Depending on your age, you may or may not have heard of the MG brand. It is widely regarded as one of the most iconic automotive brands and has been around since the 1920s.
The British marque, arguably as iconic as Jaguar, was once known for its lightweight open-top two-wheel sports cars, and is one of a must have brand for any self-respecting classic car collector.
MG may be a classic brand and it was in Malaysia for many years even before independence, but these days the brand is no longer the same as what we know it.
MG is now owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), a Chinese state owned company, and has a strong presence in many markets. However, despite its popularity in markets such as Thailand, it has been absent from Malaysia.
Not for long though.
There have been spyshots of some EV models testing in Malaysia, and there are growing rumours that the brand is making a strong comeback into our market, and soon!
However, we have heard that the MG brand will start off as an EV brand only at first, perhaps to capitalise on the incentives that our government is giving to encourage EV adoption.
There is no word yet on when the iconic brand will be launched but judging by the models it has on offer, it will be interesting to see how well the brand is received.
The MG4 hatchback has been spotted undergoing tests in Malaysia and the C-segment model promises to be quite a good alternative to the current Chinese offerings.
The MG4 is powered by a single, rear-mounted motor putting out 170PS and 250Nm of torque. Powering the motor is a 51kWh battery pack that takes up to 4.4kW of AC charging and up to 88kW of DC charging.
The DC charging should allow the car to charge from 10-80% in just 35 minutes where else a home Wallbox charger should take 8.5 hours.
The MG4 has a 425km range on the NEDC cycle, which is roughly about 380km on the WLTP cycle.
At this point, it is anybody’s guess as to which trim will be offered in Malaysia, but our friend’s up north in Thailand get two variants – the D and the flagship X.
The flagship gets a full ADAS safety suite, LED lighting, wireless charger, 360 surround view camera as as well as a dedicated app called the I-SMART that lets owners check on the status of the car.
As for prices, the D is priced at RM112,000 in Thailand where else the X is priced at RM125,000. You can expect the Malaysian prices to be somewhat the same.
MG4 EV Image Gallery
