted just 465 Model Ys and 274 Model 3s. The Model Y was still the best selling electric car in Australia in January but it was down on its usual performance of more than 1500 a month in 2024.An updated version of the Model Y is due in coming months, but it will be significantly more expensive. The current version will likely be in short supply until that point meaning it could give others a head start in the EV sales race.BYD sales also fell off a cliff in January down almost 50 per cent. Sales of its plug-in hybrid Sealion 6 SUV kept the brand afloat but EV sales were down dramatically with the Atto 3 down 77.4 per cent, Dolphin down 66.8 per cent and Seal down 91.2 per cent.Recent port issues are likely to blame for part of the slow sales, but the brand has also announced new cheaper variants of the Dolphin and Atto 3 to boost sales.Surely it's just a blip on the radar and both brands will roar back in the coming months, but what if they don't reach the same EV heights as before?This could open the opportunity for the Kia EV5 and MG4 electric cars to have a crack at the Model Y’s crown.The MG4 was the second best selling EV in January with 440 sales and the EV5 was third with 289.A big selling point for the MG and Kia are their warranties: MG has a 10 year/250,000km guarantee and Kia has a seven year/unlimited km security blanket. Both easily trump Tesla’s four year/80,000km warranty.Both also sell through a conventional dealer model rather than a majority online portal like BYD and Tesla.Both the MG4 and EV5 are both built in China, same as the Australian delivered Teslas, which give them the same price, supply and short shipping advantage as the market leaders.Australians also now have far more choice in the electric car space compared to 12 months ago. A wave of new brands from China include Deepal, Geely, Leapmotor, XPeng and Zeekr, which all launched with Model Y sized alternatives cheaper than their big name rival.Those brands — with the exception of Leapmotor — don't yet report sales.Conventional car makers have started to bring their own EVs online to help dilute the market that was very concentrated on just a few brands a year ago.The chances are Tesla will rebound in the coming months from its January sales, in what is a traditionally slow month for the brand.Kia is unlikely to muster the 25,000 EV5 sales needed to claim the top spot with the brand predicting a run rate of 400 a month in 2025.MG on the other hand has shown it is willing to heavily discount the MG4 to boost sales.For a short period it was the cheapest electric car on sale during 2024, with the base model costing just a smidge more than $30,000 drive-away. The price cut saw MG4s fly off the lot, outselling both Tesla models combined in October 2024.This year will be a challenge for many of the large electric car sellers as cost of living pressures bite and the well has run dry of early adopters willing to pay overs for the zero-emissions tech.

Inflation is the economic effect of prices increasing over time, this impacts every item across society. But as I’m a motoring journalist and don’t have a PhD in economics (like my father did), so I’m going to stick to cars.

First details of the MG HS plug-in hybrid have been revealed.  The Australian government’s Road Vehicle Regulator requires manufacturers to submit technical specifications before a vehicle goes on sale, and MG has made its submission prior to releasing official details. 

MG has confirmed local pricing and specification for the non-hybrid versions of its new-generation ZS small SUV range.Due in local showrooms mid-next month, the three grade ZS range joins the two-level ZS Hybrid+ line-up introduced late last year.Representing 45 per cent of the brand’s more than 50,000 sales in 2024, the ZS stands as the best-selling small SUV in the country, and the compact five-seater’s continued popularity is critical for MG’s ongoing success in Australia.And with new competitors arriving almost by the day and price reductions rife its cost-of-entry and standard specification list are all important.Drive-away pricing for the ZS Excite begins at $26,990, rising to $29,990 for the Essence and $31,990 for the Essence Turbo. Big jumps from the old car's bargain basement $22,990 entry point.The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro becomes the new affordable SUV king at $23,990, drive-away, as the ZS looks to challenge the GWM Haval Jolion, Mazda CX-30, Mitsubishi ASX, Subaru Crosstrek and Toyota Corolla Cross.The Excite and Essence are powered by a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine sending 81kW/140Nm to the front wheels, while as the name implies, the top-spec Turbo Essence picks up turbo-petrol power for an impressive 125kW/275Nm.Official combined cycle fuel consumption for the non-turbo models is 6.7L/100km, with the turbo returning 6.9L/100km.All models feature MG’s ‘i-Smart’ safety suite, alloy wheels, sat nav and a reversing camera as well as Android Auto / Apple CarPlay connectivity as standard. The ZS hybrid received a four-star ANCAP safety rating.Rim size steps up an inch on each grade, starting as 16-inch for the Excite, 17s on the Essence and 18s on the Turbo Essence. A 10.25-inch multimedia display in the Excite grows to 12.3-inch in the upper models, which also pick up a 360-degree HD camera view, synthetic (PVC) seat trim rather than cloth and six-way power-adjustable heated front seats.2025 MG ZS pricingPrices listed are national drive-away

