MG IM6

ROAD TEST 5782

Having swept up sales in the bargain basement, MG is heading upmarket

China’s best-known automotive export brand, MG, is now unashamedly gunning for the UK car market’s big fish.

Right now, our shores typically support between five and eight manufacturers with 5% market share or more. As 2025’s year-to-date sales chart has it, none of Renault, Toyota, Land Rover, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan or Peugeot is among them. But MG clearly wants to be, and 20% more growth for the brand – not a figure beyond the bounds of credibility, given its performance to date – will do the trick.

It will be looking to the subject of this road test to get it part of the way there. The MG IM6 is one half of a two-pronged attack from its maker on the lower reaches of the market for premium electric cars. A 4.9m-long crossover, it is big for its class – notably longer than a Tesla Model Y or a Polestar 2 – and has a lower-roofed, fastback saloon sibling, the IM5, that could be considered an alternative to anything from a BMW i4 to a Volkswagen ID 7.

These are the first members of what, to European eyes, would appear to be a new sub-brand from MG – called IM, short for ‘Intelligence in Motion’ – that wants to become renowned for advanced, innovative, high-performing EVs of a particularly refined and ‘elevated’ kind.

Now to find out how much credibility MG can muster as it bids to lay hands on a whole range of new, stronger opponents.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

PROS High-end EV powertrain techfor mid-market money; four-wheel steering as standard; air suspension available

CONS Derivative looks give the lie to its premium positioning; it’s heavy

If you’re not quite sure what the MG IM6 reminds you of, that might be because it could be any one of a number of existing cars. The similarities with Tesla’s outgoing design language at the front are clear, while there is an apparent tribute to the Aston Martin DBX in the car’s tailgate. Among all of the things that this IM brand is set to represent, then, it seems original, distinctive looks don’t feature.

IM5: MG has a premium saloon too

You will look in vain to find one of MG’s hexagon-shaped badges anywhere on the car. The reason is that, in its domestic market, this car isn’t an MG at all. In China, Intelligence in Motion is a car brand in its own right, part-owned by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group, but, like MG, controlled by SAIC. That’s why this car has a brand logo – which looks a little like morse code that’s been written at a jaunty angle – all of its own.