CARS OF THE WORLD

MG One 2021.

MG One 2021. Crossover MG One is preparing to debut.
The British brand MG, now owned by the Chinese automaker SAIC, is trying to boost sales in China and expand its range of global models for Europe and India.

In the coming days, the premiere of the new compact crossover MG One will take place.

The MG brand has been owned by the Chinese since 2005, and this year it decided to expand into continental Europe (before that, Chinese MGs were offered only in the UK) and presented two electric novelties in the spring: the MG Marvel R Electric crossover and the MG 5 Electric station wagon — both are redesigned Roewe models.

Original novelties in the MG line are also available: in April at the Shanghai Motor Show, the Cyberster electric roadster debuted as a concept, which should remind fans of the brand of its historical roots.

Subsequently, it was announced that the Cyberster would become serial, but when exactly is unknown (most likely in 2024, when the MG brand will celebrate its centenary).

In May, MG continued the sporting theme and unveiled the XPower sports version of the front-wheel-drive MG 6 mid-size liftback with a very aggressive aerodynamic body kit, retuned suspension and a 305 hp plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Well, the most recent novelty is the compact crossover MG One.

His first hazy photographs surfaced in the Chinese media in mid-July, and now there are branded exterior photographs.

The full-fledged premiere, according to Autohome magazine, will take place on July 30th.

At the heart of the MG One is the fresh modular Sigma platform with transverse powertrain and basic front-wheel drive.

This platform was developed by SAIC specialists and it will be used by all brands belonging to the Chinese concern, but MG One’s design is its own, made in the new corporate style of the brand, which, however, can hardly be called particularly original.

It is known that the crossover will be offered with two front end design options — α and β, the first kind of emphasizes sportiness, and the second is addressed to fashionistas.

Alas, it is difficult to understand from the photographs where is the option α, and where is β.

There are still few technical details. Overall length of the crossover — 4579 mm, width — 1866 mm, height — 1601 mm (with rails — 1617 mm), wheelbase — 2670 mm.

There is only one engine announced — a 1.5-liter «turbo four» 15C4E with a capacity of 181 hp, but there will certainly be other options, including hybrid ones, without which there is nothing to do in Europe today.

So far, the success of the MG brand in Europe is small: in the first five months of this year, according to the CarSalesBase resource, only 11,207 cars were sold, but allowances should be made for the slow deployment of the dealer network — next year the figures should be better.

In China, MG for the first half of 2021 sold 156,634 cars, taking 21st place in the ranking of the most demanded brands.

The bestselling model was the new compact sedan MG 5 presented last year — 51,348 units were sold.