Car review: Old-school charm meets fanciful tech in IM 5

SINGAPORE – A review of a Chinese car must often start with an introduction, since most of the brands are new and largely unheard of. Like IM.

IM Motors is a joint venture between Chinese behemoth SAIC, e-commerce giant Alibaba and high-tech industrial park developer Zhangjiang Hi-Tech. The offspring of rather strange bedfellows turns five in December 2025.

In some markets, IM is marketed as a sister brand of MG, which SAIC owns.

The brand makes its Singapore debut with two models: the IM 5 saloon and IM 6 sport utility vehicle. The Straits Times kicks off with the former.

The IM 5 is 4,931mm long, 1,960mm wide and 1,474mm tall with a 2,950mm wheelbase and 2,180kg kerb weight. This makes it about the size and weight of a Porsche Taycan electric saloon.

In form, the car has a faint resemblance to Tesla’s Model S, especially when viewed at an angle from the front.

It strikes a sturdy, confident and well-planted stance, with solid build quality exemplified by tight and even shut lines (the gaps between body panels).

The test car is a detuned variant which qualifies for Category A certificate of entitlement (COE).

With a single 109kW motor driving the rear axle, and 19-inch wheels looking a little modest for the car’s body size in this day and age, the IM 5 Luxury RWD joins a growing list of premium cars in the mass-market COE category.

With 450Nm of torque – more than what a base Taycan has – and a segment-leading 75kWh battery, the IM 5 is a wolf thinly veiled in sheep’s clothing. It takes 10.1 seconds to reach 100kmh, but because of its immense torque, it feels a lot quicker.

Equipped with rear-wheel steering, the IM 5 has a tight turning radius of just under 5m. This makes the almost 5m-long car more drivable in tighter confines – a plus point in any city.

The test car averages 15.4kWh/100km, which is much better than IM’s stated 19.3kWh/100km.

The tested consumption translates to a range of 487km – before factoring in non-driving consumption – if driven exclusively in Singapore.

Range and performance, however, are not overly crucial in compact and congested Singapore. Comfort is.

On this front, the IM 5 excels. Its interior reminds me of how Rover and Jaguar designed their cabins – with puffy upholstery and smooth organic trim reminiscent of the hydrodynamic shapes of marine mammals.

This plushness is augmented by a relatively cushy ride, giving the car the charm and poise of an old-school luxury sedan, unspoilt by glowing ambient lighting.

A suite of tech features provides a stark contrast. Cabin switches are embedded in two sleek touchscreens – a horizontal one atop the dash which merges seamlessly with the driver’s instrumentation; and a vertical one on the centre console, just below the main air-conditioning vent.

The air-con vents cannot be manually adjusted. Instead, there are pre-set programmes in the vertical touchscreen. Thumbnail buttons take the place of conventional door handles.

Outside, door handles retract and extend when you press and hold a small indentation on each of them. But sometimes, they also extend and retract if you happen to be near the vehicle with the key in your pocket. Usually, this happens when you do not want it to.

Other tech features include a camera system that not only projects a bird’s-eye view of the car when Reverse is engaged, but also part of the car’s front view which is blocked by the A-pillar.

Similarly, a “rainy night mode” projects an enhanced image onto the screen when visibility is poor.

This is probably useful in some situations, but I cannot imagine looking at the screen if I am going faster than 20kmh. And if visibility is so poor, it might be better to stop and wait till things improve before continuing your journey.

Features I appreciate include adaptive cruise control and phone pairing. Both work relatively well, except that the car requires you to tick a “I have read and agree” box at the start of every journey.

Thankfully, a couple of conventional controls remain. The boot can be opened by pressing a physical button, and the bonnet can be popped by pulling a lever on the underside of the dash assembly. At 18 litres, the frunk is small and it comes with a flimsy cover.

The boot is sizeable at 457 litres, and the car’s liftback form makes for wide access. Even so, it will not accommodate a bi-fold bicycle with its handlebar intact.

The IM 6, which will be reviewed next, has more stowage, and a lot more power.

Meanwhile, the IM 5’s raison d’etre lies in its unusual union of new tech gizmos and old-world ambience – something which no other car has quite managed to stitch together.

IM 5 Luxury RWD

Price: $262,888 with COE, before discounts and rebates
Motor: Rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous with 75kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Power: 109kW
Torque: 450Nm
0-100kmh: 10.1 seconds
Top speed: 180kmh
Power consumption: 19.3kWh/100km
Charging capacity: 11kW AC; 153kW DC
Agent: Eurokars EV
Rating: ★★★★☆

Comparable considerations

Hyundai Ioniq 6 Prestige

This Category A variant of the Ioniq 6 is slightly shorter than the IM 5, but has the same wheelbase of 2,950mm. Hence its cabin is as spacious as the IM 5’s. Its boot is slightly smaller, but its frunk is a lot bigger. While its turning radius is wider, it does not feel unwieldy. It is a tad quicker than the IM 5, and its range is not much shorter despite a noticeably smaller battery. The car has no wireless Android Auto, but its cabin exudes a modern, premium feel.

BYD Seal Dynamic

The Category A variant of the Seal is less spacious than the IM 5 and Ioniq 6, but is still appealing in its own way. For instance, it is not overly techy and does not bury all its functions in a touchscreen menu. It is somewhat less efficient than the other two cars and offers the shortest range, although this is not a big issue if you do not drive to Malaysia. It equals the IM 5 in the century sprint, but on the whole does not feel as punchy. The BYD has the slowest charging speed of the three.