√MG 5 sedan falls short on advanced safety technology

The new MG 5 sedan – priced from $24,990 drive-away – has missed out on key advanced safety features in Australia that are standard on rival cars, and available on the MG 5 overseas.

The 2023 MG 5 sedan from China has arrived in Australian showrooms with the bare minimum of safety equipment – and missing key crash-avoidance technology.

The MG 5 – a Toyota Corolla or Hyundai i30 rival – arrived in showrooms in recent weeks as Australia’s cheapest sedan, priced from $24,990 drive-away.

But MG has elected to fit only basic safety technology needed to pass Australian motor-vehicle regulations to get approval for sale locally.

Key advanced safety features including lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert – which are increasingly standard on cars at this price – are conspicuously absent, even though they are available in overseas markets.

It is unclear what this means for the safety rating for the MG 5 in Australia.

The MG 5 is yet to be crash-tested by Australasian independent safety organisation ANCAP.

However the lack of key features such as lane-keep assist and traffic sign recognition – which are a key component of the latest ANCAP criteria – could see it fall well short of a five-star safety rating.

A specifications sheet published on the MG Australia website (screenshots in the gallery below) shows the MG 5 is fitted with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which became mandatory for newly-introduced vehicles in Australia on 1 March 2023.

Also fitted are six airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control, and front seatbelt reminders – though rear seatbelt reminders are not standard until the $28,990 drive-away MG 5 Essence model.

No MG 5 variant is listed as offering lane assist (either a lane departure warning, or lane-keeping assistance), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, a driver attention monitor, or traffic sign recognition.

Many of these features are standard on the base-model Isuzu D-Max work ute – priced from $31,990 drive-away – and rival small cars including the Hyundai i30 (from $26,290 drive-away for hatch, or about $29,500 drive-away for a sedan).

The cheapest version of the MG ZST small SUV – priced from $26,990 drive-away – offers AEB, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and a speed assist system as standard equipment.

MG Australia does not offer these advanced safety features on the MG 5 even though they are available on right-hand-drive models in Thailand (also produced in Thailand) – as well as left-hand-drive Chinese-market models built in the same factory as Australian versions.

The MG 5 sedan is not sold in Europe or the UK, where stringent vehicle emissions and safety standards apply.

Plans to add these missing features to Australian models at a later date have not been announced.

It is unclear if the autonomous emergency braking system can detect pedestrians and cyclists – and function in intersections – in addition to stopping for other cars braking in front.

A quarter (18 points) of ANCAP’s current test criteria is reserved for Safety Assist technology – including three points for lane assist systems, three points for seatbelt reminders and driver attention monitoring, and three points for speed assist systems (traffic sign recognition and a speed limiter).

If the MG 5 is not fitted with a speed limiter, traffic sign recognition or any lane assist systems, it could only earn 12 out of 18 points in this category – or 67 per cent.

For a vehicle to earn an five-star overall safety rating, it must earn a result of at least 70 per cent in the Safety Assist category.

The MG 4 electric car in ANCAP/Euro NCAP testing.

The performance of the AEB system – and how it detects cars, pedestrians and motorcycles – is also included under the Vulnerable Road User Protection category, which requires a 70 per cent minimum score for a five-star overall ANCAP rating,.

Drive has contacted MG Australia and ANCAP for comment on if there are plans to submit the MG 5 for ANCAP safety testing.

ANCAP does not require the cooperation of a car manufacturer to test a new model, and can purchase its own vehicle for destructive crash testing, as well as testing of its advanced safety systems.

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