Chinese-owned British brand MG has revealed a replacement for its eight-year-old rival for the Toyota Corolla, the MG 6.
Sold in Australia as the MG 6 Plus in three hatchback variants priced from $21,990, the original MG 6 was part of MG’s local rebirth last year, when it also launched the MG 3 light hatch, followed this year by the GS mid-size SUV.
The new MG 6 takes plenty of inspiration from the MG E-Motion concept car shown during April’s 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. It looks to have taken the best from Mazda’s design language and mesh it with a Mercedes-Benz-inspired front grille. The real story is inside, though.
The interior has been designed to look and feel much more premium than the one found in the outgoing MG 6. The car shown doesn’t skimp on thoughtful touches such as the red-leather inserts in the seats and more red hues on the dashboard and door panels. There’s also a standard touchscreen infotainment unit which is flanked by a lack of physical buttons. Most of the essential controls are found on the steering wheel, though voice activation is also present.
The new MG 6 shares underpinnings with the i6 from fellow SAIC brand Roewe. This means the i6’s engines will also find a home in the new MG sedan. The list includes a 1.0-liter inline-3 that produces 123 horsepower and a 1.5-liter inline-4 that makes 164 hp. A plug-in hybrid version of the MG 6 is also possible, which would use the Roewe i6’s 1.0-liter engine paired with an 82-hp electric motor.
In additional news, Chinese-Thai joint venture SAIC Motor-CP Co, has announced plans to focus more on the Internet of Things (IoT) for MG cars to add more value-added features amid a competitive local market.
Yesterday, the company introduced the i-Smart connectivity system with a driver-behavior learning capability, a second digital platform after the inkaNet, an intelligent safety telematics communication system via mobile phone launched in June 2015.
Note: Press release courtesy of MG Cars.
