News : MG6 diesel given a Royal unveiling

Keith Adams

The MG6 diesel was shown to the Duke of York.
The MG6 diesel was shown to the Duke of York.

HRH Prince Andrew the Duke York visited MG Motor UK at Longbridge last Friday. He was given a guided tour of the impressive research and development centre, based at the site of the old ‘Elephant House’, as well as given an insight to the company’s UK model development plans. However most interesting for us was that he was shown 2012’s diesel engined model, and from the image, it looks production ready!

As new product reveals go, this one is quite special. And it’s all thanks to the eagle-eyed followers of MG’s Facebook page, as one of the visit’s photo’s clearly show an MG6 not sporting the TCI-Tech engine under its bonnet – and they were quick to point it out. The MG6 desperately needs a diesel version, and although AROnline was given an exclusive viewing of the prototype last summer, the Roewe 550-based prototype looked far from ready. However, the Union Blue example, road registered and looking ready to go for the Prince, was on proud display for him to see.

According to the DVLA tax disc renewal site, the car is powered by a 1849cc ‘heavy oil’ engine, and as yet, its Co2 rating is unstated. That engine capacity is shared with a compact four-cylinder Shanghai engine offered in Asian market – so it will be interesting to see if the MG6’s powerplant is a refined development of this.

According to sources with MG, the diesel MG6 will go on sale in the UK in Q4 2012, but given the petrol car’s current slow sales, will the company push forward that date to a more palatable summer unveiling?

 

Keith Adams

95 Comments

  1. As it stands there won’t be any sales left by Q4 2012. If this model’s type approved and ready to go get it out there as soon as possible!

    Also, all diesel engines come out as “heavy oil” on registration check sites, do it does seem to be the diesel model.

  2. It was great to watch MG squirming and denying the existance of a diesel 6 today on Flidbook! They even pulled the page at one point. Class, just like the Phoenix days launching the facelift 75/ZT too early.

  3. they said he popped his head into the final assembly lines .couldnt have seen much they aint building to march,

  4. why the big hoo ha about the diesel ,they need to get it right and it wont be available for a few mths yet which is far too long and to be fair we all no the mg6 diesel aint gonna turn things around .why do we have to wait yet the new models are launched in china

  5. As an Avid diesel fan I sincerely hope it will be worth the wait…Is it too much to ask for Refinement, Performance and Economy? Modern Diesels from the Main Stream Players that I have tried are hugely disappointing.

    Although they have come along way since my 1st Diesel (1988 Fiesta 1.6D which woke the street up every morning, quite deafening when you thrashed it and not that powerful but supremely Economical ) However the Diesel Engine has in some ways gone backwards… Although much quieter, faster (In fact have driven some reasonably powerful Petrol cars that feel slow by comparison) and the now all important “Emissions” ..

    But the one area in which the whole point of buying a car with the “Devils Fuel” was for economy… Except unless you get good one, are little better than their Petrol equivalent, couple that to the now compulsory power sapping DPF (Soot Filter) and you have a mode of transport incapable of short journeys, Resulting in a 20-30 mile journey as your Injectors pore in gallons of diesel just to put the DPF warning light out.

    So unless you live on the Motorway what is the point of a Diesel anymore? (Unless you have a BMW ) However I really wish this to be at least as good as the “Competition” and hope they haven’t Killed it in the name of “Emissions” But the description of “Shanghai engine offered in Asian market” somehow doesn’t sound too convincing? I still want them to Kick VW’s Arse !

    Despite the criticisms regarding dated looks, That red MG6 actually looks quite good from the front (notice it didnt have any sound insulation stuck to the bonnet, or was that the Petrol version?), I’m actually looking forward to the Launch.

  6. Do MG actually know what they are doing? It doesn’t seem so. Dig out a Royal hasbeen, then deny on facebook the car they showed to him etc. It realy does seem that the windowlickers are in charge here. And as ‘Renner’ are all but pulling out of the UK, and slashing at least 1/3 of dealers, the future for MG looks even bleaker. The diesel should have been there from day one. This company is run by idiots right from the top down, just like BL was!

