The Sino Brit’s second push into a key sector adds up.

BACK in 2023 the compact and chic MG4 hit the ground running, immediately generating decent volume during that final rebate year for electrics.

Now the environment is without Government incentive, but fossil fuel price and supply uncertainty have reawakened much the same consumer sentiment about electrics.

Time, then, for a new MG4. Which, as this site has previously related, isn’t the same MG4 we’ve known, which is keeping going. Not even close.

With MG4 Urban you get a new platform, with a different motor-battery set and in front-drive (whereas the incumbent is rear or dual), that will site below the MG4 … erm, ‘non-Urban’ which, in turn, will continue on sale, with a modest update and a model line refinement.

We’ve reported just two of the four previous versions were set to continue and accurately picked those cull survivors as the rear wheel drive Essence 64 and all wheel drive MG4 XPower.

We now know these have dropped in price, by $5000 and $4k respectively, so they now re-site at $44,990 and $55,990. Officially, that’s in response to the car facing more competitor pressure. Conceivably, it might pay to remember original stickers were sorted when the Clean Car rebate also app.lied.

Either way, the new positions nonetheless still leave enough clear air for the $38,990 Urban, also in Essence spec, to stand in its own little area.

Even so, when comparing the Urban against a rear-drive you’re surely finding cars of very similar talent and functional opportunity within a common market segment. Even if they don’t clash having two trading under one name might confuse.

Calling the new one MG Urban would have clarified and it’s not as if the make’s cars have to have a numerical designation. Cyberster doesn’t. Nor does HS.

MG Motor regional product planner Meng Chen, who bases in Sydney and was across for the media event, says much stems back to how the make categorises its small electric cars. It also occurs that, with MG3 and MG5 tags already used, what else could they do?

Think of the Urban as the new MG to combat value-oriented competitors, also from China. It’s $3000 cheaper than the previous, now defunct, MG4 Excite 51 that used to hold that job and also presents as a five-door four-seater hatchback.

Regional availability of two variants, a 43kWh battery and 54kWh battery (both LFP), both in Essence trim, has not been fully uplifted by MG NZ.

Here focus has fallen purely on the Essence 54, which has 405 kilometres’ range. The Essence 43 that sells in Australia, with a range of 316km, might yet be considered in the future, but sentiment expressed by country manager Dean Sheed is that right now buyers feel more favourable about EVs with ranges that begin with a ‘four’.

Both feature a front-mounted electric motor, producing 250Nm. However, the 54 is more powerful, with 118kW, and 0.3 seconds faster to 100kmh from a standing start, with 8.7s claimed.

Clocking as little as 1460kg on the scales makes the Urban an especially lightweight EV.

At 4395mm the Urban is actually 110mm longer and, with height of 1549mm, has a 33mm higher roof height. It is also 6mm wider, 33mm taller and 45mm longer between the wheels.

At least there’s no chance of visually mis-identifying one kind of MG4 from the other.

Whereas the MG4 as we know it is quite wedge-influenced the Urban goes to a smoother, more bubbly shape. The styling is claimed to have been influenced by MG's flagship product, the Cyberster roadster.

The split front bumper design, wide-set air intakes in the nose, swoopy headlights and a full-width light bar at the rear, complete with angled-in LED details, can be linked to that two-seat soft-top.

The model uses a MacPherson strut front suspension setup and a torsion beam rear end. The latter wasn’t just for cost expediency. It also does good things for boot space; 382 litres expanding to 1266L with the rear seats folded - unfortunately they won’t go quite flat - is excellent for a car of this size. There’s also another 98L under the boot floor because there’s no spare wheel.

A decently spacious passenger cabin also delivers. Yes, shorties need sit behind a tall driver, but it’s not a cramped space. Family usage looks promising with ISOFIX positions with top tethers in the outer two seats of the rear bench and the wide-opening rear doors and amount of space will be appreciated by those with bulky child seats.

Technology in the car is fine, while material quality is OK too; not flashy, maybe, given the value ethos of the Urban, but nicely put together and reasonably pleasing on the eye.

The NZ trim level puts the car on 17-inch alloy wheels wearing 205/50 tyres, with a tyre repair kit instead of a spare. It has LED headlights and taillights, heated front seats, leatherette upholstery, climate control, and a surround-view camera system.

