Is the MG 5 Dead? What WA Buyers Need to Know Right Now

If you've been eyeing the MG 5 as one of the more affordable new cars on Perth dealership lots, you might want to move quickly — or reconsider entirely. MG Australia has all but confirmed the budget sedan is on its way out, with sales collapsing and the model conspicuously absent from the brand's own future line-up presentations.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Sales of the MG 5 have fallen 76.6 per cent so far in 2026 compared to the year prior, and a staggering 82.4 per cent against the same period in 2024. That's not a blip — that's a brand quietly preparing to pull the plug.

MG Australia's head of product, Meng Chen, put it plainly: customer preference has been shifting, and the MG 5 is caught on the wrong side of that trend. The broader "small cars under $45,000" category is down 11 per cent nationally this year, with even the Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3 feeling the pinch. For WA buyers who spend a lot of time on longer highway stretches — think the freeway commute from Mandurah or weekend runs down to the South West — sedans have simply lost their appeal against the practicality of an SUV.

The MG 5 currently sits at $29,990 drive-away in its sole remaining Essence grade, with a non-hybrid turbo petrol engine. That's a genuinely low entry price for a new car in today's market, and with WA fuel prices sitting well above east coast averages for much of the past two years, the lack of a hybrid option is a real drawback for cost-conscious buyers.

Safety History Still Casts a Shadow

The MG 5 carries baggage that's hard to ignore. About two and a half years ago it became one of only three vehicles in over 30 years of ANCAP testing to receive a zero-star safety rating — a result that made headlines nationally and rattled consumer confidence. MG has since upgraded the car to a three-star rating, trimming the range down to a single top-spec variant in the process.

Three stars is better than zero, but in a market where most new cars achieve five stars, it's a hard sell — particularly for WA families doing long regional drives where the margin for error on the road is real. For context, the MG 3 hatch also sits at four stars, making the MG 5 and MG 3 the only models in the MG range without a five-star ANCAP result (excluding the Cyberster, which is too niche to bother).

MG's marketing director Dimitri Andreatidis maintains safety is the brand's "number one priority" — though that claim sits awkwardly against the MG 5's history.

So What Comes Next?

MG's own product head flagged the MG 7 as a "proper successor" to the MG 5 — but there's a significant catch. The MG 7 starts from $44,990 plus on-road costs, putting it at roughly $45,500 to $47,500 drive-away. That's a jump of around $15,000 to $17,500 over the MG 5, and it still doesn't come with a hybrid option to rival the Toyota Camry or Corolla petrol-electric variants.

MG's clear direction is electric. The brand's presentations to media this week centred entirely on the new MG S6 EV, and the broader line-up is being shaped around complementing that EV push. The MG 5 petrol sedan doesn't fit neatly into that story.

For WA buyers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: if the MG 5's price point appeals, get into a dealership and understand exactly what stock is available and what after-sales support looks like if the model is discontinued. Resale value on a car whose future is uncertain — with a safety rating history to boot — deserves serious thought before you sign anything.