MG’s first ute is a monster moment for the Chinese brand.
Based on a car-style unibody platform (like the LDV Terron 9 on which it’s based), rather than a ladder-frame chassis like all of Australia’s most popular utes, it is arguable that the new MG U9 dual-cab is targeting traditional Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger buyers.
Instead, it offers a strong and distinctive design, independent coil-sprung multi-link rear suspension, and a few innovations that we haven’t previously seen in the diesel ute market.
One of those – a fold-down ‘mid-gate’ between the tub and the cabin – could be a winning choice for those who want long load length capability but without choosing a single-cab/chassis (and the work-focused finishes that come with that).
Instead, the clever mid-gate is reserved for the top-spec model tested here, and it costs extra. But even with it fitted, this is a value-packed and premium-feeling ute… in some ways.
Read on to find out more.
How much does the MG U9 cost?
The MG brand is going in with a sharp price point for its debut ute range, well and truly cutting tens of thousands of bucks off the bill when you compare this dual-cab to some big-name players on spec.
| Model | Drive-away price |
|---|---|
| 2026 MG U9 Explore | $52,990 |
| 2026 MG U9 Explore X | $55,990 |
| 2026 MG U9 Explore Pro | $60,990 |
This ute on test here is the top-shelf Explore Pro, which has the optional MG Smart Hatch mid-gate system fitted. That incorporates a bottom-hinged folding rear panel section behind the back seats, and an electrically deployable rear windscreen within it.
It adds $5490 to the asking price, and the Canyon Grey finish cost $800 extra too. So we’re talking $67,280 drive-away in NSW for private customers.
That might seem a tall asking price for this machine, but consider this: you’d be getting into a mid-spec (if you’re lucky) 4×4 Ranger or HiLux for that price, and even the Isuzu D-Max range doesn’t offer anywhere near as much for the money…. Details on all the standard inclusions are listed below.
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
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What is the MG U9 like on the inside?
The interior of this top-spec version of MG’s ute leaves some others in its dust.
It feels far more special than some other $60k dual-cabs, with an interior design treatment and finishes that are truly fitting for a high-spec model.
Scratching the tech itch are twin 12.3-inch digital displays – one for the driver, with a range of information on show, and another for media and car controls.
There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the connectivity was fine on my test. And there’s also a punchy eight-speaker JBL sound system.
The menus on the screen will take some acclimation, but it’s not as tricky as some others. There is a menu bar on the side, and it stays there even with your phone connected – meaning you can jump back to anything in the native menu system pretty smoothly.
And for parking moves, there’s a brilliant surround view camera system with multiple view modes. It is frankly the benchmark in the segment for park-friendly camera systems in utes – so good, and highly configurable. It even has a towball hitch view for easy line-ups, and there are favourites that you can set up for a caravan, box trailer or boat trailer.
There’s an abundance of settings and adjustments on-screen, including changing the colour of the ambient lighting, and there is built in sat-nav, too, if you want to use it. Connected services are included as well, meaning you can check the weather forecast and make sure you won’t get rained out at the jobsite (or campsite).
There is an app you can download to your phone to adjust climate settings in the ute too, among other things.
Speaking of which, the climate system isn’t confined to on-screen adjustments here – instead, there’s a welcome row of physical controls, including dual climate zone toggles and fan buttons, along with demisters. But annoyingly, you still need to turn on the recirc using the screen controls.
Meanwhile, the front seat heating and cooling can set automatically based on the temperature outside and inside, or you can manually do the job. There’s a steering wheel heating button on the tiller, too.
The steering wheel has a number of buttons and triggers to adjust things, and there’s an indicator/lights stalk on the right of the column, and a fixed stalk for wipers on the left.
Other major controls include the large, grippy gear selector, which takes some getting used to (I’ll explain why in the driving section), and an electric park brake, push-button controls for the drive modes and 4L (low range), and differential locking system (yes, it has front and rear diff locks).