MG India has revealed a new seven-seat SUV, which could rival popular ladder-frame-based models as a facelift to one of its Indian-market offerings.

There's no doubting the MG4 XPower's impressive power and acceleration, but mystery still swirls around the cut-price performance EV. Is it a proper hot hatch? Or just a surprisingly potent city-friendly EV? Is it the best bang-for-bucks electric option in the market? Or rather a basic-feeling commuter with the grunt dialled up? To find out, we've put Andrew Chesterton behind the long-term wheel.

Australia’s new car market rose very slightly in volume in 2024 compared to 2023 - but it wasn’t good news across the board.

Australia clocked a record number of new-car sales in 2024, proving once again how diverse our new-car market really is.

Driving in Sydney in the lead up to Christmas is a chore. Let’s find out how the new MG HS fared in the heat and non-stop traffic.After two months in the MG HS Essence I’ve driven more than 1300km and spent over 50 hours behind the wheel - or more than two days.That’s a huge amount of time to spend in one car as a motoring journalist and after all that driving it has ironed out some of its foibles from the first month but accentuated some of the red flags, too.Let’s talk about the good points first.The engine is a cracker for a mid-size family SUV. It performs better than its 1.5-litre capacity suggests, with 125kW and 275Nm on tap.That torque figure is key to delivering hefty performance in the middle of the rev range making for sturdy and spritely acceleration.It’s quiet, too, with only a slight grumble entering the cabin. Pop the bonnet and you’ll see why, with noticeable sound deadening material blocking the engine noise from pumping into the interior. This helps add a level of refinement missing from earlier MGs.The steering is well weighted and responsive, which makes it easy to pilot around town.Last month I talked about the twitchy dual-clutch automatic that sent surges of power to the wheels and was lagging when accelerating on turning at intersections. Those elements are still there, but with more sympathetic throttle application than needed in other cars those issues are left in the rear view mirror. So be gentle with the HS and it will reward you with a smoother commute.It’s a good size SUV, too. It's big enough to lug the family around but so big that it feels cumbersome around town. Driving the HS it’s easy to see why mid-size SUVs are the most popular vehicles in Australia.This was confirmed navigating a mammoth Westfield shopping centre, jam-packed Woolies and cut-throat beachside car parks.The HS never had an issue getting down tight concrete lined ramps or squeezing into parks next to big poles.This was aided by excellent parking aids with detailed sensors that tell you the exact distance in centimetres between the object behind or in front. The top down view also helps make sure you’re lined up correctly.The cabin is spacious with plenty of room for kids and adults in the back seat. A solid distance between the back and front seats meant our two-year old couldn’t kick the seat in front, as in some vehicles.There were a few things that stung this past month, though.The heat in Sydney was ramping up and the MG’s air con wasn’t as cooling as was needed, it took some time to cool down and blow the heat out of the cabin.The black synthetic leather upholstery got particularly hot if it was in direct sunlight, too.On one occasion the multimedia screen went completely green as we were parking, making the rear view and surround view camera unusable. Luckily this issue only happened once and hasn’t been seen since.The driver attention warning was particularly frustrating. It would beep if I scratched my face, adjusted my sunglasses and it thought I was falling asleep when I was squinting into the sun one day I had forgotten my shades.The boot isn’t as big as you’d expect in a car this size. I can fit more in my personal car that is a size smaller than the HS.Fuel use and the cost of filling up also stung a lot.MG claims the HS drinks 6.9L per 100km combined, or 8.9L/100km around town and 5.8L/100km on the highway. We couldn’t get below 10.4L/100km this month, which is about 17 per cent worse than the company’s city driving claim where we did most of our motoring.It needs premium petrol, too, which meant it cost more than $100 to fill up.Running costs are further hurt by pricey servicing, which costs $2354 over five years/75,000km ($471 per workshop visit).The counterbalance to that is a sharp entry price — our range-topper is about $44,000, drive-away — and it comes with a benchmark 10 year/250,000km warranty.For the next instalment we’ll hit the freeway and get out of town to see how it likes the open road.Acquired: OctoberDistance travelled this month: 584kmOdometer: 3122kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 10.4L/100km (measured at pump)

