MG IM5: $3000 cashback cuts drive-away price as Australian reviews weigh up the electric sedan

October cashback lowers IM5 drive-away price

The IM5 Premium is currently priced from $57,990 drive-away in New South Wales with private registration, with a $3000 cashback applied, and a $500 EV Accessory Bonus is also available alongside it. That figure comes from a sponsored feature published by CarExpert in October 2026, which notes the drive-away price excludes options and is based on NSW private registration. ¹

Under the offer conditions quoted by CarExpert, the $3000 cashback applies to selected vehicles sold and delivered through participating MG dealers between 1 October and 31 October 2026, and the $500 EV Accessories Bonus can be redeemed towards eligible accessories or taken as a $500 reduction in the purchase price. Both offers exclude fleet, government and rental buyers, apply while stocks last, and MG Motor reserves the right to modify or withdraw them. ¹

For comparison, CarExpert's model information pages currently list the IM5 range at drive-away prices from $57,990 for the Premium to $74,990 for the Performance, based on a Sydney location. These are different bases to the NSW-specific offer above and should not be directly compared as a discrepancy. ²

Pricing and line-up across three variants

The IM5 is sold in Australia under the 'IM Presented by MG Motor' banner, positioned as a premium arm of MG, with Premium, Platinum and Performance variants. NRMA's Open Road, in its 2026 IM5 review, lists before-on-road prices of $60,990 for the Premium, $67,990 for the Platinum, $71,980 for the Platinum with air suspension and $77,990 for the Performance. Exhaust Notes Australia similarly reported its IM5 Performance test car at $77,990 before on-roads. ³⁵

The IM5's competitors include the Tesla Model 3, which NRMA's Open Road notes starts at $54,900 before on-road costs for the rear-wheel-drive version, alongside the Kia EV4, BYD Seal, Polestar 2 and Hyundai Ioniq 6. CarExpert's sponsored feature also frames the IM5 as an alternative for shoppers considering a Model 3 or BYD Seal. ³¹

Powertrains, range and charging

The entry Premium uses a single rear-mounted motor producing 217kW and 450Nm, fed by a 75kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, with a quoted WLTP range of 490km. The Platinum and Performance step up to a 100kWh nickel manganese cobalt battery on an 800-volt silicon carbide platform. NRMA's Open Road recorded 655km WLTP for the Platinum, while the Performance is quoted at 575km WLTP. ³¹

The Performance adds a front motor — 200kW/302Nm at the front axle and 372kW/500Nm at the rear — for a combined 572kW and 802Nm, with a manufacturer-claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.2 seconds. CarExpert's sponsored coverage also credits the Performance with a 396kW maximum DC fast-charge rate and a quoted 30 to 80 per cent charge in as little as 15.2 minutes on a suitable charger; the Premium's 400-volt platform caps DC charging at 153kW. ³¹

Real-world figures have come in somewhat below the official claims. Exhaust Notes Australia reported around 545km from a near-full charge in its Performance test car, while DMARGE cited real-world figures around 520km against the claimed 575km. ⁵⁶

Technology, performance and what reviewers found

The IM5's headline technology is its 'digital chassis', which coordinates powertrain, suspension, steering and vehicle dynamics. DMARGE reports the system uses more than 3000 semiconductors and an NVIDIA chip to make real-time adjustments, and highlights 12 degrees of rear-wheel steering, which it says exceeds anything Porsche or BMW currently offers. The Performance adds air suspension with continuously controlled damping, and IM reports a record 90.96km/h speed in the moose test, crediting its motion control, four-wheel steering and adaptive suspension. ¹⁶

The cabin features a 26.3-inch digital display and a 10.5-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an infotainment system running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, a 20-speaker audio system with active noise cancellation, and magnetic accessory mounting points. CarExpert's sponsored feature also describes one-touch AI chauffeur functions covering parking, pull-out and reversing, plus a 'Rainy Night Mode' that uses cameras to enhance visibility. ¹

Independent testing has surfaced some usability gripes. NRMA's Open Road found the flush door handles slow to deploy, a single USB-C port and no glove box, and was particularly critical of the speed-alert system, which it said required six button presses to silence each time the car restarted, and which defaults back on at 40km/h. Exhaust Notes Australia noted the panoramic glass heats the cabin quickly without a sunshade, found the rear-view mirror barely useful, and observed the car's brake regeneration is minimal with no one-pedal driving. ³⁵

On the road, NRMA's Open Road described the IM5 as an 'absolute scorcher' with quick acceleration, comfortable suspension and stable handling despite a 2210kg weight, concluding that it nails the fundamentals of a luxury express even if it lacks refinement in some areas. In the UK, reviewer Jim Starling of DefinitelyNotAGuru tested the Long Range version and found it a quiet, refined motorway cruiser with real-world efficiency of 3.8 to 4.2 miles per kWh, though he noted rear visibility is poor and the touchscreen-heavy controls may not suit everyone. ³⁴

Safety, warranty and ownership details

The IM5 range holds a five-star ANCAP safety rating, according to CarExpert's sponsored feature, with equipment including autonomous emergency braking, lane support, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. NRMA's Open Road adds seven airbags, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, a driver monitoring system and speed limit warning among the safety inclusions, and notes the five-star ANCAP rating came after the car's original launch review. ¹³

Warranty accounts differ between the two Australian reviews and should be read carefully. NRMA's Open Road states the Australian IM5 carries a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty and a separate eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, with servicing every 12 months or 20,000km. Exhaust Notes Australia, by contrast, reported the warranty appears to follow MG's setup at 10 years or 250,000km when services are completed at an authorised MG dealership, with 5-year unlimited coverage for items such as air suspension and four-wheel steering and 7 years or 150,000km for the EV battery. The supplied sources do not reconcile this difference. ³⁵

The car is built in China and imported to Australia, per CarExpert's model information, with braked towing capacity of 1500kg across variants. CarExpert's data, based on VFACTS and EVC figures, records 146 sales in 2025 and 323 year-to-date in 2026 for the model line in Australia. ²

DMARGE reported that IM, presented by MG Motor, launched in Australia in 2025 with two models — the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV. CarExpert's sponsored coverage describes IM Motors as a joint venture between SAIC Motor, Alibaba Group and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech, focused on leading-edge technology and luxury. ⁶¹