    Too little, much too late. By March they will have next to no dealers left, and that is a certainty.

  7. well well well everyone moans that there is no diesel so no sale,just around the corner is the diesel model and its oh no,too late is anyone thinking what im thinking? T##TS is the clue.

  8. Sales may surge by around 10 units next year then. Saw my first MG6 yesterday. A left hand drive example. Possibly a diesel test mule?

  9. The crazy thing about the diesel situation is that the had the G-series engine ready to go. However, once again somebody in charged decided that they didn’t need a diesel in the line-up. I’ve a friend who was contacted out of the blue by a man working in Longbridge offering him G-series engines not so long ago.

  10. Who knows, but perhaps Prince Andrew might actively encourage his daughter to ditch her BMW 1 Series and follow the example always set by her Grandmother – buying British made cars. A diesel-powered MG6 in an interesting colour really would confirm that the Royal family lower down the pecking order than Her Majesty can support British manufacturing jobs beyond simply paying a visit to a UK-based assembly plant.

    Who knows, but perhaps we might even see Prince Charles swapping his Audis for a Jaguar?

  11. soon there will be a lot of empty showrooms around the country,and two make showrooms are going to be a thing of the past too anyone started noticing this yet?who knows there maybe room for MG.

  12. with diesel on average 7 to 10p greater than petrol right now, you’d have to own the car for an estimated 4 years before you see a return. And as mentioned above, the DPF’s make that figure slightly worse. The lack of diesel refineries in this country also adds to the price woes.

  13. How many people are missing the point or commenting harshly for an effect, I wonder!

    The car needs a “presence” on the road… and to do that MG are missing a trick by not having a diesel. A large contract hire company have expressed a certain interest in the 6 to run on fleet programmes.

    Once the public see the cars on the road, the confidence will improve with some real sales being the knock on advantage – but like I have moaned about before, it’s the cloak and dagger attitude to marketing which is wrecking the chances of success!

  14. everybody on this website has mg at heart and really wants it to succeed, no disrespect to anyone but saic really need to take note of highly regarded people on this website as like it or not without the comments on here mg would have keeled over mths ago , william wang the head of saic operations needs to take a serious look at the levels of incompetence at mg regarding the promotion and overhaul launch of the product . guy jones really needs to sit down and a take long hard look at his contribution towards mg ..based on current sales and levels of stock current sales tell me forget february they probably wont build till the diesel comes on board

  15. You can argue about the merits of diesel v petrol.
    You can argue about the value of a MG6 diesel being required or not.
    But the fact is, that the buying public’s perception is that diesel’s are the most economic option. Until MG actually produce one, the public won’t bother looking at MG6’s.

    Personally I think it’s the whole MG brand that need’s a kick up the a*se. Nobody in the UK knows of MG’s existance at the moment. A large marketing campaign is required, plus major financial incentives to get these cars out on the road.
    Once they are out on the streets interest will pick up significantly.

  16. @ Keith Adams.
    G-Series
    I just read the fascinating article on Powertrain.
    So near, yet so far.
    What a desperate waste of time & effort.

  17. Does anyone know anything about this “1849cc” engine?

    I’ve bought diesels for work for years and can tell you that diesel company car buyers are even fussier about their motors than traditional petrol engine buyers.

    This engine needs to be not only diesel, but smooth, quiet, powerful and, by the end of 2012, if it doesn’t produce less than 120g/km (and preferably, < 110g/km) it will sink without trace. Ford, Vauxhall, VW etc are already in the market with modern designs that are capable of this.

    Can anyone provide a link to details of that engine, or any car that currently uses it?

  18. There’s no real need for the engine to be sub 110g as it’s unlikely to appeal to lease drivers/company drivers anyway due to uncompetitve residuals/lease costs. Most sub 110g cars are pretty woeful in terms of performance and real world economy (BWM 320 efficient dynamics aside). Certainly needs to be sub 120g though I agree to remain competitive.

