MG plans to take its brand up-market with a prestige sedan to accompany its upcoming sports car.
Not content with taking on the likes of Mazda’s MX-5 and the Porsche Boxster with its new convertible based on the MG Cyberster concept, the brand has its eye on high-end European machines.
A new “Black Label” sub-brand will offer more luxurious models than MG’s usual fare.
While it won’t be a brand in its own right, like Toyota’s Lexus or Hyundai’s Genesis, MG’s Black Label will represent a step beyond its current range of affordable hatchbacks and SUVs.
Chinese customers will get first dibs on the new range, starting with the MG7 sedan revealed this week.
Wearing a four-door coupe body similar to Audi’s A7 or BMW’s Gran Coupes, the MG7’s sophisticated shape takes the brand into new territory.
We haven’t seen the interior but you can bet it will build on the high-tech features found in MG’s regular line-up – delivering crisp digital displays, impressive driver aids, multi-coloured ambient lighting and much more.
A duck-tail bootlid transforms into a pop-up rear spoiler similar to Porsche’s Panamera and enormous quad exhaust tips suggest power could come from a muscular petrol engine.
Technical details surrounding the car are slim.
Car News China suggests the model will have a four-cylinder turbo engine with 189kW and 405Nm, positioning the MG7 closer to Volkswagen’s Arteon than Audi’s RS7.
MG’s Australian arm intends to ramp up its premium appeal with the new sports car, but the first Black Label machine is unlikely to make a local debut.
A spokesman for the brand said “we are constantly listening to the needs and wants of our customers, but at this stage, we will not be bringing the MG7 into the Australian or NZ market”.
.