CONSIDERED for New Zealand availability a year ago when it held a worst possible crash test rating, the MG5 small car is still off the Sino-Brit’s books regardless it has just rescored more positively.

Disinterest in having second thoughts about the 1.5-litre petrol four-seater was confirmed by an MG spokesman here yesterday.

This after the Australian New Car Assessment Programme also yesterday announced a three star outcome from retest of a model it originally deemed so bad it was given a ‘zero’ rating first time around, in late 2023.

The latest assessment from the Melbourne-base independent safety authority, which receives NZ funding, is specific to an updated version, in production from November 2024.

The latest MG5 has standard features like seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters for the front and rear outboard seats, seatbelt reminders for all seats for all models across the line-up. 

More crucially it adopts an improved version of the upgraded autonomous emergency braking and lane-keep assists.

The pre-update car had a less sophisticated AEB system, and the entry-level MG5 Vibe only featured a seatbelt warning on front seats.

ANCAP’s announcement yesterday  said the “most significant area of improvement” was with the updated car’s active safety capability, mainly due to the enhanced AEB system. However, it also noted the model still still lacks a number of commonplace features including blind spot monitoring and a centre airbag, among others.

The revisions have been welcomed in Australia, where it has stayed on sale, and the same distributor also serves NZ.

But it is still not likely, a national spokesperson said.

“The MG5 is currently not under consideration for the NZ market.”

ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg said her organisation commended MG for taking the opportunity to elevate the safety performance of the MG5. 

“This upgrade demonstrates important progress,” she said. “While this rating is a step up, it’s important that consumers and fleet operators recognise there are still safety limitations with this model, and that there are other vehicles on the market that offer more robust safety performance.”

The original car was just the third to achieve a zero, along with the 2023 Mahindra Scorpio 4wd and the 2021 Mitsubishi Express, a version of the Renault Traffic (which has a strong NCAP score).

A zero virtually exempts a vehicle from fleet sale and certainly will not allow it to be picked by Government departments, which demand at least an ANCAP four star.

This was taken into account when MG NZ announced in June 2024 that it wanted the car. 

The brand’s then general manager noted that the score was what the score was but believed MG5 will still find favour, telling MotoringNZ.com at the time: “We will be talking to the audience that is relevant to that product … we believe there is an opportunity for the product in the sedan market. We just want to give it a go.”

That decision was subsequently quietly shelved later in the year. MG NZ has gone through several major management changes since.