MG’s local arm is hoping the new GS SUV will help customers fall in love with the brand again as it works to revive its presence in the Australian market.
Speaking with CarAdvice at the launch drive of the GS at the Australian Automotive Research Centre in Victoria this week, Danny Lenartic, senior manager of marketing and communications at MG Motors Australia, said the company has high expectations for its first-ever crossover.
“This product will propel MG back on the map,” he said. “The GS actually has sports DNA. We haven’t lost that heritage, we definitely haven’t forgotten it.”
This week’s one-day media drive event aside, CarAdvice has not yet had the opportunity to properly test Lenartic’s claim that evidence of MG’s sporting history can be found in the GS. The mid-sized SUV did comport itself well, however, in the wet and dry motorkhana courses arranged on the day.
Starting at $23,990 before on-road costs, the MG GS may be priced like a small SUV, but physically it’s equivalent to medium crossovers like the Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-5.
MG hopes by offering competitive pricing coupled with its six-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with six years or roadside assistance, buyers will be more tempted by the Chinese-made SUV and “fall in love with the brand again” according to Lenartic.
“At the moment we’re focusing on an SUV market that’s growing and growing in Australia,” he said.
“I want [the brand] to be connected to the customers, and when I mean connected I would like it to be part of an overall ecosystem where MG and the car is one part of that.”
Read our MG GS pricing and specifications story here.
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