MG plotting $100,000 prestige SUV for Australia under new IM brand
A six-seat prestige SUV larger than a Nissan Patrol – with range-extender hybrid power – is on the cards for sale in MG showrooms alongside $25,000 city hatchbacks.
MG’s new IM sub-brand – arriving in MG showrooms imminently with prestige electric cars – is set to expand its range with a flagship SUV bigger than a Toyota LandCruiser.
And one of the two IM SUV options under consideration is the flagship LS9, which stretches close to 5.3 metres long – bigger than a Nissan Patrol or Mercedes-Benz GLS – and offers V8-like power from range-extender hybrid technology.
It is likely to cost well in excess of $100,000 if sold in Australia, given the flagship IM6 mid-size-to-large SUV – an electric Tesla Model Y competitor – tops out at $80,990 drive-away.
However, it may not arrive until 2027, leaving IM with just two models – the IM6 and related IM5 sedan – as its only offerings in the meantime, sold in MG dealers alongside MG 3 hatchbacks and ZS small SUVs at a fraction of the price.
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“I have already started the plans to bring [more] models to Australia,” MG Motor Australia CEO Peter Ciao told Drive.
“We have two models, I’ve not made a final decision on which one [to introduce].”
The two options appear to be the LS9, a new six-seat range-extender hybrid due in Chinese showrooms later this year, and the LS7, a large, five-metre-long electric SUV similar in size to a BMW iX.
Ciao appeared more interested in the LS9, which would likely be sold as the IM9 if introduced in Australia.
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It is what is known as an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV), so it drives the wheels with electric motors, and fits a large battery pack for a three-digit electric-only driving range, but has a petrol engine under the bonnet to deliver a long range in hybrid mode.
The engine is not connected to the wheels, and can only be used to charge the battery.
Overseas reports indicate the LS9 combines a 114kW 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with 160kW front and 230kW rear electric motors, and a Chinese-designed battery rated for a 450km electric-only range.
“The car is a whole new technology. We call it EREV,” Ciao said.
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“I think this car is very, very good for Australia, because you drive by petrol engine, but in the petrol engine, the fuel efficiency is under five [litres per 100 kilometres].
“But the performance is a supercar performance, [it has] a huge body size, and off-road AWD [all-wheel drive]. So, that car will be coming. That car, I think, is a game-changer in this market.”
Asked if it is due next year, or further down the track, Ciao said: “Later than next year.”
“All the data, specs that I [have] checked … everything is the best in the whole world,” he claimed.
The post MG plotting $100,000 prestige SUV for Australia under new IM brand appeared first on Drive.
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