2022 MG 3 price and specs: no longer Australia’s cheapest new car, but demand remains strong and supply healthy for rivals Kia Rio and Suzuki Baleno – Car News

MG Motor Australia has confirmed that the supply for the popular MG 3 will remain strong for the foreseeable future as the supermini consolidates its place as the best-selling car in its class.

This is despite a 5.6% increase in July, which cost it $ 1,000 more than before, to $ 17,990 by car for the base Core automatic (no manual available).

According to MG Motor Australia’s public relations and communications manager, Tim Robson, the plant is committed to meeting demand as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“We have a good supply chain,” he explained. “(Owner of MG Motor) SAIC builds some seven million cars a year, and we have over 10,000 cars coming up this month and next month, so we’re grateful to have stock in these times.”

While this recent increase meant that the MG lost the title of Australia’s cheapest new car to the Mitsubishi Mirage ES manual starting at $ 17,490 by car, the auto adds $ 1,500, which means to constant perimeter, the latter at $ 18,990 by car is $ 1,000 more expensive than the Chinese five-door hatchback.

Likewise, although the MG 3 Core auto is now equivalent to $ 17,990 Kia Picanto S in manual form, choosing the auto like most buyers do pushes the price up to – you guessed it – 18 $ 990 by car.

Additionally, specifying the Auto Core with Satellite Navigation (known as “Core with Nav”) only increases the demand by $ 500, which means it still costs less than any new Mirage. ES auto or Picanto S auto, both without GPS.

Additionally, the Mirage will be discontinued at the end of this year, which means the MG 3 will most likely share Australia’s cheapest car crown with the Picanto manual.

The MG 3 is still one of the cheapest ways to acquire a new car in the country. (Exciter variant on the photo)

Finally, the top-of-the-line MG 3 Excite with Nav climbs only $ 500, to $ 19,490 by car, meaning the entire lineup remains a lower than $ 20,000 proposition in Australia.

It is believed that the reason for the rise in prices is due to the increase in costs along the entire manufacturing chain.

So what do you buy for $ 18,000 in the entry-level Core?

How about an 8.0 inch touchscreen, rear view camera, rear parking sensors, Apple CarPlay connectivity (but not Android Auto), Bluetooth phone and ” audio streaming, cloth seats (finished with tartan trim), automatic on / off headlights, LED daytime running lights, air conditioning, power windows, power mirrors, a leather steering wheel with audio buttons and cruise control and 15-inch alloy wheels. No digital radio or CD player, however.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen includes Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto (Excite variant shown).

Six airbags (dual front, front side, full-length curtain), stability and traction controls and anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, emergency brake and active cornering brake control are also included .

However, the MG’s safety specs betray its ten-year-old engineering, lacking driver-assist safety technology like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), lane keeping, blind spot monitoring or lane keeping. rear cross traffic alert, even as an option.

Note that in 2014, the pre-facelift MG 3 only obtained a three-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests.

The switch to Core with Nav (from $ 18,490 by car) brings an integrated navigation system, while the Excite (from $ 19,490 by car) adds artificial leather seat covers, rear-view mirrors. -sun, body-color exterior mirrors with turn signals, a rear spoiler, an upgrade to a four-speaker six-speaker audio system, two-tone alloy rims, sill extensions and a spoiler back.

Finally, both levels include a seven-year / unlimited kilometer warranty, with a seven-year service plan, with scheduled maintenance every 12 months / 10,000 km at an average cost of $ 277.71 per visit over 84 months. .

Just like before.

There’s also no change under the hood, which means the same 1.5-liter four-cylinder petrol engine, with 82 kW of power (at 6,000 rpm) and 150 Nm of torque (at 4,500 rpm). / min). This standard automatic transmission is a variety of four-speed torque converter, driving the front wheels. Fuel consumption is claimed to be 6.7 liters per 100 kilometers, which equates to 159 grams per kilometer of carbon dioxide emissions.

The 1.5-liter four-cylinder petrol engine develops 82 kW / 150 Nm. (Exciter variant in the photo)

MG released the original 3 in 2011 as a long-awaited replacement for the Rover R3 200/25 series sedan based on Honda Civic dating back to 1995. It was the first to be fully developed under the ownership of SAIC Motor, although the engineering works have been done in the UK.

Launched in Australia in 2016, the MG 3 was slow to gain traction in Australia, but benefited greatly from rivals like the Toyota Yaris, Mazda2, Suzuki Swift and Skoda Fabia which broke the $ 20,000 mark. – and in some cases, enough margin.

More popular than ever, the MG 3 accounts for nearly a third of all new car sales under $ 25,000 in Australia, with 10,276 registrations since the start of the year through the end of September, or more than double the second. placed Picanto. It also represents a jump of 108 percent from the corresponding total last year.

MG 3 2022 fares by car