It looks like there is no letting up to the MG-Geely rivalry here in the Philippines. It’s shaping up to be a true battle royale as MG Philippines is on the verge of launching their answer to the Geely Emgrand: the MG GT.
Sent in by a tipster are photos supposedly showing the MG GT in MG Philippines’ stock yard. It shows the sub-compact MG GT in at least three colors: Blue, Gray, and White. The first color, which is a bright shade of blue, looks to be Brighton Blue—the same one found on the recently launched MG HS.
Launched as the all-new MG 5 in China two years ago, the MG GT takes on the brand’s third-generation family design. Grabbing the headlines then was the availability of a turbocharged 1.5-liter in the Trophy that makes similar outputs to the Honda Civic RS. However, because of its positioning here in the Philippines, local distributor The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) is sticking to the Alpha variant for now.
With that in mind, it will get a normally aspirated 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine good for 114 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 150 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm. This is then mated to a CVT gearbox with 8 virtual gears and a manual shift override. Now, if the powertrain seems familiar, it looks to be exactly the same as the current MG 5.
Not much is known about the platform, but the MG GT does have the same 2,680 mm wheelbase. However, at 4,675 mm long, 1,842 mm wide, and 1,480 mm tall, it’s now slightly longer and wider than a Toyota Corolla Altis. It rides on front MacPherson Struts and and a rear torsion beam axle. Four wheel disc brakes are standard.
It's still too early to tell if TCCCI will replace the MG 5 with the MG GT, but it’s looking like they’ll be copying the playbook they’ve done with the MG ZS / ZS T and the RX5 / MG HS. This means that the MG 5 will carry on, but the MG GT will serve as a well-loaded alternative not just against the Geely Emgrand but the Honda City and Toyota Vios as well.
If the tip is true, the price of the MG GT is pegged at P 995,888 which makes it a very competitively priced sub-compact sedan.
MG GT will compete against the likes of City S CVT Sedan,Toyota Vios E,Almera VE and Emgrand Premium.
ReplyDeleteBiggest advantages of the MG GT are its larger dimensions,superb exterior design and good engine/transmission combination.
The name GT sounds like a sporty car. But the engine is pretty small at 1.5 liters.
ReplyDelete1.5 liter non turbo and turbo engines are the available ones for MG GT but the local spec variant will only use the non turbocharged ones in order to make it more affordable...Previous generation MG GT/MG5 used to be available at the previous MG local distributor in Sedan variant and that one used 1.5 liter gas engine and 1.4 liter turbocharged gas engine.
DeleteSun roof could be a problem it’s hot in the Phil
ReplyDelete