The MG4 Urban set to soon show here as an electric price leader will have a smaller sibling.

STATUS as MG’s cheapest and smallest electric product seems set to be relatively fleeting for a soon to land product, with the parent confirming an even more diminutive dollar-saver is soon to show.

While MG New Zealand has yet to comment publicly about either the MG4 Urban (above) and the smaller MG2, the first is already in regional circulation - and dealers here are prepping for it - while planning for the second has just been factory-acknowledged.

Shanghai headquarters has related to Britain’s Autocar magazine that the MG2 will be previewed by a new concept at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in England in July.

The new four-metre-long model is set sit below the MG4 Urban, which is expected to be here before mid-year as a new proposal for budget-minded buyers.

Delivering the MG4 Urban will require a reshaping of the current MG4 family, a process also under way.

The naming commonality with the MG4, which has since arrival in 2023 being MG’s least expensive electric, belies that the MG4 Urban is actually a completely different car, sitting on an entirely different platform.

The MG 2 is expected to use the same front-wheel-drive E3 electric platform as the MG 4 Urban, which proposes as a cheaper alternate to MG4, a position that it has created in Australia where it has released at the equivalent of the $NZ42,000.

What likelihood of that price or something similar carrying into New Zealand is not yet clear, but a rejig of the MG4 family lends potential it could site there without internal competition.

Expected to be production-ready in 2027, the MG2 is potentially also set to show with a forthcoming semi-solid-state battery also cited as being a running change for MG4 Urban, which starts with lithium ion phosphate batteries in 43kWh and 54kWh capacities.

The MG2 battery uses a gel-like electrolyte to reduce the impact of cold temperatures on the range while improving the safety of the cells.

MG owner SAIC believes there is good potential with small electric products, with Autocar quoting UK boss David Allison saying the segment below the MG 4 was “the obvious area of the market that’s next to happen” for the brand.

“As Europe transitions towards EVs, inevitably the easiest way of making them more affordable is downsizing.”

The magazine says the MG 2 will have a much more European-focused design than other models in the line-up to reflect its bigger role in the region compared with other markets. As such, it will be designed in the UK.

As well as launching smaller models, MG s set to expand its range at the bigger end of the market with the S9, a plug-in hybrid SUV.