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MG Motor’s foray into a premium-brand model line in Australia introduces a direct Tesla Model 3 Performance rival in this flagship IM5 Performance AWD
It was only a matter of time before the sedan-loving, EV-savvy Chinese developed a rival so intently focused on matching or exceeding the Tesla Model 3 in virtually all areas that the result is essentially a doppelganger wearing a different dress.
That car is the IM5 sedan – MG’s stab at a premium model line, positioned above its regular range. And same applies to the closely related IM6 SUV and its laser-sharp focus on the Tesla Model Y.
“Like Lexus for MG” is how we were described what an IM is – those two letters denoting ‘Intelligence in Motion’ for what is essentially a completely bespoke brand that shares almost nothing with MG.
The organic sheetmetal appears distinctly IM – despite also being fairly derivative – with a bunch of shared styling details such as the faux-glass rear end, tailgate ‘ducktail’, ’90s retro LED headlights, frameless door glass, and pop-out electric door handles.
But it’s underneath where this whole IM ‘premium’ brand concept starts to bear fruit.
Featuring standard four-wheel steering, 800-volt architecture on 100kWh-battery variants, and adaptive air suspension on the flagship Performance (and its IM6 SUV relative also reviewed by Chasing Cars), the shapely IM5 sedan promises to deliver a premium driving experience to match its semi-premium positioning.
In Australia and the UK, these IM models will be ‘presented by MG Motor’, whereas in China, IM is standalone premium brand for SAIC Motor. Regardless of the country or the marketing, however, one common goal remains – to defeat Tesla.
But is the IM5 Performance AWD (tested here) dynamically capable enough to match a Tesla Model 3 Performance? And does MG Motor’s promise of a proper premium vehicle contain any element of truth or carry enough substance?
MG Motor offers three IM5 variants in Australia – each directly matched by an IM6 SUV equivalent with identical powertrains and similar suspension hardware.
The entry-level IM5 Premium starts at $60,990 drive-away, featuring 400-volt architecture, a 75kWh LFP battery, 217kW/450Nm outputs, rear-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, 0-100km/h in 6.8sec and 490km of WLTP range.
The mid-spec IM5 Premium RWD is $9000 more ($69,990 drive-away) but introduces an 800-volt platform, a 100kWh NCM battery, 300kW/500Nm powertrain outputs, 20-inch alloys, 0-100km/h in 4.9sec, an outstanding 396kW DC charging maximum (up from 153kW in the base IM5) and 655km of WLTP range.
The flagship IM5 Performance adds another $11K to the price ($80,990 drive-away) but considerably elevates its dynamic personality with dual-motor AWD, 553kW/802Nm combined powertrain outputs (according to MG), adaptive air suspension, 0-100km/h in a searing 3.2sec, a towering 268km/h top speed, and 575km of WLTP range.
Additional standard equipment on the dual-motor IM5 Performance AWD includes:
Direct competitors to the IM5 Performance AWD include the Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD ($80,900 before on-road costs), Polestar 4 Long Range Dual-Motor ($88,350 before on-road costs), and Hyundai Ioniq 6 Epic AWD ($86,500 before on-road costs), as well as the BYD Seal Performance AWD ($61,990 before on-road costs) at the lower end and the overpriced Ford Mustang Mach-E GT ($97,990 before on-road costs) at the upper end.
The IM5 is offered in five colours – Athena White, Ares Black, Nevis Blue, Raphael Beige and Rembrandt Grey.
The standard interior is Highland Grey, with Dover Beige a $990 option.
Having only driven the top-spec Performance AWD version, we can only comment on the behaviour of the IM5 with adaptive air suspension combined with four-wheel steering and dual electric motors. But the news is overwhelmingly positive.
Fast-geared steering (with just 2.3 turns lock-to-lock) combined with a superb 9.98m turning circle provides a terrific foundation for agile dynamics. And with two-thirds of the powertrain’s outputs being sent to the rear axle, the IM5 Performance AWD definitely makes the most of its sophisticated hardware.
