Software updates will add expanded self-parking and more smartphone control to 2025 MG IM5 and IM6 ahead of a facelift due later this year.
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Buyers of MG’s IM premium brand, which launched last year with the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV, will receive a host of upgrades to their vehicles ahead of a more significant model update due later this year.
While the IM5 and IM6 only arrived in Australia in August, 2025, the models known as the L6 and LS6 respectively in China have been on the market overseas since 2024 and 2023.
IM Motors co-CEO and overseas business general manager Liu Tao confirmed mid-life changes – called Middle Cycle Enhancement (MCE) in the brand’s parlance – to the IM5 and IM6 are due in China around the middle of the year.
An Australian arrival is expected in the second half of 2026, but IM is yet to detail exactly what will change with the update.
Drive understands there will be minimal hardware changes, but small styling and equipment tweaks are expected.
But for existing Australian IM5 and IM6 owners – who have had their cars for less than a year – some new features as part of that update are being rolled out already via over-the-air (OTA) updates.
Speaking to Drive, IM Motor regional general manager for Asia Pacific Steven Xu said the IM5 and IM6 software upgrades are designed with existing customers in mind.
“Because we just launched it in Australia, we do not want so many hardware changes to make customers feel ‘wow, I should [have waited],” Xu said.
“The most is software change, and the existing customer can get that upgrade. The interesting thing is you buy the car in 2025, but you get the features of 2026.”
Drive understands some features added in the software update include expanded automated parking and increased smartphone control.
As to whether existing customers will need to pay for the upgrades, Xu said that is “still under evaluation” but the intention is to roll out the updates with “no charge”.
“A lot of features that customers [ask for], if we have the ability to do that, we will do that and release step-by-step,” Xu said. “The next version is not the end version, we [will] still continuously [improve the car].”
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Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
