MG Motoring 2019 April Issue 2019 | Page 39

April 2019 MG5 IN THAILAND From..Dean Baker A s you all know I have been away on holidays in Bangkok Thailand and am proud to report there are MG’s everywhere with over 20 dealers in Bangkok area alone. Sales of MG cars has them rated at the 4 th best selling brand of car here in 2018. The most popular seems to be the MG3, yellow with black roof and the GS smart SUV, mostly red or white. Sad to say no MG6, but they have an MG5, very simi- lar in appearance to the MG6, support- ing a 1.5 litre petrol motor available also as a turbo option. I gather there is a MG5 owners club with approximately 2,500 members. Unfortu- nately I believe these cars are not com- ing to Australia as we have the MG6 as their replacement. The highlight of my trip was not seeing all these MG’s having visited Bridge On The River Kwai and Hellfire Pass where 10,601 Australians perished during WW2. There is a magnificent centre main- tained and supported by the Australian Government at Hellfire Pass, being roughly 200km from Bangkok. Lest not we forget them this Anzac Day. SAIC Motor increase sales, revealing profit of USD $5.3 billion  SAIC Motor release 2018 net profit results of USD $5.3 billion, an increase of 4.6 per cent YoY  Globalisation remains a business focus, with SAIC Motor establishing New Zealand operations in Q1 2019 The news follows the success of MG Motor Australia in 2018, with sales 401% per cent up YoY In 2018, ROEWE and MG cars totalled annual sales of 702,000 units, up 34.5 per cent year-on-year. Internationally, MG ve- hicle sales reached 73,000 in overseas sales volume, up 176.5 per cent year-on-year. SAIC Motor’s growth and international success echoes the positive results seen by MG Motor in Australia, where sales in the country increased by 401%* year-on-year in 2018. An excerpt from MG Motors Press release dated 12/03 2019............Editor 37