---
title: "Born From British Roadsters, MG Is Now Making a Chinese-Built Pickup Truck"
description: "Iconic British automaker MG is back from the dead under Chinese ownership, and it's making a new pickup truck."
date: "2019-08-08"
modified: "2019-08-13"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/29330/obscure-chinese-built-2020-mg-extender-pickup-truck-aims-to-eat-chevys-lunch-overseas"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Trucks"
tags:
  - "Convertible"
---

# Born From British Roadsters, MG Is Now Making a Chinese-Built Pickup Truck

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/08/https-s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com-psh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4-images-2-3-5-9-22069532-3-eng-GB-Cropped-15652681950950698.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Prepare yourself for the sentence you least expected to read today: MG still exists, and it's going to sell a pickup truck that sounds like it won't be half-bad.

![message-editor%2F1565289468282-562000007746711.jpeg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1565289468282-562000007746711.jpeg>)
**MG Thailand**

The Extender, as it's called, will be a midsize pickup aimed at the exploding Thailand market. With its market share effectively doubling year-over-year to about 2.3 percent in 2018 according to [*Marklines*](<https://www.marklines.com/en/statistics/flash_sales/salesfig_thailand_2018>), MG not only has a bigger piece of the Thai pie than Chevrolet but is one of the country's quickest-growing automakers. And because pickups account for 43 percent of Thailand's new-vehicle market in 2019 so far according to [*Nikkei Asian Review*](<https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobile/China-owned-British-brand-MG-launches-pickup-in-Thailand>), the Extender stands a good chance of maintaining MG's upward momentum.

So, what of the truck itself?

![message-editor%2F1565289322032-562000007746701.jpeg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1565289322032-562000007746701.jpeg>)
**MG Thailand**

With a front end that looks like a cross between the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger, and a rear that looks more than inspired by the [Toyota Tundra](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/28635/california-wildfire-hero-gives-toyota-tundra-a-hot-new-look-to-honor-fallen-truck>), you won't be surprised to hear that this truck comes from China, where it's known as the Maxus T70. Only grilles and badges differentiate the two, which otherwise share bodywork, a frame, and powertrains—minus the Maxus' choice 2.0-liter, twin-turbo diesel. MG's truck gets only two engines, both single-turbo, both two-liters, one of which is diesel and the other, gas. Each can be married to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission, and thereto, two- or four-wheel-drive.

![message-editor%2F1565291882572-562000007746718.jpeg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1565291882572-562000007746718.jpeg>)
**MG Thailand**

Despite aiming to undercut its bottom-dollar competitors in Thailand, the Extender doesn't appear to be equipped like a gulag. Base models come in no smaller than extended "Giant" cab, with both automatic climate control and 10-inch infotainment screens, whose steering wheel controls can activate what's advertised as the world's first Thai-language voice recognition system, and which [*MGR Online*](<https://mgronline.com/motoring/detail/9620000075016?fbclid=IwAR0LhFVmK_WeEWC1mKhssXrjBz0A_rluuRK6GslF45-3nSURTfG5fVr8IdE>) reports to be capable of checking [lottery results](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/26860/a-ford-raptor-273m-mega-millions-jackpot-winners-first-purchase-will-be-a-pickup-truck>) (?!?). Vault up to the crew "double" cab, and you can also get electronically adjusted seats and dual-zone climate control. All of this rides on a chassis suspended by "Euro Tuning Suspension" consisting of double wishbones up front and leaf springs out back.

![message-editor%2F1565292660935-562000007746717.jpeg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1565292660935-562000007746717.jpeg>)
**MG Thailand**

It's not bad at all for a truck that starts at ฿549,000 ($17,850), or about $1,200 cheaper than what we Americans pay for the absolute cheapest Nissan Frontier—a truck that'll be 15 years old in just a few months.

Is it any good? Odds are we Americans will never find out, due to nonsense like the Chicken Tax and the [constantly escalating trade war with China](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/22403/trump-pushing-hard-for-25-percent-tariff-on-imported-vehicles>), where the MG Extender is built. Even if it turns out to be a terrible truck, we can enjoy the novelty of a faux-European MG pickup from afar.

![message-editor%2F1565293444683-562000007746715.jpeg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1565293444683-562000007746715.jpeg>)
**MG Thailand**

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)