    Q4 2012 though is too long though if that is for deliveries then arguably ‘marketing’, road tests etc should all be out by then but I’d be aiming for September deliveries to take advantage of the plate change. Still 9 months plus away though so they’ll need to up the effort over the next 6 months to really try and boost the brand and flagging sales of the petrol model.

  19. I honestly struggle to understand what all those sales and marketing guys are actually doing at Longbridge other than farting around with facebook putting silly insignificant things on there – carol singing? HRH Prince Happy Pants? Come on guys! how can 7 sales in a month even pay for these people – MG Motor UK must be bleeding cash at the moment and the fact that MG has a design centre in England doesnt seem to be doing what SAIC thought it would for the brand at all so I can see only one logical conclusion that SAIC will make….

    The daft hing is we have MG3 and MG5 virtually line ready, if they were also here and therefore able to capure a much wider marketing strategy (ie, every segment catered for) then the whole story would be totally different. Why recruit MG dealers if they knew they wouldnt have anything worth selling for so long? By the time the MG6 diesel arrives the car will have been launched (badly) for 2 years already. It’s a crying shame it really is, but it just seems to fall on completely deaf ears and each week the marketing guys come up with something even sillier?

    You can’t help but draw comparisons with past custodians of Longbridge, and not just because of the obvious connection, but because theh genuinely seem to be completely incompetent! Thats forgetting for the moment that none of the designs so far come up with are actually that inspirational!

  20. “You mean to say there isn’t a diesel option yet?” is the caption to the first photo.

    Nice to see it getting the approval of an important German.

    Personally I think diesels have gotten too complex, the days of the old XUD that was utterly reliable are over. That engine was lazy and slow, but that was part of the charm. Nowadays there are too many sensors and emissions control equipment. The 406 HDi I had was a dog of an engine.

    But it’s what the public (and the fleets) want, a cheap diesel will sell like hotcakes!

  21. @ Ralph:

    Yes, you are correct, the G Series is “in production at Sonalika.”

    Sonalika of India was the other partner involved in its development and would have potentially been involved in the manufacture of some of its components and castings for MG Rover Group to use.

    @ doodle:

    I am wondering whether the issues you raise are not directly attributed to the current management at MG Motor UK Ltd, but more its parent company SAIC? After all MG Motor UK Ltd does employ some very experienced staff at Longbridge with a real passion to make it and the MG brand a success and hopefully develop both into something more substantial.

    However, if the resources from the parent company are limited and it operates a disciplined top-down approach on their UK operation, then it is those in the know at Longbridge who have to face all the flack from dealers and the public. As we all know, SAIC knows very little about the Western culture when it comes to car sales or the importance of brand management and enrichment. Its own experience is solely focused on the home market and building a lot of other companies’ design under licence in China.

    SAIC potentially assumes that how it interpretes the MG brand and the fact it is (or rather once was) a well liked name is acceptible to the rest of the world. I’m guessing Longbridge will have been proactive in trying to get its parent company to be more responsive to the need to enrich the brand and deliver the features that they know will attract potential buyers more easily, although SAIC possibly does not see the impending need over and beyond what is needed is the more lucrative home market. Just my thoughts.

  22. @15 (Francis Brett)

    The diesel should have been on sale at the same time as the petrol, if not sooner. “Around the corner” would mean it was ready for sale before March, not, as is indicated by Q4, sometime around November.

    The MG6 publicity has been a mixed bag, from the popular National TV adverts to small regional stuff that should be the dealers’ jobs, but seems to be sorted by MG themselves.

    Also, calling someone who criticises a twat is neither mature or helpful. MG motor should be answering these criticisms themselves.

  23. @dontbuybluemotion – I have to disagree with you on diesels. My Volvo D5 is far better than its petrol equivalent – I get on average 40 mpg which is pretty good with my heavy right foot. If I had the petrol version, I would probably be doing about 25 mpg. My diesel also has the 5 cylinder roar when it accelerates, reminds me so much of the Audi’s of the 80’s.

  24. The Chinese will do things at their own pace and in their own way. I’m sure they see the UK market as only a small prize anyway. In my optimistic moments, I suspect they’re looking at a 10 or 20 year game plan.

