2021 MG Extender facelift unveiled in Thailand – Enough to scare the Hilux and D-Max?

Launched in 2019, the MG Extender is the British-Chinese carmaker's attempt to persuade Thais for an alternative to the usual Toyota Hilux or Isuzu D-Max. The pick-up truck market is very big in the Kingdom after all, with nearly half of the new vehicles sold there in 2020 being a pick-up.

A little under two years later, MG decided to give the Extender a facelift, and boy it looks striking indeed! Underneath, the Extender is a Maxus T60 that is available in Malaysia but unlike the Maxus, the MG Extender is purely for the Thai market.

Both Maxus and MG are under the ownership of SAIC Motor.

The Extender facelift sports a very daring front design with a huge hexagonal chrome grille with equally large horizontal slats. If menacing is what the Extender wants to appear, it has done a good job.

The MG badge sits proudly on the top of the grille and it looks thick. A head-on collision might leave a Morris Garages mark on the other car but we won’t recommend that to anyone.

Still fixated on the front, the Extender facelift also sports a split headlight set-up with slim indicators and DRLs on the top with the main lights placed underneath.

The changes in the rear are not as dramatic as the front. The design of the rear taillights is the same as the pre-facelift Extender but there is a black trim that extends across the tailgate in the facelift.

Inside, the Extender facelift receives a brand-new brown leather upholstery with faux carbon fibre trims on a few variants to give that elegant feel.

Also keeping up with the modernity of a lifestyle pick-up truck, the Extender comes with a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen unit and the i-Smart voice control system which understands Thai. I-Smart allows the driver to control the audio, phone calls, navigation, and air-conditioning.

The Extender is available in Thailand with two body styles, a double cab and an extended cab called Giant Cab. Both body styles are powered by a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine (161 PS/375 Nm) which are paired to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmissions.

MG Thailand will only announce prices of the Extender facelift at the upcoming Bangkok Motor Show. The pre-facelift starts from THB 549,000 for the Giant Cab and from THB 759,000 for the Double Cab, which undercuts the prices of the Hilux (From THB 707,000 for the Smart Cab and from THB 807,000 for the Double Cab).

Photos credit: AutoFun TH