MG to launch new Toyota Corolla-sized EV next year: Hot hatch on cards

Chinese car marker MG is planning to offer an all-electric alternative in the small-car class, with MG’s new Corolla-sized EV to be built on a dedicated battery-electric platform and priced from less than $40,000.

But while the entry point for MG’s new Corolla-sized EV promises to deliver Australia’s most cost-effective electric vehicle, it won’t be the only model in the lineup, wth the brand also pointing to an all-electric hot hatch that could rival cars like the Hyundai i30 N and Honda Civic Type R.

The news means the performance hinted at in the brand’s E-motion concept (pictured), that was revealed back in 2017, might finally be coming to fruition.

Speaking at the launch of the brand’s first plug-in hybrid model – the MG HS PHEV SUV – the brand’s marketing and product boss Danny Lenartic said the new model could arrive as soon as 2022, and will include “something a bit more exciting”.

It’s understood the man who also heads up MG Australa’s EV strategy is referring to an electric hot hatch variant, part of the brand’s new push to deliver “affordable sports cars to the public”.

The new model will be roughly MG 3-sized (fighting in the same category as the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3), but won’t be an electrified version of that model.

Instead, the new small car will be an EV-only proposition, and will be built to accomodate several battery sizes and power outputs, with AWD – at least on some models – a possibility, if offered with two axle-mounted motors, front and rear.

MG expects the new model to launch in Australia in 2022, which would mean a possible international debut of the vehicle this year.