There’s decent feel and pleasantly finessed progression to its keen steering, helping elevate the grip and handling poise of this 2.3-tonne sedan to a level well beyond expectation. It’s a fast, agile and involving sports sedan that decimates twisty roads and hilly terrain while barely raising a sweat.
High-quality Pirelli P Zero rubber definitely helps, though the IM5 doesn’t rely on its tyres to make it handle – that aspect is inherent in this stealthily quiet beast of a thing.
Given its 20-inch wheels, it rides well too, with a levelness and absorbency that definitely fits the sports-sedan brief.
It’s disciplined and firm, but never uncomfortable and rarely perturbed by the surface beneath. Only some suspension noise over serious bumps tarnishes its sheen – perhaps due to its refined silence elsewhere.
All of this is in stark contrast to the flawed dynamics of its IM6 SUV sibling.
The SUV version rides abrasively, has too much vertical movement, slower steering and far less engaging handling. Where the IM5 has genuine dynamic character, the IM6 is comparatively inept, as if it never fully completed its suspension development phase.
So don’t be fooled into thinking they’re the same car with different bodies – the slinky IM5 is well-suited to keen drivers whereas the rather frumpy and bloated IM6 drives how its styling implies.
Supporting the IM5 Performance AWD’s amusing dynamics is an astonishing level of performance.
MG claims 0-100km/h in 3.2sec and it feels it – pinning you back into the seat like the car is about to take off. Yet the initial accelerative response isn’t brutal. It smooths the first moment of thrust beautifully before ramping up like a rocket.
Brake-pedal feel is also pretty good, combined with relatively subtle regenerative braking. Full one-pedal driving isn’t really possible in the IM5, yet that’s somehow rarely an issue.
The IM5’s three-tone-grey interior is equal parts intriguing and baffling.
From a distance, it’s very much styled like a ’90s concept car, thanks to its organically flowing shapes, acres of padded vinyl and embedded centre console screen. And while all that makes it appear rather distinctive, it also doesn’t really convey a truly premium perception.
Where the IM6 embeds a strip of tweedy cloth between the dash top and lower padded vinyl, and again in its door trims, the IM5 adheres solely to ‘ultra-soft’ synthetic leather, which is neatly stitched for the most part (except the wonky strip across the passenger’s front airbag) but lacking in warmth and sophistication.
The seat upholstery is quite nice – lovely thatched panels with perforation and mattress-topper-like padding – but it again lacks the warmth of good-quality leather, or premium cloth. And the grey colour tones have a milky aesthetic, like Hello Kitty chose the palette, which doesn’t look premium.
The $990 Dover Beige option is definitely better in that regard, though nothing can save the hard, cheap lower plastics that lurk throughout the cabin.
Even the patterned door-trim inlays look cheap – you’d never see chintz like this in a Polestar – while the doors themselves are near-useless for storing anything or holding drinks. At least the Lexus-like push-button releases are classy, as is the auto-unlatching function when entering the car, and the frameless door glass.
The centre-console control interface is complex and not necessarily high-end in its graphics, though you do acclimatise to how things work.
The 26.3-inch widescreen expanse decorating the dashtop also works reasonably well – especially the wireless smartphone mirroring – though the instrument layout for the driver is relatively basic in appearance and lacks configurability.
Biggest disappointment, though, is the 20-speaker stereo. It packs a tonne of different sound arrangements, yet they all sound cold and digital, and the bass production wilts under pressure.
With speaker grilles spanning the cabin, including four ‘sky’ speakers in the headlining, there’s definitely promise here, but the reality defines superficiality.
As for the seat comfort, the front buckets are terrific, despite quite basic adjustment, though only having cooling for the backrest seems weird, and rather stingy.
The rear bench is also nicely shaped, with a three-position reclinable backrest, but the IM5’s floor is so high that toe room is non-existent and legroom is compromised – undermining the good work of the rear seat itself.
