In February, MG returned to SA after nearly 10 years and launched its HS and ZS model ranges in the SUV segment. The formerly British brand, now part of China’s giant SAIC Motor Corporation, also introduced the electric Cyberster two-seater sports car as the marque’s halo model.
This week MG Motor SA unveiled the MG 3 to take on the popular hatchback B segment, competing against cars such as the Volkswagen Polo, Polo Vivo and Hyundai i20. Like the flurry of other Chinese cars being launched in SA, the MG 3 has aggressive pricing and high specification levels to try challenge the market share of long-established rivals, with sassy styling that will attract buyers.
At 4,113mm length, the imported MG 3 is a Polo-sized car that sells for Polo Vivo money, with a R269,900 starting price that undercuts all rivals. The cheapest Polo Vivo sells for R271,900, the Hyundai i20 starts from R309,900 and the baseline Polo costs R373,800.
Aiming to sell 350-400 units a month through 43 dealers, the company offers the MG 3 range in four guises: three versions powered by a normally aspirated 1.5l petrol engine, and a petrol-electric hybrid HEV flagship.
The entry-level 1.5 Comfort — available in manual and CVT auto — comes standard with a 10.25-inch colour touchscreen, a digital driver display, push-button start, rearview camera, cruise control, four airbags and a four-speaker audio system.
Like the rest of the range, the baseline car rides on 16-inch alloys and has electronic stability control.
Moving up to the 1.5 Luxury CVT gets you additional features such as keyless entry, adaptive cruise control, intelligent high-beam control and a 360-degree camera.
The range-topping 1.5 HEV brings a lot more power to the party with three drive modes, plus additional safety features such as seven airbags, blind-spot monitoring, lane-change assist, rear cross traffic alert and autonomous emergency braking.
At the media launch hosted by MG in Cape Town this week, I first drove the high-spec Luxury CVT. I was impressed by the compact car’s cabin space, which has good rear knee room and will comfortably swallow four adults. The 293l boot (expandable to 983l) takes a reasonable amount of luggage, although the spare wheel is a space saver in the petrol models while the hybrid gets no spare at all.
The 1.5 Luxury has a pleasant cabin environment with stitched, soft-touch surfaces to offset the hard plastics, and attractive seats that combine fabric with faux leather. The steering wheel is squared-off at the top and bottom as a styling flourish and to aid entry and exit to the driving seat.
The infotainment system is mounted high on the dash for easy access and seems fairly intuitive to use, though phones must be connected via cable to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
The lane-keeping assist is very aggressive so I turned it off, which is a fairly lengthy procedure via the infotainment touchscreen that has to be done every time you start the car.
There are mixed feelings about the way the MG 3 drives. The positive part is the hatchback’s good ride comfort. It doesn’t feel choppy like some short-wheelbase cars tend to, and takes corners neatly.
It has a solid feel and feels reasonably refined, except for the vocal engine when you try to muster some pace.
The 1.5 petrol automatic feels underwhelming, not so much because the 81kW/142Nm outputs are particularly feeble but because of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that muzzles the performance. The MG 3 makes a reasonably powered commuter around town and a reasonable cruiser, but when you floor it to overtake, it has a flaccid response, with not much happening except for a lot of loud droning as the revs rise.
I suspect the manual MG 3, which I didn’t get to drive, will put the power down with more pep. That said, the automatic car averaged a very frugal 5.6l/100km on the drive.
Next up I drove the more powerful petrol-electric hybrid, which felt much livelier, if not as peppy as the 155kW/425Nm outputs would suggest. Its three-speed transmission is better than the CVT but the hybrid system sometimes feels clunky when it switches between EV, hybrid and engine drive modes. The test car averaged 4.8l/100km.
Prices
MG 3 1.5 Comfort manual — R269,900
MG 3 1.5 Comfort CVT — R309,900
MG 3 1.5 Luxury CVT — R344,900
MG 3 1.5 HEV — R469,900
Prices include a seven-year/200,000km warranty and three-year/45,000km service plan.
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