MG4 Was the UK's Second Best-Selling Electric Car in 2023, Built by SAIC

In 2023 the MG4 was the second best-selling electric car in the United Kingdom, behind only the Tesla Model Y, and it was also the most exported Chinese EV of the year, with 138,736 units shipped out of China. A Chinese-built car under a British badge finishing second among electric cars in Britain is a notable result. It is also the clearest sign of what the MG name now stands for: SAIC Motor builds the cars under the marque, and designers in Shanghai and London share the drawing board.

Who builds the MG3, MG4, MG5 and Cyberster

The answer is short. SAIC Motor, the Chinese manufacturer, produces the MG3, MG4, MG5 and Cyberster under the British MG marque. British engineering still has a part to play. The MG4 came out of a collaboration between SAIC's design centre in Shanghai, its Advanced Design Studio in London and the Royal College of Art. The second-generation MG3 was developed in the United Kingdom, and SAIC's European Design and Technical Centre sits beside MG Motor UK at Longbridge. The Cyberster's design philosophy was explained by Carl Gotham, advanced design director at SAIC Motor UK.

The four cars could hardly be more different. The MG3 is a supermini, the MG4 a small family electric car, the MG5 a compact car with a confusing family tree, and the Cyberster a two-door electric roadster.

In 2023 the MG4 was the UK's second best-selling electric car, behind only the Tesla Model Y.

MG3 hatchback: from Rover Streetwise to hybrid supermini

The first MG3 was a Rover in disguise. Called the MG3 SW, it was a rebadged Rover Streetwise, which was itself built on the Rover 25 and had ceased production in April 2005 after the bankruptcy of MG Rover. SAIC started building it in 2008 at its Pukou factory in Nanjing, and it was sold only in China, with no way for SAIC to export it.

The real MG3 hatchback arrived with the second generation in 2011, previewed at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show as the MG Zero concept. It used a new platform with a 2.5 m wheelbase, MacPherson strut front suspension and a torsion beam at the rear, and its development took place in Britain. It went on sale in China in spring 2011 with a 1.3-litre engine of 68 kW (91 bhp) or a 1.5-litre of 80 kW (107 bhp), and a five-speed manual or an Italian automated manual called e-shift. A crossover version, the MG3 Xross, took only the 1.5.

The restyled car was announced in spring 2013 and reached UK showrooms that September with only a 105 hp (78 kW) 1.5-litre engine. It was assembled at Longbridge from 2013 until 2016, and the 2016 update brought an EU 6 version of the 1.5-litre developed by SAIC Motor UK, stop-start, and two-tone colour schemes for the red and yellow cars with a black or white roof. In June 2014 MG showed an MG3 Trophy Championship concept at the MG90 event at Silverstone. Engineers at the Longbridge technical centre raised power from 106 PS to 204 hp (152 kW) and torque from 136 Nm to 250 Nm, using 1.0 bar of boost.

A second facelift came in 2018, with a new interior and space for an eight-inch touchscreen. The 1.5-litre engine met EU 6D rules, rated at 140g/km of CO2. Thailand launched the car on 21 June 2018, and Brunei from the middle of 2019.

Safety ratings are the weak spot. Euro NCAP tested the MG3 in 2014 and awarded three stars out of five, with 69 percent for adult protection against 90 percent for the Mitsubishi Mirage. The driver's head bottomed out through the airbag against the steering wheel, whiplash protection in the front seats was marginal, and rear-seat protection scored the lowest possible mark. The rating stayed at three stars in the July 2018 review of the facelifted car. ASEAN NCAP gave it two stars in May 2018, with zero in the frontal impact test because of the driver's head, though it found the legs better protected. ANCAP has not rated the car.

The third-generation MG3 was revealed on 26 February 2024 at the Geneva Motor Show, and for the first time it has a hybrid option called Hybrid+. Europe beyond the UK got the MG3 for the first time from March 2024, initially only as a Hybrid+. A plain 1.5-litre petrol version followed in February 2025. Australia launched it on 12 June 2024 in Excite and Essence trims. Thailand took it on 16 July 2024 as a Hybrid+ only, and Argentina on 19 September 2025, with a petrol version added in June 2026.

MG4 EV: the platform that changed the brand

The MG4 EV is a battery-electric small family car, first released in June 2022 as the MG Mulan in China and introduced in Europe in July 2022. Dates for the Chinese launch vary: one puts it in September 2022, with sales beginning that November. It was renamed MG4 EV in China in August 2023, to match its export name.

