MG’s chief designer says more affordable but fun-to-drive ‘baby Cyberster’ is on his radar
A smaller and more attainable version of the forthcoming $100,000-plus 2024 MG Cyberster electric sports car is being championed by the Chinese auto giant’s global chief designer, Oleg Son.
Such a model is still to be officially confirmed by MG, but in an interview with carsales at parent SAIC Motor’s headquarters in Shanghai, Son was enthusiastic about designing a car he described as a “baby Cyberster”.
To make its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK next week ahead of an Australian launch in 2024, the MG Cyberster is a flagship roadster that’s set to bring supercar-rivalling performance with a circa-400kW dual-motor powertrain.
It’s also in line to become the quickest EV available in Australia with a 2.6sec 0-100km/h acceleration claim, outpacing even the Porsche Taycan Turbo S (2.8sec).
But Son acknowledged the Cyberster “is not for everybody” and that a smaller dedicated EV sports car could slot neatly into the MG line-up alongside the new MG4 hatch.
“[The Cyberster] is a dream for a car designer,” said Son, describing it as almost “too easy” to design.
“You have a bit more money to do that car than most of the car[s] we do because we have to be affordable most of the time. The dimensions were kind of free, we have the right platform, big wheels, you know, it’s a dream for a designer, so it’s kind of easy.
“[But] it’s not for everybody, so my dream now is to come up with an MG which would be maybe in the Cyber line; I don’t know how to call it, in the Cyber family, but much more affordable – not competing with a more mainstream car like the MG4, but a car that you could use every day, still a sports car but you could open the roof.”
MG has a high-performance dual-motor X-POWER version of the MG4 coming to Australia later this year, so a dedicated mini-Cyberster sports car would need to have plenty of unique attributes.
“[It needs to be] something that is still very exciting, attractive, and that you can use every day,” Son said.
“Much, much more affordable. What can I call it, maybe baby Cyberster, I don’t know. Something I would be able to drive every day because it’s practical enough, but fun for sure.”
MG’s design chief said he was encouraged by the response to the MG4’s driving characteristics, which in turn bodes well for a baby Cyberster.
“[It] was quite striking when I read the articles and videos on social media when people discovered MG4, [they] felt like the car was really fun to drive. It was a bit unexpected,” he said.
MG4 XPOWER
“So many people said, ‘Ah it was so nice, so engaging’, and I want to bring that back into such a car [baby Cyberster]. It has to be visible through design but also through the cockpit, and I would like to bring that fun back into a car that you can drive every day.
“A car that you don’t worry too much about because you know with Cyberster, if you drive it, maybe you use it only on the weekend on a safe road.
“But the car I’m talking about you can go to work with it; you can take your grandkids if you are a retiree.
“An exciting, sexy sister for MG4, but much, much more exciting.”
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Keyword: MG Cyberster could spark smaller EV sports car