MG sales have dipped this year, but the company is confident new product will help it stay in the top 10.
It’s introducing new generations of three of its core models this year.
The new MG 3 arrives this month, with a replacement for the current HS due in August and a ZS replacement in October.
“MG in the past few years under my leadership has been a superstar, but in [the first half of 2024] it looks like there are many challenges,” MG Motor Australia CEO Peter Ciao told CarExpert.
ZST
“That’s reasonable, because my major volume in the past few years has come from MG 3, from ZS, from HS.
“After we replace all the older models, we trust… we will keep very strong growth.
“I think we have a huge confidence, we will get a very good result,” he added, noting he still expects MG to be a top 10 brand in 2024.
It finished in seventh place last year with 58,346 sales, up 17.7 per cent on the year before.
The MG brand was relaunched here in 2016, and since then sales have maintained a consistently upward trajectory.
Current HS
However, MG sales across the first five months of 2024 were down 1.5 per cent on the same period last year.
Since that period last year, MG has launched two new models: the electric MG 4 hatch and the petrol-powered MG 5 sedan.
However, sales of other models have declined. Compared with the first five months of 2023, MG 3 sales were down 31.1 per cent, while the HS was down 63.1 per cent.
ZS sales were essentially flat, with a modest 0.2 per cent improvement.
MG has remained in the top 10 every month this year, reaching as high as seventh place and as low as 10th.
Next-generation HS
The MG 3, MG 4 and ZS lineups have remained comfortably the best-selling vehicles in their respective VFACTS segments.
MG 5 sales have remained steady despite the safety rating being handed down in December. It’s still some way off from reaching segment stalwarts like the Hyundai i30, Kia Cerato, Mazda 3, and top-selling Toyota Corolla.
The HS has found itself overtaken by the GWM Haval H6, and now has a pair of Chery-branded SUVs to fend off.
The replacement HS is expected to be a restyled version of the RX5 from fellow SAIC Motor brand Roewe, retaining petrol and plug-in hybrid options but offering sharper styling.
