MG4: 2023 carsales Car of the Year

The new MG4 electric hatch is the 2023 carsales Car of the Year, proudly presented by Bingle.

Sometimes, when approaching one of these awards, you have a pretty good feeling about which car or cars will feature near the pointy end. That feeling isn’t always correct, of course, but it’s there nonetheless.

This was not the case in 2023. Surveying our assembled dozen finalists, neither prior experience nor a deep dive through the respective spec sheets had any one car making a stronger case than the others. It was, or at least seemed to be, a completely open goal.

As it turns out, one car was a clear winner, securing eight out of 10 first-place judging votes (and second place on the other two ballots). That car was the MG4.

The MG4’s case built slowly but surely throughout the week of testing. The static walkarounds on the first day didn’t reveal anything too eye-opening but there’s plenty of space for passengers and luggage, especially compared to some traditional ICE hatchbacks.

The base Excite trim – available as either an entry-level 51kWh variant or our 64kWh version on test – is pretty no-frills but a (relatively) modest $3000 spend gets you into a 64kW Essence that has all the toys you’d expect of a car costing almost $50,000 plus on-road costs.

This is one of the MG4’s key advantages. carsales Car of the Year is awarded to the entire model range and the MG4 caters to plenty of tastes. The 51kWh Excite is virtually lineball with the BYD Dolphin as Australia’s cheapest electric car, yet each step up the range brings usefully more power, range and/or equipment, all the way to the bonkers 320kW XPOWER at $59,990, a price that still undercuts the cheapest Tesla.

Yes, the MG4 is more expensive than traditional ICE hatchbacks like the Hyundai i30, Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla, but the gap has closed dramatically and it’s extremely competitive against its battery-powered peers.

While the brand itself has a long sporting history back to the 1960s, MG’s recent offerings haven’t been known for their handling prowess. This only makes it more surprising that the MG4’s trump card is its dynamic excellence, which was quickly brought into sharp focus at the Lang Lang Proving Ground.

Well-weighted, accurate steering, progressive handling balance, a genuine sense of agility and finely-tuned electronic aids made the MG4 the most enjoyable car to drive on the Ride and Handling loop bar perhaps the Polestar 2.

The key to this is the MG4’s 1648kg kerb weight. Heavy for a hatchback but light for an EV, it pays dividends in terms of dynamics and performance. Matching this, the 150kW/250Nm rear electric motor provides punchy acceleration up to around 100-110km/h.

On the road the MG4’s case only strengthened, with a wonderfully compliant and controlled ride. Over the lumpy country backroads of South Gippsland, the MG4 driving experience was reminiscent of the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf, only with better performance.

A drawback is that at higher speeds or under more enthusiastic use the MG4’s range shrinks to well short of the claimed 450km (closer to 300km) but there are two factors to consider here. First, it’s still in line with its competitors; and second, that figure will improve in the urban environment where most MG4s will spend the vast majority of their time.

While it almost clean-swept the judges’ scorecards, the MG4 wasn’t a walk-up start when it came to RedBook’s cost of ownership data, which forms 50 per cent of our scoring and takes into account purchase price, depreciation, servicing, warranty, replacement costs, finance, insurance and more.

That said, ranked sixth of our 12 finalists, it’s not out of step with the market. A seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and 24-month/40,000km service intervals provide peace of mind and convenience and, while $1499 for servicing over the first six years isn’t as cheap as some EV rivals, it’s less than almost every ICE hatch.

In terms of assessment the MG4 successfully fulfils our testing criteria – safety, practicality and presentation, innovation and technology, driving performance and cost of ownership – but more importantly, it’s just a really good car.

That its price tag puts new EV ownership within reach of more people is worthy of praise in itself, but the fact that this car is truly engaging and genuinely enjoyable to drive is the MG4’s real achievement.

Congratulations to the MG4, carsales’ coveted Car of the Year for 2023, proudly presented by Bingle.