MG is back in Australia, although not with the car you might expect.

The iconic British company that died an undignified death in 2005 is now owned by ambitious Chinese giant Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), which is clearly keen to use its famous brand name as a backbone of its push into western markets.

What we have here is not a cheeky little convertible, but rather a small sedan and hatch range called the MG6, sized somewhere between a Cruze and Jetta, and bravely priced to match.

Australia is just the second western market to get the car after the UK – where it launched in 2010 – alongside New Zealand, and its local private distributor has big plans that it hopes will see that famous Octagon badge return to driveways.

Right now, it has only one dealer – though this will grow inside weeks – and an unfinished public website: this mission is very much a work in progress.

Designed and engineered in the UK, but built in China, the MG6 outshines its Chinese contemporaries with reasonably sharp handling, modern style and decent cabin quality, but lacks refinement and costs more than it should.

It’s a decent first effort for the company’s new owner, and points to a promising future if it stays on the road it’s travelling.

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