There’s also only a pair of basic rear air outlets (but no temperature control), surrounded by cheap plastic with fake stitching, and just a single USB-C port to argue over.
With its liftback-sedan bodystyle, the IM5 provides impressive (electric) access to a generously carpeted and neatly shaped boot, offering a workable 457 litres of space.
But the tabs for the rear backrest fold are buried deep on the backrests themselves, and there’s no spare wheel or underfloor storage – just a meagre 18-litre frunk for the tyre repair kit and perhaps a few odds and ends.
The MG IM5 is yet to be independently crash-tested by any global NCAP organisation for its safety performance or rated for its electronic active-safety features, though MG will be expecting a five-star rating.
Standard safety equipment on the 2025 MG IM5 Performance includes:
While the speed-limit warning and driver attention monitoring can be incessant (and frustratingly annoying, with incomprehensible beeping), the IM5’s peripheral active-safety systems are easily disengaged via an ADAS button in the centre-console screen.
Further disengagement of the speed-limit warning removes that annoyance too – leaving a clear visual guide to the posted speed limit (in theory) in the driver’s instrument screen.
The official WLTP range claim for the dual-motor IM5 Performance sedan is 575km compared to just 505km WLTP for the closely related IM6 Performance SUV.
The WLTP range of the IM5 Performance’s main rivals spans 528km for the Tesla Model 3 Performance, 520km for the BYD Seal Performance, 519km for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 Epic AWD, 490km for the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and 590km for the Polestar 4 Long Range Dual-Motor.
On test, our IM5 Performance averaged 20.6kWh/100km, which calculates to a real-world range of 485km – making it more efficient than its heavier IM6 SUV sibling.
Using a DC ultra-fast charger, MG Motor Australia says the IM5 Performance’s 30 to 80 percent charging time is 15 minutes, with a maximum DC charging rate of 396kW. In the UK, MG Motor claims a 10 to 80 percent charging time of just 17 minutes for an identical car, placing it marginally ahead of the also-excellent Hyundai Ioniq 6 at just 18 minutes.
That compares to a 10-80 percent charging time of 27 minutes for the Tesla Model 3 Performance, 30 minutes for the Polestar 4 and 37 minutes for the BYD Seal Performance.
Recommended service intervals are every 12 months or 20,000km, with the IM5’s five-year/100,000km servicing cost being $2764.
MG’s new-vehicle warranty in Australia is now seven years/unlimited kilometres for private buyers, including roadside assistance, as well as an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty. However, the warranty for IM vehicles is five years/unlimited kilometres for private buyers.
If you exclusively service your IM5 at an MG/IM dealership according to the recommended schedule, the warranty extends to seven years/unlimited kilometres. There’s also a seven-year anti-perforation/paint warranty, eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, and five-year air suspension/four-wheel steering warranty.
If you don’t mind its almost retro-‘90s look, the IM5 Performance is a good car. It’s fast as all get-out, handles exceedingly well, and steers like it wants to be driven hard. It also has a great driving position, so in all those respects, it absolutely achieves what it sets out to do – be an engaging and appealing electric sports sedan.
But is it a true premium car – what Lexus is to Toyota for MG Motor? Not really.
There are Toyotas (such as the new-generation Camry) that feel higher-quality inside, for tens of thousands less, and its interior doesn’t feel as contemporary as a Model 3’s either. Somehow, when it comes to cabin design and luxury features, the IM5 already feels dated.
Yet there’s a genuine premium flavour to what hides underneath the curvy IM5.
Its 800-volt architecture, four-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension are all proper premium stuff, and the fact it knows how to put all that to good use confirms that this isn’t just a box-ticking ‘luxury’ car that only looks great in the brochure or in the showroom.
What it needs is a greater focus on functionality and high-quality finishes, and a minimised fascination with digitising everything to impress the IT crowd. If the latter sounds like you, you may well love the IM5 … but only after a comprehensive refit from a car-audio specialist.
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