ST Car of the Year 2025: Meet the electric sedan that blends old-school charm with fanciful tech

There are many Chinese car brands on Singapore roads these days with many of them specialising in electric vehicles (EVs). One of these brands is 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 turned 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 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 is reminiscent 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.

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.

Notable features include adaptive cruise control and phone pairing.

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.

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.

Otherwise, 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.

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IM 5 Luxury RWD

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

Learn more about

the IM5

or visit the IM Motors showroom at 11, Leng Kee Road.

This is an edited version of the original report published in The Straits Times on Dec 19, 2025.

Brought to you by IM Motors