MG Undercuts Xiaomi's SU7 With New 07 Liftback Priced From Just $18,600

SAIC-owned MG has kicked off pre-order bookings in China for its new 07 model, a mid-size electrified liftback aimed squarely at dethroning the wildly popular Xiaomi SU7 - and it's doing so with a considerably friendlier price tag.

The car's exterior, revealed back in June, leans heavily on inspiration from Porsche's Panamera and Taycan, the Jaguar F-Type, and even the Xiaomi SU7 itself. The 07 mirrors that pack with a sharp nose, sculpted hood, sweeping roofline, full-width taillight, and similarly styled wheels, even if its proportions aren't quite as clean as its rivals. Dimensions come in at 4,888mm long, 1,900mm wide, and 1,478mm tall, riding on a 2,825mm wheelbase, with either 18- or 19-inch wheels depending on trim. Active aerodynamic touches include a pop-up rear spoiler and adjustable front grille shutters.

Step inside and the cabin follows the now-familiar tech-heavy playbook of Chinese EVs: an 8.88-inch digital gauge cluster paired with a 15.6-inch infotainment display running on a Snapdragon 8295P chip. The list of comforts includes ambient interior lighting, a panoramic glass roof, a 21-speaker sound system, dual-zone climate control, and reclining seats with heating, ventilation, and massage functions - the front passenger seat even gets a zero-gravity mode. Practicality hasn't been forgotten either, with 37 storage compartments scattered around the cabin, an optional pull-out table, and a dual-trunk setup totaling 698 liters at the rear (with an optional built-in fridge) plus 168 liters up front.

Higher-end trims of the 07 step things up further with the Momenta R7 lidar suite, an AI-driven system that enables self-parking along with semi-autonomous driving both in cities and on highways.

MG will offer the 07 as a pure EV and as a range-extended hybrid where a gasoline engine only ever functions as a generator, though the battery-electric versions arrive first. The base EV rides on a 400-volt architecture with a 239-horsepower front motor and a 67 kWh solid-state-hybrid battery from SAIC Qingtao, delivering up to 650 km of CLTC range without the lidar hardware, or 610 km with it. It sprints to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds. The range-topping electric variant switches to an 800-volt platform, a 320-horsepower motor, and a 91 kWh CATL NMC battery good for as much as 845 km of range, cutting the 0-100 km/h sprint to 5.9 seconds while also adding an active suspension setup.

The range-extender skips a big battery in favor of a 1.5-liter, 112-horsepower naturally aspirated engine acting purely as a generator, feeding a 207-horsepower front motor and a 30 kWh battery pack. That configuration is good for roughly 185 km on electric power alone and tops out at 170 km/h.

Pricing is where MG really goes on the offensive. The entry-level Comfort EV starts at 125,900 yuan (about $18,600), the lidar-equipped LiDAR trim begins at 135,900 yuan (around $20,070), and the long-range Flagship version with the CATL battery tops out at 165,900 yuan (roughly $24,500). By comparison, the Xiaomi SU7 that MG is chasing starts at 219,900 yuan, or about $32,480 - a gap wide enough to make the 07 a serious budget-minded alternative in one of China's hottest EV segments.