After entering the European market with cars under the MG brand, the Chinese SAIC group is now bringing electric buses to the old continent under the same brand name. And the specifications could give the competition reason to worry.<\/p>\n
MG Commercial has announced it will start selling electric buses in Europe. There is a growing market for electric buses, with strict EU Clean Vehicles Directive targets for zero-emission vehicles. 11.607 units were registered in 2025, a 48% increase compared to the year before. In Belgium, the numbers are also increasing fast, so MG might have chosen a good moment to launch.<\/p>\n
The two models the brand is bringing are the iEV12LE, unveiled at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hannover, and the iEV12, already shown at Busworld Brussels in October 2025.<\/p>\n
The MG iEV12LE is a Class II bus for suburban and intercity rides, while the iEV12 is a 12.15-meter full-low-floor urban bus. It uses SAIC\/Sunwin’s B12E electric chassis and cell-to-pack battery architecture.<\/p>\n
With a battery capacity of up to 489 kWh, the claimed real-world range is over 400 km, which is considered respectable for a bus of this size. Some figures even reach 650+ km, but measured under the favorable e-SORT 2 cycle, which is the medium-duty cycle with moderate stop frequency.<\/p>\n
Did MG start building buses based on its passenger car technology? Not at all. The buses are actually built by Sunwin, which was founded in the year 2000 by SAIC and Volvo.<\/p>\n
The two companies also worked together extensively on electric drivelines. SAIC also owns MG, and the MG brand name was deemed more recognizable for deploying Sunwin buses in Europe.<\/p>\n
The choice of name might help with sales. Sunwin doesn\u2019t want to be \u2018just another cheap Chinese brand\u2019 in Europe, but aims to reach the upper end of the new energy bus segment.<\/p>\n
Using the technology it has developed over the past decades, sold under a brand name that for some people brings back memories of British sports cars, might do the trick.<\/p>\n
Competition on the European EV bus market<\/b><\/p>\n
With its premium positioning, MG might have a fighting chance in Europe, but competition is fierce. It is up against European brands such as Iveco, MAN, Mercedes, and Solaris, which have established service networks.<\/p>\n
But also against popular Chinese brands with an existing clientele in Europe, like Yutong (number one in the market with 1.801 e-busses and a 15.5% market share in 2025) and BYD (1.305 busses \/ 11.2% share).<\/p>\n
And the Vietnamese newcomer Vinfast has beaten MG with its European homologation and very clear specs. MG is still a bit vague, although a lot depends on the demands that are made in tenders for fleets.<\/p>\n
Besides the technical specifications of its buses, although not unique (BYD also builds its Blade Battery into the buses\u2019 chassis), MG Commercial is banking on the well-established Sunwin engineering, combined with SAIC\u2019s European footprint.<\/p>\n
SAIC has an existing import and distribution structure for its cars, and a parts network to support the repairability of its buses. But that is only an argument for a quick start-up. MG Commercial will have to establish a dedicated structure for buses.<\/p>\n
But whether it will be successful will also depend on pricing. Because although MG Commercial wants to position itself as \u2018premium\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean the market is prepared to pay a the equivalent of an equivalent established brand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After entering the European market with cars under the MG brand, the Chinese SAIC group is now bringing electric buses to the old continent under the same brand name. And the specifications could give the competition reason to worry. MG Commercial has announced it will start selling electric buses in Europe. There is a growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":439,"featured_media":195045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\r\n\r\n{excerpt}\r\n\r\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,16,8,26,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-industry","category-product","category-public-transport","category-top-stories-today"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1",2048,1365,true],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=18%2C12&ssl=1",18,12,true],"related-thumb":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1",640,480,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"mailchimp":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?fit=560%2C373&ssl=1",560,373,true],"unipress-phone":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=640%2C100&ssl=1",640,100,true],"unipress-tablet":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C240&ssl=1",1536,240,true],"unipress-tablet-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C180&ssl=1",1536,180,true],"unipress-tablet-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=2048%2C180&ssl=1",2048,180,true],"unipress-smartphone":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=1080%2C168&ssl=1",1080,168,true],"unipress-wide-screen":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newmobility.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sunwin-MG-Commercial-iEV-12-scaled.png?resize=2560%2C180&ssl=1",2560,180,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"
After entering the European market with cars under the MG brand, the Chinese SAIC group is now bringing electric buses to the old continent under the same brand name. And the specifications could give the competition reason to worry. MG Commercial has announced it will start selling electric buses in Europe. There is a growing market for electric buses, with strict EU Clean Vehicles Directive targets for zero-emission vehicles. 11.607 units were registered in 2025, a 48% increase compared to the year before. In Belgium, the numbers are also increasing fast, so MG might have chosen a good moment to…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Europe<\/a>, Industry<\/a>, Product<\/a>, Public transport<\/a>, Top Stories Today<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Arnaud Henckaerts","url":"https:\/\/newmobility.news\/en\/author\/arnaud-henckaertsgmail-be\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"\n