Australians got their first glimpse of the IM Presented by MG Motor concept – the brand’s new foray into the luxury end of the market – at the recent Melbourne Motor Show.

One part of an ambitious roll-out of new models this year, the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV shape as two of the most interesting both because of the tech capabilities of the cars but also the repositioning of MG as merely a ‘budget’ brand in Australia.

A joint venture between Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC Motor and Chinese technology companies including Alibaba Group, IM stands for ‘Intelligence in Motion’, making vehicles with premium finishes, high performance and innovative technology.  The vehicles are already sold in China, the IM5 known as the IM L6 sedan and the IM6 badged as the IM LS6 SUV.

Both are expected to arrive into Australian dealerships before the end of 2025.

WhichCar recently spoke with Giles Belcher, Chief Operating Office, and Kevin Kou, Product Planning Manager, of MG Motor Australia, about the IM vehicles after their debut in Melbourne.

This is a significant step for MG in Australia – what more can you tell us about the IM cars?

Giles Belcher: They will be the most advanced cars on the Australian market when they launch. I got a chance to drive one for a day about a month ago now and I was just blown away by the technology in that car.

What are the expectations for these IM cars when they launch here – modest? Bullish?

GB: We’ll do our best to educate the dealers and the market about the cars. As always, the market decides whether they’re accepted or not. But we’re confident in coming into it. I’m super bullish because, like I said, they do things that other cars just cannot do. And they do them in a really kind of refined, prestige way as well.

You look back maybe 18 months ago now, the Model Y was doing insane numbers. Has that time gone in the EV market? There’s a lot more different products available now. It’s a lot more dispersed, the volume across different brands but I think the IM is good enough to do something extraordinary.

What sort of technical things are we talking about in terms of what the cars can do?

Kevin Kou: The vehicle may have had these certain elements that you might have seen in other cars in the past, but you need to take in the IM as a whole feature. One of the key foundations is the AI component.

We have what’s called an AI chauffeur or one-touch AID.  And it has four key components that utilizes some of the key technology from the chassis. One of them is auto park – auto parking for parallel parking and 90-degree parking. And what we call one-touch pullout, which is basically when you’re ready to come out of a parking spot, it will allow you to get into the car and it’s ready to be driven off. 

There’s also one-touch reverse. So if you’re going down a narrow alley and get stuck and you cannot get out, with one touch the car will reverse all the way back out and trace exactly the way you drove in, up to 100 metres.

From a platform point of view, there’s also some key technology around what we call the digital chassis. We have what’s called VMC – vehicle motion control, as well as CDC – continuous dampening control. These allow for the car to perform amazing in situations, high speeds, etc. 

The IM5, for example, has the on-road capability of performing a moose test at over 90km/h, a world record.

CDC and VMC is primarily to ensure that the driver and passenger are safe because these cars do have a lot of power – the IM5 does 0 to 100 in 2.74 seconds. These systems make sure that the driver can achieve the driving experience within safe conditions. 

GB: These cars are also nearly 5m long yet they’ve got the turning circle of a Mini Cooper because they do some clever things with the wheels.

KK: The SUV and the sedan have four-wheel steering. This allows it, as Giles says, not to have a turning circle of a 4.9m car.

There are really three key pillars with these cars – technology, performance and also luxury. Inside the vehicle there are beautiful trimmings, rosewood metal, 20 speakers and beautiful soft leather to give you a very luxurious, high-end premium experience.

You can talk to the car and it will respond via those 20 speakers, from activating a playlist to opening a window.

Any details on pricing as yet? Can we expect a value-for-money offering as per other MG vehicles?

GB: We haven’t finalized pricing yet but the sedan and the SUV will be launched at the same time. (Laughs) And always, always value for money.