Introduction

It's better to burn out than to fade away.

Monthly sales exceed 10,000 units, overseas cumulative sales are about to reach 3 million, brand, product, technology, and channel have undergone comprehensive renewal, and multiple new models such as the 2026 Cyberster, Cyber X, and the collaboration with OPPO are on the horizon...

Four months after joining the MG brand, Zhou Xing presented his first report card as General Manager of the Business Unit.

On April 11, SAIC MG held a Q1 "Pursuing Dreams with a Pure Heart" straightforward communication meeting. At the event, Zhou Xing, General Manager of the MG Brand Business Unit, introduced the MG brand's market performance, brand renewal, and future strategic layout for the first quarter. Notably, just the night before, SAIC Group had announced its new brand transformation strategy with the theme of "Understanding Cars and You" at the "2025 SAIC Night".

As the sole global brand under SAIC, MG immediately began "working hard" after SAIC President Jia Jianxu's call to "break out of the shell," aiming to anchor itself in the new track of intelligent electric vehicles with a fresh attitude and accelerate the launch of new products and technologies.

We all know that the current automotive market competition is intensifying. Amidst the era of old and new alternation, breaking the old pattern and establishing a new business format is timely. As a member of the independent brands, MG is also in a critical window period of "traditional business recovery" and "new track positioning." Whether it can address its shortcomings will determine its ability to breakthrough in the industry elimination race.

SAIC Group is well aware of this and has released a new strategy. With a pure heart of pursuing dreams, the MG brand is also seeking its own world full of flowers.

01 MG Has Yet to Win

In December last year, Zhou Xing announced his new position at SAIC. From that moment on, his role shifted from General Manager of Brand and Communication at SAIC-GM-Wuling to General Manager of the MG Brand Business Unit. This coincided with SAIC Group's promotion of the SAIC Large Passenger Vehicle Segment, which comprises five companies: SAIC Passenger Vehicle Company, Innovation R&D Institute, Zero Bound Technology, SAIC International, and Overseas Mobility. The aim is to achieve efficient internal resource coordination within SAIC.

Four months later, the large passenger vehicle segment from the group's internal reform has been operational, and the effects of internal coordination are reflected to varying degrees in SAIC's major sub-sectors, as well as in the MG brand.

"In the first quarter, our retail sales were 25,800 units, a year-on-year increase of 13%, and sales in March exceeded 10,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 80%..." Zhou Xing shared MG's report card for the first quarter of this year, especially the sales figures, which made him feel that his efforts had not been in vain and met expectations.

Obviously, achieving such results is not easy for MG, especially in the domestic market.

Because in recent years, MG has been "blossoming outside the wall but fragrant inside." Last year, MG sold 700,000 units worldwide, and even in Europe, with its deep trade barriers, sales reached 243,400 units, accounting for 70% of China's total auto exports to Europe, achieving "7 out of every 10 vehicles exported to Europe from China are MG brand." Based on its robust overseas performance, its overseas cumulative sales will exceed 3 million units, making it the first Chinese automotive brand to surpass this milestone.

However, in contrast, MG's insurance volume in China in the first ten months of last year was only 65,000 units, with a significant year-on-year decline.

But this year, against the backdrop of a 6.0% year-on-year increase in retail sales in the automotive market in the first quarter and a 14.4% year-on-year increase in March, MG's growth rate outperformed the overall market. Therefore, whether comparing horizontally with the market or vertically with itself, MG's breakthrough is visible, and it has ushered in a good start by exceeding its goals.

In the view of Yu Jingmin, Executive Deputy General Manager of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company, MG's achievements are inseparable from the operation of the SAIC Large Passenger Vehicle Segment. On the one hand, it has opened up the entire link from terminal product development to backend marketing, accelerating MG's "electrification and intelligence" transformation; on the other hand, it simultaneously promotes domestic and international strategies to provide localized mobility solutions for MG's global layout.

However, Zhou Xing does not believe that MG has already won. He feels that "MG is almost there but not quite." The "little bit" lacking is the low sales proportion of new energy vehicles, which only accounts for 10% of the brand's total sales.

Compared to domestic leading brands such as BYD and Geely, MG's new energy product matrix has yet to form a scale effect, and its penetration is obviously insufficient. For example, in February 2025, the retail sales of the pure electric sports car Cyberster were far lower than those of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, a competitor in the same price range, and there was also a significant gap between the MG4 EV and the Volkswagen ID.3.

02 A Crucial Leap

Based on its insufficient performance in new energy vehicles, MG plans to launch 8 new models in the next two years, covering sports cars, sedans, and SUV product lines, to achieve full product launch. These include the 2026 MG Cyberster, the all-new MG4, two all-new sedans, two all-new SUVs, and the boxy Cyber X, which will be unveiled at this year's Shanghai Auto Show.

With the comprehensive promotion of the brand's electrification and intelligence and the continuous improvement of the new energy product matrix, it is expected to inject new momentum into sales growth, aiming to make new energy the final piece of the puzzle for MG to get back on track and make up for the final little bit lacking.

Therefore, it can also be said that behind the data of the 10% new energy share lies the deep water zone of MG's transformation. Underestimating MG's determination towards electrification may lead to strategic misjudgment. With the 800V high-voltage platform technology reserve entering mass production countdown, the completion of winter testing for the new modular electric architecture, and the establishment of a solid-state battery joint laboratory... These "underwater iceberg"-like investments are accumulating potential energy for product explosions.

In addition, to ensure sustained future market performance, MG continues to invest in technology iteration, accelerates the transformation towards electrification and intelligence, and achieves comprehensive technology iteration with the new E3 architecture, full coverage of three electrics, and an intelligent ecosystem layout. At the same time, MG's channel construction is also accelerating comprehensively, with plans to add 150 new stores by 2025, expanding the channel network to 400 stores.

In this way, MG has essentially delivered a combination of "product bombardment + technology iteration + channel expansion." At the same time, the MG brand announced that it will use "young, stylish, and intelligent" as its main labels. Amidst the increasingly fierce competition in the automotive market, it has embarked on a comprehensive acceleration mode and is stepping into its own "era of mad rush."

Overall, MG's dilemma is essentially a microcosm of the transformation of traditional automakers - it must not only protect the basic market for fuel vehicles but also open up new battlefields in the fields of intelligence and electrification.

Although the advantage of globalization provides a buffer zone for MG's transformation, the tough battle in the local market is the real touchstone. If it can form a synergy in technology implementation, brand renewal, and ecosystem construction, this brand once known for "affordable sports cars" will have the opportunity to rewrite its own legendary track in the new energy era.

Currently, the market has already given positive signals. For example, the dealer system has added exclusive new energy stores, electric vehicle orders in overseas markets have exceeded 10,000 units, and user surveys have shown an increase in MG brand's technological awareness... These quantitative changes are accumulating to knock on the door of qualitative change. When technology reserves, channel transformation, and user perception resonate, that "almost there" moment is expected to be surpassed.

However, MG's transformation dilemma is essentially a test of strategic perseverance. When the fuel vehicle business provides stable cash flow, dare it tilt resources towards new energy? When the industry falls into a configuration introvert, can it adhere to innovation in the deep water zone of technology? The answers to these multiple-choice questions will determine whether it can complete that crucial leap.

It's better to burn out than to fade away. The song "Pursuing Dreams with a Pure Heart" begins with the lyrics, "Where is the world full of flowers?" If MG, with a pure heart of pursuing dreams, wants to find this ideal country, it must "run forward, facing cold stares and ridicule."

Editor-in-Charge: Li Sijia Editor: Wang Yue