EV SUV prices drop in fierce competition from Chinese carmakers

A price war has flared up in the sub-$35,000 electric SUV market, as Chinese brands fight to boost fluctuating market share.

Leading the charge is MG Motor, which threw down the gauntlet in early April after watching its sales slip at the hands of BYD and others, with what it calls its “most accessible EV to date” - the MG4 Urban.

Priced from $31,990 (all prices quoted here are drive-away), it is now the cheapest EV of its size and class in Australia, undercutting direct small SUV rivals like the BYD Atto 2 Dynamic from $33,300 and Chery’s Jaecoo J5 EV that is currently $36,990.

There are smaller hatchbacks that cost less or around the same price, namely the city-sized BYD Atto 1 from $27,100 and GAC Aion UT also from $31,990, but these are from a smaller segment and thus offer less interior space.

Confusingly for consumers, the MG 4 Urban is completely unrelated to the smaller, more-expensive and sharply-designed MG 4 from $37,990. Aimed at European EV buyers, the latter is a hatchback built on a more-sophisticated rear-drive architecture.

After these, the next-cheapest EV SUV in Australia right now is the Hyundai Inster from $35,990, but that is considerably smaller despite its crossover status, followed by the bigger Chery E5 Urban from $38,990.

It is then an entire jump up in class to the much-larger, mid-sized MG S5 Excite 49 from $40,990.

Whether other smaller EV SUVs, like the recently released Leapmotor B10 Style from $43,700 respond to this downward pricing pressure is unknown at this stage, but uncertainty surrounding the recent fuel price spikes suggest that the newer and slower-selling brands have a renewed opportunity to take advantage of peaking consumer interest in EVs.

MG’s aggressive EV pricing comes off a worrying 18.4 per cent sales drop in Australia last year despite it being a record volume year, as the comparatively long-established Chinese carmaker is feeling the effects of fresher rivals.

Along with BYD, Chery and GWM (Great Wall Motors), these include Deepal, GAC, Geely, Jaecoo, XPeng and Zeekr, and there are more on the way.

In contrast to MG’s decline, arch-rival Chery posted a bonanza 177 per cent leap in sales in 2025, followed closely behind by BYD’s 156 per cent jump. Both are competing head-on with MG models.

So, where are the others outside of Chinese brands, like Japan, Europe and the USA placed as far as entry-level EV SUVs for Australia in 2026 go?

Today, there are a couple under $50,000 drive-away, led by the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq 60.

Hyundai and Kia do also have other models available or on the way elsewhere that could theoretically slip in at under $35,000. But there is no confirmation that their respective Ioniq 3 (that’s yet to be unveiled) and closely related EV2 EV crossovers will ever launch in Australia.

Likewise, Renault from France is currently going gangbusters in Europe with its award-winning and critically acclaimed Twingo supermini, R5 E-Tech supermini and R4 E-Tech small SUV trio.

However, and again, sourcing these from Europe cheaply enough is the biggest hurdle, even though they are amongst the least-expensive EVs over there.

The same is expected to apply to Volkswagen’s promising new ID.1 city car, ID.Polo supermini and ID.Cross small SUV (with corresponding Skoda and Cupra versions in tow), as well as Peugeot’s soon-to-be redesigned range of EVs like the e-2008.

In the meantime, Chinese brands like BYD and MG will continue to set the pace at the bottom end of the EV SUV market in Australia.