Storage is well executed, with bottle holders and additional sleeve space in the doors, a pair of cupholders between the front seats, a reasonably large centre console, and a (locking!) glovebox.
One thing that may not gel with all drivers and occupants is the electric push-button door openers, which I struggled with. There are emergency pull levers hidden in the door pockets, should you need them.
I also didn’t like the lack of overhead grab handles in the U9 – no occupant gets them. But there are big pull-up handles on the A- and B-pillars. And I really, really liked the light suede finish on the headlining, which edges around the huge opening sunroof (which itself has a reasonably thick retractable shade to keep heat out).
The back-seat experience is good, but maybe not as mindblowing as you may be expecting for a vehicle of this size.
At 182cm/6’0”, I had some room in front of my knees, but there’s a shortage of toe-wiggle room, which isn’t good for big-footers. Headroom is adequate but not exceptional, and it isn’t cavernous like a Ram 1500.
If you’re thinking of this one as a dual-purpose family truck, it has ISOFIX child seat anchors in the window seats and two top-tethers for the outboard seats down behind the seatbacks, rather than the silly middle-tether setup in some dual-cab utes. But note, there’s no middle top-tether point..
There are good amenities back there, though, including heated window seats, and directional air-vents, along with USB ports for charging. This test vehicle had the MG Smart Hatch system, which allows you a massive load-through area from the tub into the cabin.
You need to fold up the seat bases, which pivot forward, and then fold down the seatbacks into the floor area. Then you lower the rear windscreen using the button on the passenger-side rear back wall (unless there’s another way to do it, which I couldn’t find!), and then you can fold down the rear bulkhead.
It opens up a massive space and liberates more than two metres of load length, but it’s not quite flat and don’t go sitting anything ultra-heavy on the back panel section, as it has a weight limit of 120kg.
There is a spray-in tub-liner as standard, and a number of tie-down points at the front and rear of the load area. A cargo security railing system is fitted to the top sides of the tub, with adjustable cleats to ensure your load is locked down as best it can be.
There’s also an assisted opening and closing feature for the tailgate, and you can even trigger that using the key itself.
The tailgate has MG’s clever fold-down step system, which is activated by the button on the tailgate’s top edge, but be aware that it can be fiddly to re-holster that step, because you may end up lifting the entire tailgate, not just the step.
Under the tub area of the vehicle you will find a steel spare wheel.
| Dimensions | MG U9 |
|---|---|
| Length | 5500mm |
| Width | 2265mm |
| Height | 1874mm |
| Wheelbase | 3300mm |
| Tub volume | 1053L (approx.) |
| Tub length | 1600mm |
| Tub width | 1230mm |
| Tub depth | 535mm |
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
Sometimes it’s best to hit the market with a powertrain that has some headline numbers.
| Specifications | MG U9 Explore Pro |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.5L 4cyl turbo-diesel |
| Power | 160kW |
| Torque | 520Nm |
| Transmission | 8-speed automatic |
| Drive type | Four-wheel drive |
| Fuel economy (claimed) | 7.9L/100km |
| Fuel economy (on test) | 10.1L/100km |
| CO2 emissions (claimed) | 208g/km |
| Fuel tank | 80L |
| Weight | 2550kg |
| Payload | 770kg |
| Braked towing capacity | 3500kg |
| Gross vehicle mass (GVM) | 3320kg |
| Gross combination mass (GCM) | 6500kg |
This one is a strong oil-burner, with more power and torque than the four-cylinder HiLux and Ranger models (especially since the bi-turbo engine in the latter has been axed). It also out-oomphs the Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara, Mazda BT-50, D-Max, and the other utes from China and Korea, too.
There’s a lot of positive numerical value in the table above, but there are numbers that mightn’t be ideal for some ute buyers including the lower-than-average payload capacity.
Just think about it – if you want to tow a big caravan you’ve got to account for 10 per cent of that towed vehicle’s mass in your payload.