  25. Perhaps MG Motor are smarter than we think. I am sure they are listening to all criticism. The MG 6 interior has been improved and other quality upgrades. As for making the same mistakes as BL, Austin Rover, these companies rushed products on to the market, 1800s and Maxis with gearbox connections that didn’t work, Maestros where the engine cut out in wet conditions becuase the distributor was too low down on the engine. Perhaps when the MG6 is right then the marketing machine will kick in. The Chinese are like the Japanese they look at the long view. The difference between BL, Austin Rover, MG Rover and SAIC is that SAIC have the resources.

  26. I”m sure with SAIC”s marketing and advertising expertise this car i”ll probably be launched by 2020 and the families only of the longbridge workers might get an exclusive showing of an advert for the new diesel model..Why bother launching a diesel model If your not going to bother promoting it in any form its to late! Another sad tail this week was the demise of saab & funnily enough the chinese were involved in that failed deal..

  27. @ daveh ” I have to disagree with you on diesels.”

    dave, Whilst I have not tried every Diesel on the market I have been utterly disappointed by the new DPF breed, My next door Neighbour who is a salesman for Clitron Dealer has had just as many “Issues with mpg and drive ability” as our Bag of Sh*te, However ours is an early version which still has ongoing issues of poor running and Dire mpg, I think VW has sorted some of the issues whist Dealers are still searching for answers to fix ours.

    A friend of mine has the VW Polo 1.2 TDi 3 cylinder job, which is embarrassing as it thumps its way up the rev range like a pneumatic drill running on a lack of compressed air, more to the point He struggles to get 50 mpg whilst ours only manages 41mpg… thats it!

    As I said I love the Diesel Engine even though some consider the fuel to come straight from the Devils P*ss, My Gripe is the outlandish Lies Manufacturers print regarding mpg and the over complexity involving the modern diesel, As our faithful 10 year old 1.9 TDi achieves high 50s-early 60s mpg without trying and is much nicer to drive.

  28. We all need to really face facts, by this time next year, we will probably be ‘mourning’ the demise of MG in the UK AGAIN. No dealer will put up with such pathetic sales, and nigh on zero back up from Longbridge or China. My local dealer is now a BINI specialist, just to keep things ticking over. If they were relying on MG sales, they would have gone bankrupt back in August.

  29. @40 who mentioned twats? It was titts.Tell you what,give me SAICS number and ill ring them myself and ask them what they are playing at,maybe me or someone on here could show them how to run a car company I’m sure they are all ears.wait and see or buy a mini kia or some other toilet that’s my advice.

  30. Q4 makes it effectively a 2 year old design car being launched as new….

    In the words of Sir Alan Sugar, MG Motors…. You’re well and truly Fired!!!

    I bet the Sincalir C5 will have sold more than this dead duck will have done by 2013 if it or MG are still around in the UK….
    Last one out turn off the lights please.

  31. @36 david 350
    as a retired former longbridge employee i have enough knowledge to question the skills of the manufacturing side of saic .i fully agree that the engineering side of the business is first class. but the manufacturing side of the business is former managers of mgtf as is the manufacturing associates. i actually worked in biw in the west where some highly skilled individuals with new model introduction as well as methods build employees had the individual capabilities of building cars from metal to the showroom, i would like to ask saic or mg why these former employees have been dis regarded. no disrespect to the current employess but that is why i question the sincerity of siac and mg to be serious with there future plans.if you want to be the best you employ the best that includes sales and marketing as that is really where the fault lies with the current demise of mg6.

  32. The G series was in prototype at powertrain fitted to a streetwise for road testing however when the administrators moved in most of the company fleet vehicles were sold off as its already been seen some skipped through the net I doubt any g series made it free but theres a few Rover 25s with the mls gasket roaming around mainly in 1.6 form but there out there a colleague of mine was driving one as his company car it was handed back a presumably sold off.

  33. A bit of encouraging news at last! But why Q4 next year before launch?

    In fact why is everything concerning the MG6 happening at such a slow, half hearted pace? For goodness sake get the car promoted and the range expanded before (i) the dealer network gives up and (ii) the car becomes long in the tooth.

