“We have absolutely zero sales expectations”: MG Cyberster a roll of the dice in Australia with brand unsure who will buy $100k-plus electric sports car
For a brand that first made its name on accessible performance, before pivoting to affordable vehicles for the masses, the Cyberster looms as a roll of the dice for MG in Australia, with executives conceding they have no idea how many people might buy one.
The mega-EV was unveiled at MG in Sydney this week, with the brand forecasting a $100k-$130k list price for the 375kW, twin-motor performance vehicle.
That would make it as much as double the cost of the current most-expensive vehicle in MG’s lineup – the MG4 XPower AWD, which lists at $59,990.
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It’s a point not lost on MG Australia’s sales chief, Giles Belcher, who admits the brand has “zero sales expectations” for the Cyberster.
“The car is built as a tour de force to showcase a halo car for the brand,” he says.
“Sports cars are traditionally low volume because of the price and the capability of two seats and that type of thing, so we have no volume expectations for the car.
“It will be available in dealerships for test drives and things like that. So we’re not limiting it in that way, but we don’t have any expectations.”
The brand hasn’t ruled out introducing a lower-priced, single-motor version of the Cyberster to bring the starting price closer to, or even below, the Luxury Car Tax threshold, currently $89,332. LCT works as a percentage on every dollar over the threshold, so bringing in a cheaper model would minimise, or even eradicate, the tax paid.
That said, the brand says there is no cheaper model on the cards in the near future, with the brand to launch only with the dual-motor flagship, and persist with it alone for the foreseeable.
“It’s not on the cards at the moment, but we never say never I suppose. We’ll assess things,” Mr Belcher says.
