Brand Image

I sat in the petrol version of the ZS before the EV was with the dealers and concluded it was super value for money. Wanted an EV and after 2 years with it find it a great car. I may go for a new LR which will make a trip to Scotland from the south coast easier, but it wouldn’t be awful with all the chargers there are now. For most of my journeys the range is adequate.

Bluecar1 said:

having owned skoda's at the very early stages of ownership by VAG and had to put up with jokes and Hyundai's as there image turned the corner i am definitely not a badge snob

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with Skoda, won their class in the RAC Rally for years, and that was pre VAG

Hairyfool said:

Nothing wrong with Skoda, won their class in the RAC Rally for years, and that was pre VAG

Click to expand...

thoroughly agree, when they were the early days of VAG they were great, they have become a VW Box clone now and lost the value for money appeal about 6-7 years ago for me, hence changed to Hyundai who were at the start of their climb, MG seem near that mass market take off so will be at that sweet spot for me likely my next change in 3-4 years time

Building a new brand takes time and effort. It’s possible but requires something game changing. Tesla are now the lead ahead or BMW etc but have come from nothing. Reusing an “old” brand gives an element of recognition and is commonplace in electronics. My Grundig and Sharp home appliances all turned out to be rebrand of Turkish Beko products.
I wonder if any of the upcoming Chinese firms like BYD might try to buy “Saab” or another legacy brand?

Brands don’t bother me - reputation and owner reviews is far more important these days .

A year ago I never imagined that I would buy an MG or even an EV . But our ageing Golf needed to be replaced and we formulated a list of all cars at the price Point that we were willing to pay and started to narrow it down with Online research and test drives . Fortuitously the MG dealer was the one nearest to our house and after test driving the HS PHEV , it blew everything away , and the choice was obvious.

We were more more prepared to take a risk on the MG even though it was not an established brand in Australia , Because of the proximity of the dealership to us .

So far we are very pleased and converts from 2 decades of previous VW ownership .

Hairyfool said:

Nothing wrong with Skoda, won their class in the RAC Rally for years, and that was pre VAG

Click to expand...

Having suffered the misery of owning a Skoda Yeti, I have a few quibbles with that. I owned one for only 40,000 miles, but:-

Sticking clutch pedal ("Yeah, well, mate, we know what that is - it's a fault, innit?"), all 4 brake drums rusted right through after less than 13,000 miles, 3 complete sets of tyres in 40,000 miles, 2 sets of brake shoes in 40,000 miles (on top of the failed drums), random stalling in 2nd gear both at rest and at speed ("No idea what that is mate...."), all 4 door seals failed so, incredibly, you couldn't use it or leave it out in the rain without it getting wet inside, only one daytime running light working at any one time (but randomly, so you never knew which one would light up), interior lights packed up, cig lighter failed, brake pedal that creaked loudly from new EVERY time it was used ("It'll cost yer £120 for us to look at it and we might not be able to fix it, mate"), etc.

And then there was the exhaust emissions fraud system that VW built into all their cars to prove their green credentials (no, it's not a bug, it's a feature) with endless smug emails from VW boasting that they would fix their inbuilt fraud device for free, so wasn't I a lucky customer. All topped off by having to deal with Arnold Clark ("we waste time, so you don't have to").

Nothing wrong with Skoda? Yeah, right...

We owned a Skoda Fabia diesel estate and it was a grand car which served us well. Over the years we owned excellent Citroen Berlingo and C3 diesels, Renault Kangoos and a Modus, LDV and superb Maestros (two vans and two cars). We had second hand Minis, Maxi, Imps, a Land Rover and even a brilliant Austin Allegro !
But the absolute disastrous, worst vehicle we ever had the misfortune to buy was a nearly new Mercedes B class. We only put up with it for eight agonising days before demanding our money back - we never got it all but we’re so disgusted by the attitude of the dealership and their staff that we took what we could get and ran to Citroen !!
The uncomfortable B class? car was the noisiest diesel I’ve heard, the use of the automatic gearbox was akin to operating agricultural machinery. Then one dark night on a trip to Inverness every light on the nightmare of a thing suddenly went off - luckily on a straight deserted bit of road where I could stop safety but blindly from 60 mph - horrendous !!
As you can imagine I no longer enjoy even the sight of that company’s disastrous offerings.
Right- historical dreaming and rant over -
Currently really enjoying the transformation to MG electric travel though, just no longer doing the large mileages I used to 1000+ miles a week usually.

