MG Motor Australia has announced its inbound 2025 MG U9 mid-size ute will up the segment stakes by coming with independent rear suspension as standard when sales begin next month.
Despite being cut from the same cloth as the latest LDV Terron 9, the 2025 MG U9 will mark itself apart from both its sibling and the wider mid-sized ute market with a sophisticated multi-link (independent), coil-sprung rear suspension set-up on all variants.
The unique move is said to offer a better ride/handling compromise over the Terron 9 without sacrificing a circa-1000kg payload or 3.5-tonne braked towing capabilities – MG is adamant the U9 will match core, leaf-sprung players like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger in both regards.
Only the plug-in hybrid BYD Shark 6 offers a proper independent rear suspension arrangement elsewhere in the segment; the Ford Ranger Raptor, Nissan Navara and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV all offer coil-sprung rear-ends but use solid or live rear axles (that hinder agility).
MG Motor Australia CEO Peter Ciao doubled down and revealed the roadholding would be improved further by an Australian-specific suspension tune.
"I wanted to offer a ute with no compromise on driving comfort or capability,” he said.
“And we’ve done this by engineering our multi-link rear suspension platform specifically for the demands of our local drivers".
Setting the model further apart from its genetic donor is a unique front fascia, MG-specific wheels and a floor-mounted gear shifter.
Odds are the U9 will feature the same 2.5-litre turbo-diesel engine and running gear as the Terron 9, meaning 160kW/520Nm, full-time 4x4 and an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Pricing for the 2025 MG U9 will be announced in the coming weeks before the first customer cars arrive in November.