From October this year, MARVEL R will be gradually entering European MG showrooms for sale.
Like the products sold by R cars in China, it provides two power versions and three configuration options. In Europe, the starting price for the rear-wheel drive standard version is 39,990 euros (about 298,000 yuan), and the four-wheel drive version is priced at 47,990 euros (about 358,000 yuan), which is indeed much more expensive than the domestic price range of 219,800-259,800 yuan. This price positioning is already able to compete with the Audi Q4 e-tron, which has a price of 43,900 US dollars (about 2.82 million yuan).
In terms of power configuration, the European version of MARVEL R is slightly reduced compared to the domestic version. The rear-wheel drive version is reduced by 5 kW to 132 kW, and the four-wheel drive version is reduced by 10 kW to 212 kW. However, the maximum torque that can be exerted is consistent with the domestic version, which is 410 N·m and 665 N·m respectively. The battery is also 70 degrees, so there will not be much difference in range and charging efficiency.
Due to the fact that SAIC R’s MARVEL R is equipped with the Zebra Venus system, which is different from the European MG iSMART system, there will be some differences in interface and user experience. In order to cater to European users’ habits, MG iSMART also supports Apple CarPlay, Android Auto mapping, as well as Amazon Prime music playback.
This is not the first time that SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle has rebranded its products as MG to sell them in the European market. Previously, the MG5 EV was also rebranded from Roewe Ei5. Local models such as the MG ZS and HS series are also sold in Europe.
As of October this year, MG has sold a total of 12,365 vehicles in 11 major European countries, with a market share of 2%. The majority of these sales were from the MG ZS, which sold 10,567 units. The MG5 EV, which has been on the market for nearly a year, has sold 1,790 units in major European markets. Compared to other Chinese electric car manufacturers entering the European market such as Xpeng, BYD, and NIO, the MG5 EV has far surpassed sales of the Xpeng G3, which sold 299 units, the BYD Tang, which sold 191 units, and the NIO, which sold 32 units. It’s worth noting that the starting price of the MG5 EV in Europe is close to CNY 200,000.
Rebranding import cars as MGs to sell them in Europe obviously caters to local consumers’ recognition of the brand. MG, born in Oxford, England, with a long history, although now owned by SAIC, is still a popular old brand in the minds of local consumers.
🔗Source: insideevs
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.