While it is nice to have the MG name back it is not so important. There are many other "trusted" main stream manufactures that have cars built in China, but many people are oblivious of the origins!
Remember the original Samsung strap line about buying our product not our name ! Eventually even a new name can get a good reputation in time. Reputation is based on good products NOT the name.
I have taken a similar approach over many years. Look at the perception of Skoda these days, when I bought my 1st Octavia and Fabia in the late 90s people thought I was nuts!
Lets hope my judgement on the MG5 is right and I am still smiling in 10 years time.
I must admit reading about the Roewe 5 in China and the number that had been built since 2017 I was made even more confident about purchasing my MG/Roewe5. If it was good enough for Chinas Taxi business it was good enough for me.
I wonder if I coud "de badge" the MG and fit a Roewe badge instead?!!!!!!

Branding is interesting as the UK is an exceptionally brand conscious market and unknown brands have historically not fared well - for example, in its day the Lexus LS400 was the best engineered, smoothest riding executive car by a country mile yet it sold virtually none in the UK compared to the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes S class. In the US, where there are basically two brands, "American" and "Imported", it outsold the BMW, Mercedes and Audi offerings combined as buyers looked at the quality of the product.

Buying the MG brand wayback when was a stroke of genius by SIAC, they understood that unknown/Chinese named brands would find it difficult if not impossible to establish themselves n western markets. Despite the early post BMW MG models not doing much to enhance its reputation, it's still a 'heritage' brand across the globe and indeed, in the Indian/Asian markets SIAC are actively marketing the "Morris Garages" side of that heritage, something that had been almost forgotten in the UK itself due to the hateful 1970's British Leyland amalgamation.

But .... life moved on, EVs became the 'vehicles du jour', an upstart manufacturer called Tesla became, in the matter of 10 years, the most wanted car brand and the most valuable vehicle firm on the planet and China moved quickly with this change and became a hub for EV development bringing in top designers and engineers from European and US mainstream manufacturers. While this is great for consumers as it means that the quality and reliability has moved on far quicker than we have seen before, it has also heralded somewhat of a change in branding consciousness now. The Polestar 2 is now one of the most wanted electric cars in the UK (indeed, new Volvo ICE models have 'engineering by Polestar' badges on the front grill) and Chinese named brands such as Nio and Aiways are launching in Europe under their own name. Yes, having the MG badge has undoubtedly helped SIAC become the fastest growing marque in Europe this last year, but more, far more than that, having good quality, well-priced cars that both meet people's budgets and expectations has done far more.

Over the next five years we will see more and more 'unknown' (outside of Asia) brands bringing interesting, well built, quality vehicles to the European markets and brand snobbishness will change. Will it be eliminated completely? No, of course not and certainly not in the UK, but it will play less of a role as the quality and price of a product becomes more important to average consumers.

Work are looking for an Electric Van, I suggested the SAIC Maxus, I was laughed out the room 'lol china' - this week they've seen my new MG, all commented how nice it is, and I got to point out the Maxus they laughed about is from the same company.

French vehicles have had a notorious reputation in the UK for years for being useless when it comes to the electrics (sorry John, can't help the stats), yet they're picking a Peugeot Electric Van and waiting a year for it to be delivered. Because a known brand, is still a known brand and better than something they don't know.

Lguk said:

French vehicles have had a notorious reputation in the UK for years for being useless when it comes to the electrics (sorry John, can't help the stats), .........

Click to expand...

Oh gosh, don't apologise, they are shocking even now!

Alb said:

Use of the MG brand outside of China is a key part of the SAIC Motor Corporation's sales strategy but how critical was that brand identity to you at purchase time? Would you have still bought your car if it was branded as a Roewe for example and do you think the badge alone has an effect on depreciation rate and resale value?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't have bought the Roewe 5 but badged as an MG I think it's definitely acceptable and I actually love the MG badge. Fake or not, I'd rather drive a car with that badge history over a Chinese name

@JohnInFrance Earlier in this post I mentioned buying a Chinese electric scooter (equivalent to a 125cc). Because it’s an unknown brand in the UK I found it very hard to insure as underwriters do not have data. In the end I could only get affordable cover on third party. Another issue establishing brands.

I will be honest until yesterday I would have been in the re-badged Chinese camp but actually had a test drive. I was suitably impressed by the 5EV. Reminded me of the Skoda's of a few years ago that were also great value for money before their prices started going up and an options list longer than my arm.