Australia’s top-selling car and the top-selling brands for 2024 have been revealed and it’s been yet another record year of sales.Last year, Australians bought 1,237,287 new vehicles, which represented a modest 1.7 per cent upswing compared with 2023 sales. It was enough to make it the biggest year of sales in Australian history.Utes and SUVs continued to dominate with just one passenger car - the Toyota Corolla - managing to remain in the top 10 best-selling models list.Almost 700,000 SUVs were sold in the calendar year compared with 270,000 light-commercial vehicles and just over 203,000 passenger cars (hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, sports cars and people movers).The top-selling model for 2024 was the Ford Ranger, repeating its 2023 win, despite a slight dip in sales to 62,593 (-1.2%).The Toyota RAV4 had its best sales year and came pretty close to toppling the Ranger, but had to settle for a still-impressive second place with 58,718 units, closely followed by its HiLux stablemate on 53,499.The Isuzu D-Max was the only other ute in the top 10, landing in fourth place with 30,194, and rounding out the top-five models was the Mitsubishi Outlander.Making up the rest of the top-10 models were Ford’s Everest, the Corolla, Mazda CX-5, MG ZS and the Kia Sportage. Check the tables below for all the figures.Toyota maintained its dominance in the industry, leading the charge with 241,296 sales, which is 12.1 per cent ahead of last year’s total.As expected, Ford leapfrogged Mazda to nab second place with a healthy 100,170 units, helped mostly by those solid Ranger and Everest numbers.Mazda dipped a little in 2024 (95,987) but remained well ahead of fourth-placed Kia on 81,787, while Mitsubishi (74,547) capped off the top-five brands.Hyundai (71,664) only just missed out on a top-five position, trailing Mitsubishi by 2883 units.MG also took a sales tumble but still stayed firm with 50,592 (-13.3%) for seventh place, while Isuzu continued to punch above its weight in eighth spot, recording 48,172 sales with just two models on sale.Nissan managed to make some gains in 2024, landing in ninth place with 45,284, and China’s GWM is now firmly a top-10 player having grabbed tenth spot with 42,782.The Chinese giant kept Subaru and Tesla out of the top list, with Subaru collecting 40,604 sales and Tesla sliding by 17 per cent to 38,347.The Model Y also just missed out on a top-10 spot for model sales, with 21,253 finding homes, a drop of 26 per cent.Despite the bumper sales year, the automotive industry’s peak body is forecasting a gloomy outlook and taking a swipe at the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Emissions Standards that kicked in on January 1.“While overall consumer preferences remain clear with SUVs and Light Commercial vehicles continuing to dominate the market and especially the top ten sales, many vehicles in these segments are either difficult or expensive to decarbonise. This will prove to be a significant challenge in meeting the extremely ambitious targets of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) which began on 1 January 2025,” Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber said in a media release.“The industry is responding to NVES by increasing the range of zero and low emission vehicles on offer. However, a continuation of current customer buying preferences will inevitably lead to the accrual of substantial penalties under the Government’s new scheme, which will create price inflation within the new vehicle market.”