Strong sales have seen MG max out its petrol car quota for 2022, so it’s EV-only for the brand in the short-term
MG has suspended sales of its new petrol models temporarily in response to an unexpected surge in demand for its combustion-powered cars.
According to a retailer bulletin seen by AM Online, MG Motor UK’s commercial director Guy Pigounakis stressed sales of the brand’s petrol-only models will need to be put on hold, as the company had unexpectedly maxed out its allocation for 2022 within the first two months of the year.
In this scenario, had MG not decided to put a pause on its petrol car sales, it would have meant new deliveries of MG’s combustion-only cars potentially wouldn’t have begun again until the start of 2023 at the earliest. In a quote attributed to Pigounakis, he said: “Whilst on one hand we are all celebrating the unprecedented success we are enjoying, we cannot carry on accepting orders that in all likelihood will see delivery dates stretching out to early next year.”
While MG dealers now won’t be accepting any new orders for petrol-powered cars, Pigounakis is reported to have urged retailers to only sell combustion-powered MGs if they’re so-called “pipeline orders”. This does at least mean MG customers who ordered a petrol model before the temporary pause came into effect won’t have their order cancelled, even if their car hasn’t yet been built. Pigounakis is also said to have reassured dealers with limited or no pipeline orders that “special actions” are being taken to ensure they can keep pace with their respective customer demand.
Even though MG has steadily increased its portfolio of pure-electric cars, with models like the MG5 EV estate, the updated MG ZS EV SUV and the forthcoming MG4 family hatchback, combustion-powered cars still make up a sizeable chunk of its sales in the UK.
A full breakdown for 2021 hasn’t yet been announced by MG, although the brand did confirm in July last year that pure-electric cars accounted for 31.4 per cent of its UK sales for the first half of 2021 – meaning more than two-thirds of its sales were petrol-only or hybrid vehicles.
Auto Express has approached MG Motor UK for comment on the temporary petrol sales pause in the UK.
Check out the what happened when we tested the MG5 EV against the Volkswagen ID.3 here…
Keyword: MG pauses petrol car orders due to “unprecedented” demand