I have traded in my 18 month old Octavia 1st Edition and to be honest I am sure I will get some comments like I did when I first started having Skodas. But I don't care.

I wanted to own an MG6 since Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff debuted the car in the BTCC. That never happened but I've always followed this new revived MG since. I don't think it swayed my decision to buy but it did make me more aware of the brand and I'd imagine, outside of the touring car faithful and EV drivers, there would be a fair few people not aware that you can buy a new MG

Electrickery said:

@JohnInFrance Earlier in this post I mentioned buying a Chinese electric scooter (equivalent to a 125cc). Because it’s an unknown brand in the UK I found it very hard to insure as underwriters do not have data. In the end I could only get affordable cover on third party. Another issue establishing brands.

Click to expand...

As I said, things are changing .... watch this space.

I needed an estate car and fancied going EV, so the MG5 was my only option. I would rather it didn't have the MG badge because I am in a number of classic/historic car groups and get the "not a real MG" ribbing all the time. But I'm just in the process of buying an MGBGT for rallying, so that will confuse them. It will be the first time I have had two MGs at the same time since the late 1970s when I had an MGA, MGB and Magnette.

I have only had my car since September 2021 but already I am much more likely to defend the brand than I would have been when I bought it. I have owned or driven some seriously expensive cars in the past and none has put a smile on my face like this one. MG brand doubters are reducing in numbers just look at the sales data. For me this car can be quicker than most I’ve owned, is more comfortable and is obviously cheaper to own and run. And from what I can see non of the other electric cars available can touch it for price and value for money. It is correct to say it isn’t an old MG but a new Jaguar isn’t the same as those made in the sixties in Browns lane. Bravo Siac.

Been a pragmatist brand had no bearing on my choice of the MG5 whatsoever: I did my research, tested some other brands and after a short drive in the MG I new it was the car for me. Seven months ownership have confirmed the above was correct, it really is a superbly practical car which is also very enjoyable to drive and with our solar PV costs peanuts to run.

Bluecar1 said:

to be brutally honest if the MG was branded Roewe, i would never look at it, MG has heritage and history in the UK, Roewe has neither i am aware of

brand image to me means the following things
1:- high end brands attract badge snobs like audi / bmw / Tesla
2:- quality of product
3;- quality / impression of the dealer experience

having owned skoda's at the very early stages of ownership by VAG and had to put up with jokes and Hyundai's as there image turned the corner i am definitely not a badge snob

i did look at the MG 3 when it first came out but found the quality to be wanting especially in the engine emissions and interior quality

this time around i looked at the 5 EV LR, the thing that let it down was old tech (but i understand there is a refresh due) and lack of euro NCAP crash testing, if you are confident in a product subject it to independent scrutiny?

range was good, styling a little dated but for the price i could over look that, but lack of NACP rating is a red line for me

so looked at the ZS EV LR better level of equipment more modern styling, but efficiency and some of the tech still behind current levels of many other manufacturers

the real deal breaker which comes down to image perception is the dealer network, My impression of the dealer i went to was not good, operating out of a building that looked like an oversize portacabin very few vehicles it didn't look like a long term operation, more like an Arthur Daley job

add to that i find MG don't even run their own service plan scheme so you are at the mercy of the dealers which if the dealer network don't look stable / long term partnerships what does that say about their confidence and could leave you with a service plan with a dealer is no longer an MG dealer?

putting all that aside i am still watching MG grow as the products they have are value for money, thay have definitely improved since my first look, but just needs some more polishing and R&D, the ZS got a good 5 star NCAP rating with lots of safety equipment, if they can do the same to the lower models they have a great future

improve the dealer image / experience, keep the improvements coming in the tech and styling and my next car may well be an MG EV in 3-4 years, this time around i replaced my Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid with an Ioniq Plug-in but still watching MG with interest

Click to expand...

I think the budget look of the dealerships is intentional as a means of keeping prices low. The dealer I bought mine from has a big swanky showroom for Hyundai 30 meters away from a fit for purpose site which deals the MG brand. The petrol cars sold but not in the numbers the EVs are selling in. Keeping overheads low to be able to offer better pricing is sensible, compare MG and the flash brands with Aldi and Waitrose. For the few times I buy a car I don’t need to make a contribution of several hundred pounds to unecessary overheads.