7 December 2023
New patent images reveal design of what is thought to be Marvel R replacement
Patent images reveal design for Marvel R replacement, which will land in UK alongside new 3, 5 and ZS
MG will comprehensively upgrade its ICE car line-up during the first half of 2024, before launching a new flagship electric SUV and a facelifted version of the MG 4 EV.
At a recent event, the general manager of its business unit, Lu Jiajun, said: “MG’s plans roughly look like this: in the first half of the year, the existing fuel vehicle products will be strengthened; in the second half of the year, we will focus on electric models.”
Lu confirmed the Chinese brand is heavily committed to both ICE and electric models, saying the company would take two paths of development in a bid to extend its sales volumes.
“We will not give up the fuel-vehicle market. After all, many global markets still favour traditional vehicles,” he said.
Recognition of MG’s commitment to ICE cars comes as the brand experiences solid growth in the sales of electric models in key export markets, including the UK.
Lu said several new ICE cars will be launched in 2024, including successor models to the 3 supermini and ZS crossover.
MG is also planning significant facelifts of the petrol-engined 5 estate and 7 saloon in markets where they’re sold.
The electric variants of the ZS and 5 are tipped to switch onto MG’s new MSP platform for their second generations.
The highlight of MG’s centenary year, though, will be the unveiling of a new electric SUV, conceived as a new range-topping model.
Positioned as a successor to the Marvel R, it will be based on parent company SAIC’s Modular Scalable Platform (MSP), the same structure used by the 4, which can accommodate various battery sizes up to 150kWh and facilitate battery swapping.
As previously reported by Autocar, surging sales in the UK and Australia have prompted MG to rethink its decision to offer the Marvel R in left-hand-drive form only, and its successor is due on sale here by 2025.
Speaking about the new SUV, revealed here for the first time in new patent images, Lu said: “The appearance of this car is great, and the price will make it competitive.”
“Go back four years and we were selling 9000 [cars] a year from tiny little dealerships,” UK commercial director Guy Pigounakis told Autocar earlier this year. “You couldn’t sell a £45,000 premium SUV from places like that.”
The decision to sell the second-generation Marvel R here came after MG’s sales of both EVs and ICE cars skyrocketed.
“Tragically, if we did have [the] Marvel R now, we could probably have sold 6000-7000 this year,” added Pigounakis.
The replacement for the Marvel R is “a completely different car”, he added, although he didn’t go into more detail.
MG is also readying a “big upgrade” to the interior of the 4, according to Lu. It’s planned to be launched during the second half of 2024, only around two years after it arrived in Europe.
Additional reporting by Nick Gibbs