Under the skin it is the first car on SAIC's battery-electric Modular Scalable Platform, sold as Nebula in China, with Europe as the main target. The wheelbase is long for the segment, the overhangs short and the bonnet very short. MG claims a 50:50 weight distribution and a centre of gravity 490 mm (19.3 in) off the ground, and an active air-intake grille helps it reach a drag coefficient of 0.279. The battery is the clever part. The "One Pack" design, known as the Rubik's Cube system in China, uses cell-to-pack technology to make a pack just 110 mm (4.3 in) thick in its smallest size, which lowers the roof, and it is designed to be swappable.

Batteries in Europe came in three sizes: 51 kWh LFP, 64 kWh NMC branded Long Range and 77 kWh NMC branded Extended Range. All first-generation cars use cells from CATL. The Extended Range car, with a 180 kW (241 hp; 245 PS) motor, reached Europe in August 2023, around the time a rear wiper and 18-inch wheels were added.

The XPower, on sale from July 2023, adds a second motor and all-wheel drive. A 150 kW (201 hp; 204 PS) unit sits at the front and a 170 kW (228 hp; 231 PS) unit at the rear, for 320 kW (429 hp; 435 PS) and 600 Nm (443 lb ft). MG claims 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. Suspension is 25 percent stiffer, the steering sharper, the front brake discs 345 mm (13.6 in), and a Dynamic Cornering Control system combines a locking differential with torque vectoring. In China it was the Mulan Triumph Edition. At the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, MG showed a one-off EX4 built on the XPower with RML Group to mark the 40th anniversary of the MG Metro 6R4, and BTCC driver Daniel Rowbottom drove it up the hill climb.

British magazines largely liked the MG4. Top Gear praised its value against the Volkswagen ID.3 but found the seats uncomfortable for larger people and the infotainment occasionally stuttering. Autocar liked the handling and ride and wanted better sound insulation, and Auto Express admired its affordability and range but missed premium materials. Swedish titles M3, GP and DN found many small software and hardware faults, such as charging that stopped for no reason.

It has been launched widely. Australia got it in August 2023, and in April 2026 the line-up was cut to two variants, the Essence 64 RWD and XPower AWD, with a new 64 kWh LFP battery. Indonesia began local assembly in January 2024 and cut the price. Singapore launched it on 16 January 2023, and a 99 kW (133 hp; 135 PS) model with the 64 kWh battery qualified for the cheaper Category A COE bracket in January 2024. Thailand has had it since November 2022, and Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and the Middle East followed between October 2023 and August 2024.

MG4 EV Urban and the semi-solid-state battery

A second-generation car, the AH4EM, was first pictured on 20 March 2025 and entered mass production on 14 July 2025. China sells it as the MG4, and outside China it is the MG4 EV Urban, sold alongside the older car. It uses SAIC's E3 architecture with a cell-to-body battery and only front-wheel drive. Chief designer Shao Jingfeng said the exterior takes elements from the Cyberster while balancing Chinese and international taste.

The 15.6-inch 2.5K touchscreen runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip and an operating system MG developed with Oppo, with phone mirroring, voice control and gesture navigation. The boot holds 471 litres (16.6 cu ft), with another 98 litres (3.5 cu ft) under the floor. A single 120 kW (161 hp; 163 PS) motor with 250 Nm (184 lb ft) drives the front wheels. At launch buyers could pick an LFP battery of 42.8 or 54.0 kWh, from REPT Battero, giving CLTC ranges of 437 km (272 mi) and 530 km (329 mi). Top speed is 160 km/h (99 mph) and charging from 30 to 80 percent takes 20 minutes.

The option to watch is a semi-solid-state battery from QingTao Energy. The company says only 5 percent of the electrolyte is liquid, for a cell energy density of 180 Wh/kg, and MG claims it passes puncture safety tests and keeps 13.8 percent more range at minus 7 C (19 F) than ordinary LFP. It holds 53.9 kWh and carries a CLTC rating of 537 km (334 mi). Documents from China's MIIT in August 2025 call this version the Anxin Edition. Pre-orders for the second-generation car opened in China on 5 August 2025, and 11,067 refundable deposits arrived within 24 hours.

The Urban reached Europe in January 2026 starting in the United Kingdom, with 43 kWh and 54 kWh LFP packs. Australia followed on 30 March 2026 with a single Essence trim, Singapore on 16 April, the Philippines on 4 June, Thailand on 17 June and Brazil on 16 July 2026.

