MG Motor broke into the GCC’s top ten of car manufacturers for the first time in 2020, during a year in which the British-born brand’s sales increased by a remarkable 72 percent across the region. With total sales of 27,595 units, the company’s achievements were all the more impressive considering the challenging market conditions caused by the global pandemic.
This success has been driven by the brand’s line-up of sedan and SUV models, and in particular its top two sellers, the MG5 compact sedan and MG ZS compact SUV.
The year saw MG launch operations in several new regional markets, including Jordan and Iraq, but it is in Saudi Arabia that customers have most evidently taken to the British brand. MG is now the 8th biggest-selling car brand in the Kingdom, which reinforced its position as MG’s biggest market in the Middle East, just three years after the brand was reintroduced to the country. MG now enjoys a 4.2 percent market share in Saudi Arabia, with total sales up by 89 percent in 2020.
Core to MG’s popularity has been the quality and breadth of its model line-up, which has been completely refreshed over recent years. The brand’s biggest sellers were its compact sedan models, the MG 5, which accounted for a third of all 2020 sales. The stylish MG6 sedan continued to prove popular, with year-on-year sales up by 15 percent.
MG’s mid-size SUV models, consisting of the MG ZS, MG HS and MG RX5, totalled 39 percent of the total figure. Meanwhile the brand’s first seven-seater SUV, the RX8, shifted 12 percent contribution in its first full year of overall sales.
Tom Lee, Managing Director of MG Motor’s Middle East operations, commented: “Even before the current pandemic, we had set ourselves an ambitious goal to break into the top 10 of manufacturers by the end of 2020, so we are delighted to have achieved this despite the challenges we have all faced. It clearly demonstrates the growing awareness, understanding and popularity of the brand among Middle East car buyers.
“We are keen to continue to provide our customers with a fantastic range of high-quality cars, and we are focused on ensuring our customers get the highest service levels from the exceptional list of local partners we have,” Lee continued. “Currently we have 33 exclusive retail showrooms and 33 service centres across the region, and we are looking at expanding further in 2021. This has been supplemented by the introduction of our new e-commerce service to offer our customers the best possible virtual shopping experience.”
The brand has not only experienced success in the Middle East and Levant countries, but equally around the world. In 2020 the brand increased its market share in its birthplace, the United Kingdom, as well as the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, France, Australia, and South America, whilst increasing overseas production in North-East Asia.
In the face of market adjustments and the industrial transformation, and in keeping with its promise to deliver innovation and practicality in all of its cars, MG is set to introduce MG HS and MG 6 (PHEV) plug-in hybrid cars as well as intelligent connectivity and 5G in the MG HS PHEV.
Furthermore, MG will continue to enhance its services as it tends to its customer’s needs, while its 6 years / 200,000 km warranty on all models, combined with exceptional offers available to new and current customers, will ensure peace of mind in difficult times.