    As things stand now, the car may not be the ultimate state of the art but it is appealing in many ways. Appealing enough to achieve hundreds of sales per month as opposed to seven.

  34. Sorry, I just don’t buy the notion that a petrol engine makes more sense than an oil burner. I do over 24k miles a year, mainly on motorways. I pay £1.36-£1.39 for derv, as opposed to £1.33-£1.36 for petrol. I don’t drive my car gently by any means, but it still delivers 52.3 (reasonably constantly according to the ‘puter) MPG. And that’s with a fabulous torque delivery and effortless acceleration. Having driven a similarly powered petrol engined derivative of the same car, I was lucky to get into the mid 30s MPG, with inferior take-up at low speed. That, with the additional road tax petrol cars command make derv the default option. If you’re tootling down the shops, or on a short commute to work, or have loads of disposable cash, then fine, buy petrol. For anything else, it has to be derv – all of a sudden the MG6 becomes an attractive proposition – or to put it another way, the company I work for (12,000 employees in total) have a derv only car policy. Who in their right mind would buy a fleet of petrol cars!! SAIC – market this bl**dy car. Get it on the fleet lists. Get the lease companies to take it up. It’s a good motor. Sell it!!!

  35. Just been on the MG website! Amazed we have a Dealer in the North East ! now I have been past the site and didnt even know it was there, It is on the back road to the Metro Centre which we sometimes use if the A1 is the usual car park.

    Now the site next door to Jennings Ford used to be one of those places that only sold cars that had been around the world a few times, which sounds encouraging. The website is at least easy to navigate ! The MG6 is at least well equipped…

  36. @58
    It’s being used in an Indian suv, iirc mgr helped developing that too, though it’s obv for developing markets,
    Can’t for the life of me remember what it is called though

  37. @60 its ok being in the exalted posistion of doing these possibly carefree miles (in a maintainance sense)and I take it you mean motorway/co car,but in real world,and by that I mean a general commute-work and back shops etc-they don’t make a great deal of sense especially new derv cars-dpf blockage,usuually due to lack of ownersghip knowledge people ferying kids about etc havnt the time to piss around screwing a car down the motorway for 20 mins for a passive regen of dpf,I’ve seen countless mazda 6 diesel engines ruined because A)dpf/incorrect oil(B)injection amount correction not carried out at service etc etc-not to mention corsa/combos with fuel dilution causing bent con rods,petrols don’t cause half as much trouble as modern diesel and no one on here would have have an old orion 1.8 D over a petrol would they?I’m not having a go but average people don’t need these problems in a carespecially when they are second hand.

  38. So the diesel unit has arrived. Are MG/SAIC going to advertise it when it’s due for release, if not, they might as well scrap the project now, because it won’t sell – as nobody will know about it!!

  39. “Modern Diesels from the Main Stream Players that I have tried are hugely disappointing.”

    Obviously not driven a Honda 2.2 i-ctdi then, or a BMW.

    My Honda FRV averages 49mpg, not too miserable for a 6 seat people carrier, the petrol version struggles to break 35 mpg. As I do 15k miles per year, this saves me £680 per year in fuel and payback on the £1200 premium for the diesel of 2 years. I have owned the car for 6 years and so am £2,400 better off, not to mention only seeing a petrol station every 500 miles instead of 350.

    The Honda diesel is extremely quiet and has useable torque from 1200 rpm, I rarely have to rev it above 2500. In comparison, I find petrol engines frenzied and lacking in low down torque.

    As for the MG, no credible manufacturer would bring out a new model in Europe without a diesel. MG heritage safe in Chinese hands? Don’t make me laugh.

    I may well buy a British built diesel next year – a Honda Civic.

  40. Well, a quick google and a bit of digging suggests that the G-series is alive and well – and possibly used by GM in Indian-market Taveras, though elsewhere it looks like that deal fell through and they’re using/will be using the same Chinese diesel that the MG6 is probably using.