MG5: a name that points at three different cars

The MG5 has been made by SAIC since 2012. The first generation launched in China on 28 March 2012 on the same platform as the Roewe 350 saloon. In China the hatchback was the MG5 and the saloon was the MG GT, while in several other markets the saloon carried the MG5 name. Before that, the MG5 name had failed twice. After the MG Rover bankruptcy in April 2005, a Rover 45-based hatchback never reached production in China because Honda, which owned the Rover 45 design rights, stopped the licence. In 2009 Nanjing Auto tried again at Shanghai with a car based on the 2004 facelifted MG ZS, and that project was cancelled entirely.

The first generation, known as the AP12, appeared as the MG Concept 5 at the 2011 Shanghai show and was exported to Egypt, Chile and Algeria. A 1.5-litre VTi-Tech petrol made 80 kW (109 PS; 107 bhp) and 135 Nm (100 lb ft), with a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. In November 2013 a 1.5-litre turbo Hyperboost version arrived with 95 kW (129 PS; 127 bhp), 210 Nm (155 lb ft), a six-speed automatic and a claimed 200 km/h (124 mph).

The second-generation MG5 debuted in September 2020 just before the Beijing show. SAIC says it uses the third-generation MG family design language, with a front similar to the 2020 MG HS facelift. A 1.5-litre turbo made 173 PS (127 kW; 171 bhp) and a 1.5-litre petrol 120 PS (88 kW; 118 bhp). Chinese trims are 180DVVT and 300TGI. A facelift was unveiled on 14 August 2024 with new headlights and tail lights, the MG badge above the grille, a digital cockpit and fewer buttons, and Egypt received it in December 2025 as the MG GT.

The naming gets tangled outside China. The second-generation car is the MG5 in China and Thailand and the MG5 GT or MG GT elsewhere, while most other markets use the MG5 name for the export version of the Roewe i5. Since 2019 the Roewe i5 has been rebadged as the MG5 outside China, because the Roewe brand does not exist there. Europe's MG5 EV is the electric Roewe Ei5 estate, introduced in 2020 as the MG5 EV or MG5 SW EV, and sold as the first electric estate car in the UK alongside the plug-in hybrid HS.

The MG5's safety record in Australia is poor. ANCAP gave the car zero stars in 2023, citing the absence of seatbelt pre-tensioners and autonomous emergency braking limited to car-to-car and vulnerable road user scenarios, and said it was one of three vehicles to receive such a score. ANCAP criticised the design effort put into protecting rear-seat occupants. MG responded with a $4 million investment in safety changes planned for 2024.

MG Cyberster: the roadster at the top of the range

The Cyberster is a two-door electric roadster that SAIC has built under the MG marque since 2023. It began as a concept shown in pictures on 30 March 2021 and at Auto Shanghai on 19 April; the reveal had been planned for 2020 but was pushed back by the COVID-19 pandemic. MG described the concept as a gaming-style EV inspired by the MGB Roadster of the 1960s, with rear lights built around the Union Jack, pop-up Magic Eye headlights and a claimed 800 km (500 mi) range.

A pre-production car was shown to the UK press in April 2023, with the pop-up headlights dropped and scissor doors added. Its public debut came at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 13 to 16 July 2023. The Cyberster uses the same Modular Scalable Platform as the MG4, and it comes in two forms. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive car makes 400 kW (536 hp; 544 PS) and 725 Nm (535 lb ft), carries a 77 kWh battery with a CLTC range of 580 km (360 mi), and MG claims 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds. A lighter rear-drive version has a 64 kWh battery and 231 kW (310 hp; 314 PS). Bose speakers and a Snapdragon 8155 chip with the Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine run the cabin. The Cyberster is regarded as MG's halo car and flagship, and in 2024 MG showed a coupe concept called the Cyber GTS.

MG3, MG4, MG5 and Cyberster compared

What MG's range means for buyers

The range makes more sense once the names are decoded. A buyer who sees the MG GT in one country and the MG5 in another may be looking at the same car, while an MG5 EV in Europe is a different one. The MG3's three-star Euro NCAP result and the MG5's zero stars in Australia are worth checking against the configuration on sale locally. MG4 buyers choose between LFP and NMC packs in Europe, and between rear-drive and the all-wheel-drive XPower.

MG range news from 2026

The MG4 EV Urban is still rolling out, with Brazil arriving in July 2026 and the semi-solid-state Anxin Edition on sale in China from late 2025. In Argentina an ICE variant of the MG3 joined the hybrid in June 2026, while the facelifted MG5 reached the Middle East in March 2026. In 2024 MG also showed the Cyber GTS, a two-door coupe concept based on the Cyberster.