More on the MG4

Some of the first 1,000 Europe-bound MG4s on the dock side, at the Shanghai Haitong Wharf, on 21 July 2022. Note the Wallenius Lines carrier; this famous shipping line has long been associated with MG exports, although in the old days the route was out of the UK rather than into it.

Shortly after we went to press last month, we learned that the new MG4 will be going on sale in the UK and Europe as soon as this autumn; in fact stocks are already making their way by sea from SAIC’s factory and no doubt will soon be in local MG showrooms.

Whilst for the Chinese market alone, much is being made of the ‘Mulan’ model name being used there, for other markets the badge will be MG4 – which implies a placement somewhere between the old MG3 and the recently revamped MG5 EV Estate which we also see about to go on sale (the MG3 only in the UK, as far as Europe is concerned). That may be doing the new model a slight injustice, because by all accounts the quality is some way higher than either of the older MG models just referenced.

European motoring journalists have already benefited from a ride and drive session, although curiously it has been confirmed by our UK contacts that these were pre-production prototypes, suitably clothed in the archetypal test-mule wraps and with partially obscured fascias. Other than a bit of stage-management of the introduction, it seems strange to not have used actual production examples, specimens of which are already in Europe.

Naturally we hope to bring you early impressions of the UK-market MG4 just as soon as we are able to do so.

European journalists were given a chance to drive pre-production MG4s in July 2022, in Rome and the surrounding countryside. UK road and drive opportunities should follow shortly; the car goes on sale across Europe in September, and other world markets should follow in March 2023.