MG to relaunch in Oz – again

Former British brand MG will be relaunched Down Under in March – this time courtesy of its parent company, China's giant SAIC Motor Corporation – with the new MG3 and facelifted MG6.

The two small cars will be followed in the third quarter of 2016 by MG's first SUV, which is known as the MG6 GS in China and the GTS elsewhere.

According to reports the new factory-backed importer, which will acquire Australian distribution rights from independent Sydney-based company Longwell Motor on January 1, will also consider adding a rebadged model from Chinese sister brand Roewe – potentially the mid-size 360 – to bolster the Australian MG line-up.

SAIC already exports its range of LDV commercial vehicles to Australia via Ateco Automotive, but has established its first Australian subsidiary – SAIC Motor Australia Pty Ltd – to sell MG vehicles and appointed Jason Pecotic as CEO of MG Australia. Pecotic was formerly the CEO of WMC, the company that distributed LDV before Ateco took over distribution of the light commercial vehicle brand.

The light-size MG3 hatchback will initially be imported from China but sourcing is expected to switch to Thailand, where the larger MG6 will be produced for Australia. The MG SUV is also expected to come to Australia from Thailand, depending on exchange rates.

SAIC announced at the Bangkok motor show in March that it will shift right-hand drive production of the MG3 and MG6 from Shanghai to its new plant in Thailand, to service export markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South Africa as the company attempts to reintroduce the once-British brand to the Empire.

Longwell Motor's MG Motor Australia operation attempted unsuccessfully to launch the MG6 in Australia in November 2013 via a single Sydney dealership and had plans for more than 20 dealers nationally.

However, only a handful of 1.8-litre turbo-petrol MG6 sedan and liftback vehicles – priced from $23,000 – were sold and motoring.com.au understands it still has about 600 unsold vehicles.

MG, which was purchased by SAIC in 2005, has just released a facelifted version of the MG6 sedan and hatch, powered by 1.8-litre petrol and 1.9-litre diesel engine, but the latter, manual-only, is not expected on sale here.

The smaller MG3 hatch, which was revealed in April 2013, recently received Australian Design Rule certification, in five-speed manual-only 78kW 1.5-litre petrol form.

MG vehicles are still developed at MG's traditional Longbridge home in the English Midlands, and Australia is expected to receive UK-spec MG cars.

The MG GTS compact SUV, which was also revealed at the 2013 Shanghai show, is likely to bring the choice of 1.5- and 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines, while an automatic MG3 could follow.

To be successful here, the Mazda2-sized MG3 would need to be priced around $15,000, the Toyota Corolla-sized MG6 would need to start around $20,000 and the compact SUV from around $25,000.