So a 3.5-tonne caravan with a 350kg downball weight leaves you just 420kg to work with. If you have a family of four and a tub with just a few days’ worth of gear, it’ll be at max capacity. So be mindful of that.
But in the ‘ooh that’s impressive!’ column is the fuel consumption claim of just 7.9L/100km, which – for a massive ute like this – is superb. In my testing, with limited loaded driving and no towing, I saw a return on real roads of 10.1L/100km – a tad high compared to the claim.
It has a big tank and, initially at least, the MG U9 meets the Euro 5 emissions standard, meaning it doesn’t need AdBlue but does have a diesel particulate filter system..
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How does the MG U9 drive?
The MG U9 offers a more refined experience – in some ways – than most of its rival in the dual-cab diesel segment.
A lot of that comes down to the fact it’s a unibody design, but also because of the coil-spring rear suspension, which is more compliant and comfort-focused than most ladder-chassis utes with rear leaf springs.
And while the suspension is pretty well sorted in its behaviour, this top-spec one still comes with 20-inch rims that are large and heavy, and also have relatively low-profile tyres that can also transmit more of the niggling bumps in the road surface than larger-sidewall rubber would.
During my testing, I noted that the rear of the ute – presumably the Smart Hatch mid-gate area – was prone to clunking and rattling, which is a shame because otherwise the body feels taut and controlled.
The steering is decent. It’s not thrilling to drive, but it reacts predictably and, while the turning circle is large at 13.3 metres owing to its lengthy wheelbase, it is manageable to park in urban settings, and reliably responsive at higher speeds.
The 2.5-litre turbo-diesel engine is a strong operator as well. There’s some lag to contend with at low revs in stop-start traffic, but once up and running it rolls on with a level of torque, smoothness and quietness to its performance that leaves some of the big-name utes in its wake.
Indeed, general refinement levels are great, with very little road, wind or engine noise compared to other budget-friendly utes from China, like the abrasive JAC T9.
The eight-speed automatic transmission operates cleverly, and isn’t afraid of making changes regularly to try and keep things in the torque band. On my test – which included urban, highway and freeway driving – I had very little trouble with the transmission, but I did have one gripe about it… the gear selector itself.
You must be mindful that it requires a strong press on the brake to actuate a shift, and there may be times that – if you’re impatient – it may end up in neutral when you meant to be in reverse or drive.
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Be patient and you’ll be fine. I just drive so many cars that it caught me out a few times.
Also, the U9 has a clever four-wheel drive system that can run predominantly in rear-wheel drive in Eco mode, but in Normal mode or any of the other settings it tends to behave like a high-range four-wheel drive system (4H), apportioning torque to front and rear.
I didn’t do any off-roading for this review, but there are multiple modes – 4L (low-range), Snow, Mud, Sand, Tow and Custom.
Better yet, that customisable safety system switch makes living with it so much easier than it would otherwise be. I had it set to disable the lane keeping assistance (a little unnerving at times), the driver monitoring camera system (not that bad, but there’s still a bing-bong chime) and the speed sign recognition system, which warns you a little too much about your surroundings.
To my mind, this is safety tech done almost as good as it can be while still bowing down to the Gods of ANCAP. It allows drivers to choose what they want to flick off quickly when they restart their vehicle. I just wish there was a ‘permanent’ memory setting that could hook up to a key or driver profile so you wouldn’t need to redo it every drive.
But as a daily-driver dual-cab diesel ute, I came away mostly pleased with the experience here.
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What do you get?
This one isn’t a tradie-spec undercooked fleet vehicle – no version of the MG U9 feels underequipped, and even the base model has a long list of gear that is better than some utes costing $20,000 more.