    The Sonalika Rhino uses the “MG Rover developed” Common-Rail diesel engine – which meets an emissions standard referred to as BS-IV – and offers spec of 2 litre, 100-120bhp. (101PS, 220Nm @ 2400rpm). ICML BS-IV

    This might be the G-series in the wild, I can’t quite tell how accurate the info is.

  41. As much as I like Hondas (I drive one!), the Accord forum is unfortunately full of horror stories of the previous gen diesels.
    Not sure what the latest are like though.

  42. The honda and bmw derv engines are renowned for turbocharger failure,as are mazda and their current recall.

  43. The previous generation Accord has a few known issues, but it was Honda’s first diesel engine and was a remarkable achievement for it’s smoothness and power delivery. If you know what to look for and make sure that the car has had the necessary recall work done for the timing chain and exhaust manifold then you should be fine. The diesel engine is capable of huge mileages, you only need to go on Autotrader to see that! I’ve driven the latest (8th gen) Accord diesel (which is an entirely different engine), and the 180bhp Type-S was mightily impressive…

  44. Never mind all this stuff about diesel engines (important though they are).

    When are they going to launch an MG6 automatic? That’s what I want to know!

  45. At last we see a 6 with a diesel, but will it bolster sales in light of the petrol versions lack of apparent success?
    Fingers crossed…

  46. Wouls have to be £12,995 for the diesel if anyone is going to buy one, looks cheap and is probably very very nasty

  47. The logic of MG Motor advertising at Birmingham Airport is now clear, they have delivered 100 of 500 MG 6 and MG Magnette cars to AVIS Heathrow 21/12/11 according to an MG website.

  48. So that means they’ve actually shifted just under 200 cars to Joe Public? I sense some lying there by MG, especially as the sales figures don’t ad up. By the way, another huge cock up with Avis, they aren’t exactly everywhere. Should have been either Enterprise or Europcar. This lot need shooting for what they are doing.

  49. Dennis:

    http://www.newspress.co.uk/public/ViewPressRelease.aspx?pr=33602&pr_ref=7645

    Apparently Avis are going to start running MG6′s in their hire fleet. Didn’t one of us suggest that a few weeks ago? ”

    I only hope that 100, essentially Chinese built, SAIC’s haven’t taken the place of genuinely UK built cars from the likes of Vauxhall, Honda, Nissan or Toyota….

    Those looking for a used bargain from SAIC in 6 months may need to beware of used SAICs being sold as “Ex MG Management Cars”! They are very unlikely to have ever been registered in the name of Avis!

  50. Spud @ 71:

    If you mean the picture of an engine I posted, that’s a: not the engine in the MG6 diesel, and b: not an MG6, but an Indian market car (either a Rhino RV or Chevy Taveras).

    Find me a 1.9 Turbo Diesel car equal to or greater than a Ford Focus in size, with reasonable equipment, and a LIST price even remotely close to £12,995.

  51. Avis may not be everywhere as a UK-promoted rental fleet, but as an international brand appealing to tourists, they’re right up there. Holiday in the UK, drive a “British” branded, reasonably pleasant car that certainly won’t offend Americans (bar the lack of an auto. Oops!).

    Crash your car and end up with a silver Enterprise Corsa/Astra/Insignia, so you’re instantly delighted when you get your own car back.

  52. For most people on here 7 sales in a month is rightly very bad news and worthy of criticism but even I am a tad surprised when people also have the gall to criticise MG for shifting 100 to Avis…?

    Do we want more MG6’s on the roads or not? I’m not sure some poeple really know.

  53. I actually think the 100 to Avis have arrived in dribs & drabs, not in one lump, so the ‘4’ they allegedly sold last month could well have been to Avis, and some of the previous month’s ‘sales’ could well be motors to Avis. It is very rare nowadays that rental cars are petrol, especially in the mid sized class.

  54. @76 – I understood that the 100 were part of a larger consignment of 500 cars. Don’t think that Avis would be buying 4 a month, as this would have no benefit on the balance sheet.

    Well done MG for cracking the deal, some further high profile deals would be really good until the Diesel arrives. Looking at size of SAIC it is clear that they are in it for the long term.