There’s also a 12.8-inch multimedia touch-screen offering Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, with a six-speaker sound system in both trims and a wireless phone charger and digital radio. Storage solutions include a reasonable-sized glovebox, door pockets with the usual sculpted-out drinks-bottle holders, two cupholders up on what would normally be the transmission tunnel, a lidded centre cubby in the front armrest and one of those 'under-dash' storage areas that is also the location of the front pair of USB-C connections plus a 12-volt socket.

The model has something MG calls its “6-in-1” drive system incorporating a heat pump to maximise range. Fast charging is available up to 150kW using a DC plug.

Euro NCAP has already put the MG4 Urban through its paces and it has recorded a full-marks score of five stars overall.

MG4 has been a popular car for city driving. Urban also unapologetically aims at that use (the hint is in the name, right?).

A test route that took in motorway, downtown streets and some country roads wasn’t daunting, though insofar as the dynamic side goes, the ‘other’ MG4 is a keener-cornering, more fluid, progressive choice.

MG claims some level of suspension fine-tuning for ‘local’ conditions (which means Australia), but without drill-down detail, which suggests it wasn’t much. Still, while not out to rewrite the book on handling and verve, it drives tidily, has nice steering and does well enough for ride comfort and rolling refinement.

You can imagine most buyers won’t give a jot about any shortcomings anyway. They’ll be more keen on the sensibility, which shows in stuff like it being nippy but not crazily fast off the line, the well-calibrated one-pedal driving mode and the turning circle being decent for city work.

In both kinds of MG4, the inclusion of MG Pilot Custom is a very welcome improvement. This allows you to tailor all the ADAS items to your preferred settings, then simply select that set-up every time you start the car by just swiping down from the top of the touchscreen and tapping the relevant MG Pilot Custom icon on the display.

Sadly, you cannot say goodbye to all bleeps and bongs in the Urban, as its speed sign recognition software has propensity to mis-read corner speed advisories. One 80kmh winding stretch had the overspeed warning in almost perpetual state of concern.

As much as the Urban seems assured of picking up considerable business, it’s hard to imagine the alternate MG4 gathering cobwebs from now on.

What started out as a very advanced design in 2023 has been very carefully revised for ongoing sale.

You won’t see that from the exterior - because they’ve barely changed anything visually about angular appearance - so, apart from some new colours, a fresh design of alloy wheel and the rear spoiler above the tailgate becoming a one-piece item, having been an overly-fussy double-hoop affair before, nothing changes.

Different story inside, where there’s been substantial revision, all to the better.

Surfaces that were too often in hard plastics have been treated to finishes that look softer and sometimes feel it, too.

A change to the main interface system - including both digital screens, each enlarged, the central touchscreen more obviously so - has necessitated both a completely redesigned fascia and a reshaped central tunnel, which in turn have very positive impact on the car’s practicality, as there are fresh approaches to storage.

Even more welcome than the addition of wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity is that the wireless smartphone charging pad has been relocated and redesigned, so your phone will no longer fly off into a footwell at the first corner. Physical air-conditioning and media controls do not harm in making an appearance, either. Whereas Urban has a wand gear selector behind the steering wheel, MG4 takes a rotary device on the central divide between the front seats.

An auto-dimming rear-view mirror also arrives and it switches to a Bluetooth key, which means the old starter button has gone. Now, as in the Urban, you simply sit in the car and it’ll become active.

No alterations have been made to the suspension tune, motor and battery size; crops from four derivatives previously to just two.

The Essence 64 delivers an improved range of up to 452 kilometres, from 435km previously, when measured to the WLTP combined scale.

It utilises a new 64kWh lithium-iron phosphate LFP battery mated to a motor that, with 140kW, makes 10kW less than previously. Torque climbs 100Nm, to 350Nm. A charging time of 25 minutes from 10-80 percent is cited.

The XPower continues to offer a 64kWh nickel cobalt manganese NCM battery, all-wheel drive pairing, feeding out a combined 300kW and 600Nm, with top speed and the 0-100kmh time of 3.8 seconds maintained. It maintains a potential range of up to 405km.

With Essence three new colours – Iris Cyan, Sterling Silver and Piccadilly Blue - add to existing options, but really the appeal lays in its being a well-engineered car that’s not better furnished and finished.