MG Motor has announced the launch of a new car in the Middle East – the MG6 sedan.

We know, it’s not the most exciting launch of the year, but we’ve had a soft spot for the Britain-born, Chinese-owned brand since it re-launched a few years ago.

The new cars themselves aren’t really representative of what MG used to be about – i.e. sportiness. But what the new MG lacks in sportiness, it delivers in value. These cars really can hold their own against competitors from Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan – and yet they’re about 25% less expensive.

Which brings us onto the new MG6, which has had a thorough going over – inside and out. The exterior is more angular and sporty looking, with carbon fibre trim on the front bumper and a sleek, coupe-like sloping roofline.

The good news continues on the inside. There’s a smartly configured dashboard and centre console, with leather wrapped seats and leather stitching on the dash of the top-of-the-range model. It looks rather good.

It’s spacious, too. MG claims that the MG6 delivers the most interior space in its segment.

That generosity extends to the standard equipment list as well. You get an 8-inch colour touch screen atop the centre console (with Apple CarPlay), as well as keyless entry and go, a tyre pressure monitoring system, a rear parking camera and dual-zone climate control.

Power comes courtesy of a 1.5-litre turbo four-pot delivering 169 bhp and 250 Nm of torque. That’s fed through a seven-speed, dual-clutch gearbox – for which you can also specify paddle shifters. There’s no word on performance specs yet, but we’d reckon on a 0-100 km/h time around the 8 second mark – about right for the segment.

There’s also no word on price yet, but we’ll find out soon enough as the new MG6 is launching in late October.