  55. The 100 cars were delivered on 21st December, the MG UK website have pictures of them being unloaded from transporters.

  56. @ Francis Brett – I’d hardly call my position ‘exhalted’ – I pay for and maintain my own car, use it for the commute and tootling down the shops, and once in a while give it an Italian tune-up to burn off the soot from the dpf – how’s that difficult? The other things I make sure I do (having had an expensive time of it with a previous derv motor) is let the turbo spool-down after a hard drive, have it serviced on the button by a specialist garage, and ensure that the correct oil always goes in it. Simples.

  57. The Avis deal seems good news to me –

    (i) when sales so far have been so low 500 cars is a big
    deal
    (ii) it is evidence of a sales effort by MG UK and that
    SAIC haven’t given up but do have a long term
    commitment
    (iii) MG6’s out on hire will increase public awareness

    Maybe we didn’t realise how slow they meant when they said it would only be a slow launch.

  58. @82 ill sleep like a baby tonight,if only everyone did what you did simon,my life would be easier and poorer.ill tell the wheelchair bound customer in her 3 pot ibiza to screw her car down the motorway till the dpf light goes out,only she cares more about emptying her stoma bag more i think.

  59. Thing is you can just sit there with the engine reving at 3k to regenerate a DPF, or set the ECU to do it via a diagnostic unit.

  60. I don’t see the problem with running a Diesel car as an everyday motor – and in any case, who doesn’t like to thrash their car once in a while – personally I do it daily (the beauty of owning an Italian car – you must rag it – it’s the law!)

  61. Thing is if your buying new then petrols are fast becoming a rare breed unless you want a small engine in a very big body.

    Once you take in to account C02 based tax banding that makes diesel a buggerload cheaper to tax, especially for company car buyers who have to pay BIK tax in proportion to the car’s CO2 rating. Also, a direct injection 1.6 petrol in something like a Peugeot 508 is probably as complicated and expensive as the 1.6 TDi engine, but with more expensive running costs.

  62. Why did’nt they use a proven european diesel engine that is already used and will get through the eu emissions and an earlier launch date.

  63. Quote Mark Powell:

    ” Why did’nt they use a proven european diesel engine that is already used and will get through the eu emissions and an earlier launch date. ”

    Would they be prepared to pay the price of a state of the art diesel from the likes of Ford/PSA, VAG etc when a motor from China will be a fraction of the price?

    Would the likes of those companies let their hard won technology go to China, knowing full well how relaxed their attitude to IP rights is?

  64. About time MG. A diesel on the way, btw MG do you know one of your essex franchises owns a huge orange and white taxi fleet… just saying like…

  65. @87 not in a mazda 6 it wont!luckily some vw’s clear out after a screwing,but then again some audi’s dont.

  66. Has anyone considered the prospect that SAIC might not be in the habit of wasting their money?

    SAIC have money to spend – but I reckon they have assigned almost zero funds to promoting a relatively unknown large (for Europe) petrol engined car with poor mpg and dubious NVH – and have simply got something into the showrooms to communicate the message of MG being alive.

    THEN when the saleable diesel and smaler models come online, THEN they’ll spend the real money. And I think we will see quite a considerable campaign halfway through 2012.

    I do, however, agree that even as a stop-gap product with minimal ad spend, the MG6 has sold very poorly and the awareness level amongst the public is lamentable.

    A deal with a rental co. should have been investigated right from the start to get the thing actually seen in public – and getting diesel MG6’s out with the police would be a brilliant idea – traffic patrols would love the space available in the hatchback.

    I certainly wouldn’t write off SAIC in Europe (or the MG6).

    Expect proper job MG balloons and fireworks by July 2012.

  67. Probably coming late to the party here, but I think the MG6 has just had the best bit of advertising that money can buy. With practically no testing whatsoever, the MG team just drove away from Brands Hatch on Sunday with a win. If that is the untested, untuned version roll on Donnington in two weeks.

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. Nanjing MG | Europe, this is for you! MG6 Turbo Diesel Sighted Road Testing | China Car Times - China Auto News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.