MG poised for return to South Africa in 2024

MG looks set to return to South Africa some eight years after it last quit the local market, with the Chinese-backed brand seemingly on track to relaunch in Mzansi before the end of 2024.

As a reminder, the MG brand – which was founded 100 years ago as “Morris Garages” in the United Kingdom – is owned by Chinese group SAIC Motor, a state-owned manufacturer that is also responsible for the LDV marque (the latter having just joined the local market).

The MG badge may well be back in Mzansi before the end of 2024.

Officially under the stewardship of Shanghai-based SAIC Motor since around 2007, MG began its previous re-entry to South Africa late in 2011, though again exited the local market in 2016. Now, some 8 years later, it’s primed for another crack at Mzansi…

Though it’s not yet clear if MG Motor South Africa will launch as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor or whether a private company has been appointed to distribute the marque locally, it seems the wheels are very much in motion.

No word yet on MG’s plans for a local dealer network.

In fact, Ian Nicholls, a former General Motors executive who spent several years as the American firm’s director for Sub-Saharan Africa (based in the Eastern Cape), was recently appointed as a “senior advisor” to the newly formed MG Motor South Africa, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Evidently in the role since April 2024, the executive – who began his automotive career with Delta Motor Company and later also headed up GM’s operations in Southeast Asia – states on his profile that he’s “privileged to be part of the team introducing the exciting MG brand to South Africa in the centenary year”.

The LinkedIn profile of Ian Nicholls, including a line suggesting the brand’s return in 2024.

Separately, we discovered that SAIC Motor recently advertised various employment positions under the MG Motor brand in South Africa, including posts for a national marketing manager and a service manager (both based in Sandton).

For the record, SAIC Motor trademarked the latest MG logo in South Africa back in December 2017, a year or so after the brand last exited the local market. The Chinese firm furthermore still holds the original MG trademark in SA, dating all the way back to 1935, as well as the rights to several older nameplates (MG3, MG5, MG7 and MG TF, for instance).

The Hector is one of several MG products built in India.

So, what sort of vehicles can we expect the Chinese-backed automaker to introduce in South Africa? Well, though no announcements have yet been made, it’s perhaps worth noting that MG Motor India’s joint venture with the JSW Group sees it produce a variety of models – including the Astor, Hector and Gloster crossovers/SUVs, plus the Comet and ZS electric vehicles – in Gujarat (incidentally at a former General Motors facility), with yet more nameplates planned.

Considering India’s well-established position as a large-scale production hub for emerging markets, we’d speculate MG Motor South Africa could source at least some (if not all) of its wares from this fellow right-hand-drive country. After all, more than half of all light vehicles imported into Mzansi in 2023 came from India.

The MG Extender offered in Thailand is twinned with the LDV T60.

For the sake of comparison, the MG range in Australia – where the marque finished 2023 in 7th place on the list of best-selling automotive brands, ahead of the likes of Isuzu, Volkswagen, Nissan, GWM and Suzuki – currently includes various versions of the ZS and HS crossovers, along with the MG3 hatchback, the battery-powered MG4 and the MG5 sedan.

The current line-up in the United Kingdom is similar to the range offered Down Under and likewise features petrol, hybrid and fully electric powertrains (with the upcoming Cyberster EV set to mark MG’s return to the roadster segment), while Thailand furthermore sells the MG Extender, a bakkie twinned with the LDV T60.

Look out for more details on MG’s seemingly imminent return to South Africa as we find them.

This article was originally published on Cars.co.za...