2025 MG U9 Explore equipment highlights:
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Rain-sensing wipers
- LED headlights
- Heated side mirrors
- Tub liner
- Keyless entry with push-button start
- 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
- 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- DAB+ digital radio
- Dual-zone climate control
- Microfibre leather steering wheel trim
- 6-way adjustable electric driver’s seat
- Artificial leather upholstery
- 6-speaker sound system
The Explore X adds:
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- LED rear tub lights
- Tub cargo slide rail with hook
- Electric folding side mirrors
- Heated steering wheel
- 6-way power-adjustable passenger’s seat
- Heated front seats
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
- Amazon music
- Over-the-air updates
- Voice control
- Satellite navigation
- Wireless phone charger
The Explore Pro adds:
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Black window trim
- Black roof rails
- Electric tailgate
- 64-colour ambient lighting
- Suede headliner
- Electric panoramic sunroof
- 8-way power-adjustable driver’s seat
- Driver’s seat lumbar, ventilation and massage functions
- Leather upholstery
- Heated rear outboard seats
- Trailer reversing assist
- 8-speaker JBL sound system
This flagship variant is fitted with the MG Smart Hatch, which costs a cool $5490 extra.
The electrically foldable rear cabin access panel, or mid-gate, is an intriguing option, but I’m not sure it’s worth almost 10 per cent of the purchase price… If it was priced at around $3000 and available on more model grades, I reckon it’d be far more appealing.
As for accessories, there’s a whole raft of options including racking systems, soft and hard tonneau covers, and roller tonneau covers, as well as a bull bar. There are canopy options in the aftermarket, too.
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
Is the MG U9 safe?
It has a five-star ANCAP rating, but this vehicle wasn’t actually crash-tested. The assessment is based on Euro NCAP testing of the Maxus eTerron 9 – the electric version of its LDV sister model. Does that seem like a stretch?
To me, saying that an electric vehicle with a completely different powertrain and weight distribution due to its massive battery structure is comparable to a diesel dual-cab is frankly smelling a bit like bovine excrement.
But I guess it’s good enough for ANCAP. And the results were strong, with an adult occupant protection score of 91 per cent, child occupant protection score of 89 per cent, vulnerable road user protection score of 84 per cent, and safety assist score of 85 per cent.
Standard safety equipment includes:
- AEB with pedestrian, cyclist, junction and car detection
- Intelligent Cruise Assist
- Lane-keep assist
- Lane departure warning
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Driver fatigue monitoring
- Forward collision warning
- Rear collision warning
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Tyre pressure monitoring
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Reversing camera
Explore X adds:
Explore Pro adds:
The MG U9 has seven airbags – dual front, front side, a front-centre airbag, and curtain coverage for both rows of seats.
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How much does the MG U9 cost to run?
MG might have made headlines recently with big boasts about warranty coverage, but this one is a bit different.
| MG U9 | Servicing details |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 5 years or unlimited kilometres – Private 5 years or 160,000km – Commercial |
| Conditional warranty | Up to 7 years if serviced with MG |
| Service intervals | First service – 12 months/10,000km After that – 12 months/15,000km |
| Service costs | $2355 – 5 years |
| Roadside assistance | For duration of new-car warranty |
The U9 ute couldn’t be seen to be outdoing its twin – the LDV Terron 9 – so it comes with a shorter warranty than the rest of the MG lineup.
The brand offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty for private buyers, but if you’re a commercial customer the warranty is five years/160,000km, whichever comes first.
However, if you service within MG’s network of workshops, you’ll get up to seven years of warranty cover, which might be the deal-sweetener you’re looking for.
Keep in mind, however, your servicing intervals. The first check-up is at 12 months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, and thereafter servicing is required every 12 months/15,000km.
To see how the MG U9 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
CarExpert’s Take on the MG U9
The MG U9 is a compelling lifestyle ute option, with a load of standard technology and equipment that, frankly, makes other utes feel old-fashioned and underdone.
But it isn’t like traditional utes – and therefore might not suit traditional ute buyers. For those looking to get into a dual-cab with more of a focus on the ‘life’ side of the ‘work-life’ balance, however, MG’s first ute appears to be a solid choice.
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