MG strengthens EV lineup with compact wagon

MG’s second battery-powered car will be Europe’s first full-electric wagon when deliveries start in the fourth quarter.

The compact MG5 EV will join the strong selling ZS EV, whose success has helped the Chinese-owned brand grow beyond its core UK market.

MG on Tuesday released pictures of the wagon, which was adapted from a model sold in China by SAIC Motor sister brand Roewe.

The MG5 EV will arrive in UK showrooms in October. Plans for the rest of Europe will be communicated in the autumn, a spokesperson said.

The MG5 EV has a bigger battery than the ZS EV -- 52.5 kilowatt hours compared with the 44.5-kWh system in the small SUV. That gives the wagon a WLTP-measured range of 344 km (214 miles), compared with a peak range of 262 km for the ZS EV.

The wagon will cost between 20,000 pounds and 25,000 pounds (22,150 euros and 27,700 euros), said an MG dealer in the UK. The price will undercut the ZS EV, which starts at 25,495 pounds including government subsidies.

The wagon has a 578-liter trunk, which rises to 1,456 liters with the rear seats folded. The company described the car as a “value-for-money” model.

MG was one of the few brands to increase European sales in the first half. Helped by demand for the ZS EV, MG’s volume rose 45 percent to 9,152 in the period, according to data from JATO Dynamics.

MG has used its expanding EV range to make its long-awaited push into Europe and now sells in 11 countries, according to the spokesperson. Countries with an MG outlet include France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Austria.

MG sold 316 cars in Norway in June to give it a 2.8 percent market share according to data from Norway's Road Traffic Information Council.

The brand’s expansion into battery propulsion has been the impetus to expand sales across Europe from the UK.

"If it wasn't for electric it would be much, much tougher to do that," MG UK’s sales and marketing manager, Daniel Gregorious, told Automotive News Europe in an interview in May.

Gregorious said sales have been boosted by the lack of production restraints that have dogged some EV makers.

"It helps that SAIC has huge industrial capacity. If we ask for more, they say, 'Sure, you can have them'," he said.

The storied UK brand has been in Chinese hands since 2005, when Nanjing Auto purchased it from bankrupt UK automaker MG Rover. Two years later, Nanjing Auto was acquired by SAIC. MG has been SAIC's preferred export brand ever since.

MG will also begin sales of a plug-in hybrid version of the HS compact SUV in the fourth quarter.

MG now has 107 dealers in the UK, up from 67 at the end of 2017.