MG ZS Hybrid+ review: MG shows Jaguar another way to save a British brand - good cars people can afford

Driving a car from a once-troubled British brand got our writer thinking about the contrast between MG's approach and Jaguar's bold reimaginingDriving a car from a once-troubled British brand got our writer thinking about the contrast between MG's approach and Jaguar's bold reimagining
Driving a car from a once-troubled British brand got our writer thinking about the contrast between MG's approach and Jaguar's bold reimagining | MG, Jaguar, National World
As the car world lost its mind over Jaguar’s Type 00 reveal, I concluded Jaguar had no choice but to do something radical. Then I started thinking about MG...

Iconic British car manufacturer Jaguar revealed a rebrand last year - you might have seen it. A polarising advert, followed by a glittering reveal of a bright pink Type 00 concept car at Miami Art Week triggered mass coverage across the country and got people thinking about Jaguar again. Myself included.

“Well they had to do something,” I thought, “things simply couldn’t continue the way they were going.”

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Then I started thinking about MG. Like Jaguar, MG is owned by a foreign parent company, in MG’s case Chinese state-backed SAIC Motor. Like Jaguar, MG’s sales in the UK were at one point dwindling. Between 2007 and 2013, MG measured its annual cars sold in the UK in the hundreds, not thousands.

But from 2014 things start to look up. By 2020 MG was selling 18k cars a year in the UK and, by 2024, MG was the 10th biggest car brand in Britain by volume, with 81,536 and 4% market share. So what changed?

MG ZS Hybrid + is a good looking, if slightly anonymous, carMG ZS Hybrid + is a good looking, if slightly anonymous, car
MG ZS Hybrid + is a good looking, if slightly anonymous, car | MG

MG’s repositioning hasn’t been driven by a flashy ad campaign, It hasn’t had tabloid columnists branding it ‘woke’ or announced eye-watering prices that forcibly shift the market position of the brand out of the mainstream and into the realms of the super rich. What it has done, after a period in the wilderness following the collapse of MG Rover, is steadily strengthened its range of cars whilst maintaining a pricepoint aligned with the brand’s ‘democratising mobility’ slogan.

Starting at just £18k, MG’s range features hatchbacks, competitively priced EVs, the Cyberster roadster and the HS and ZS SUVs. I recently spent a week behind the wheel of the MG ZS Hybrid +, the second generation MG ZS small SUV and the most affordable SUV in the MG line-up, starting at just £21,995. This hybrid power car replaces the old petrol engine, whilst the ZS EV is being run down in anticipation of a brand new small SUV EV replacement in the range.

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With an entry price challenged only by Dacia’s Duster, punchy performance and strong tech, the ZS has a lot to offer price conscious families looking for something less obviously budget than the Duster. The ZS undercuts other mainstream models like the Ford Puma, Hyundai Kona or Kia Niro but line them up side by side and you’d be hard pressed to pick out which one is supposed to be the more premium model.

In fact, on the school run you’d be hard pressed to pick it out at all. The small SUV segment has become so ubiquitous in the UK, the manufacturers so keyed into buyer expectations that, barring hints of a ‘design philosophy’ linked to some exotic animal or halo model on the grille the offerings in this segment all look very similar indeed.

Interior and equipment

While the car might not stand out in a crowd, the price and the levels of equipment included are more than eye-catching.

There’s the full suite of modern driver assist technologies included as standard, from adaptive cruise control and active emergency braking to lane keep assist and blind spot monitoring. The dashboard is dominated by a large 12.3-inch landscape display through which you control everything from the heated seats and aircon to the stereo and bluetooth settings. Apple carplay and android auto are supported, though not wirelessly.

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Our ‘Trophy’ spec demonstrator featured a synthetic leather interior for the seats and trims, while the solid parts of the dashboard felt well-screwed together with reasonably premium feeling materials.

The cabin has plenty of space too. a family of four should have no bother using the ZS as their main runaround. With 443 litres of boot capacity it beats the Duster hybrid on storage, but lags behind the Ford Puma and Hyundai Kona with the seats up. Drop the rear bench and capacity extends to 1,457 litres, beating both the Puma and the Kona thanks to the more spacious rear cabin.

MG ZS Hybrid + interior holds up well. High tech and solidly builtMG ZS Hybrid + interior holds up well. High tech and solidly built
MG ZS Hybrid + interior holds up well. High tech and solidly built | MG

Driving the MG ZS Hybrid plus

With a combined power output of 194bhp from the 1.5-litre petrol engine and 100kW electric motor combined, the ZS is surprisingly nippy. At a sprint, nought to 62mph is achievable in 8.7 seconds and mid-range power is impressive too, resulting in effortless overtaking on the motorway and a very refined performance at speed.

In wet, cold or greasy conditions, the power can come in one big lump at launch and I found the front wheels wheel-spinning theatrically at roundabouts and junctions regularly during my week-long test. So, while it’s composed at cruising, it was something of a hooligan from a standing start.

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Agile around town with light, but sharp, steering, the car handles like the crossover it is, with car-like dynamics and none of the lumbering clumsiness of some larger SUVs.

At faster speeds the steering remains light, with no perceptible stiffening up, however the chassis and suspension combine for a composed drive. Not as fun in the corners as the Ford Puma but as good or better than many others in the segment.

Facts and Figures

MG ZS Hybrid + Trophy

Price: £24,495

Transmission: 3-speed auto, front-wheel drive

Top speed: 104mph

Acceleration: 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds

Fuel consumption: 55.4mpg combined

Emissions: 115 g/km C02

Verdict

Priced as it is, I was expecting this to be a tale of forgiveness, overlooking areas where money has been saved in order to keep the cost down, but this doesn’t remotely feel like a car that has been built to a price. Equipment, drive, looks and comfort are all more than competitive with the rest of the segment. The price is just the MG’s ‘killer feature’.

Instead, then, this is a tale of redemption. The post-MG Rover wilderness years saw MG fail to make much of a splash with their first new offerings, like the anonymous MG 6. Fast forward to now and the range is packed with well-priced, well equipped models that have been designed with buyers in mind - the ZS hybrid + exemplifies this.

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Time will tell how the repositioning of Jaguar pans out - I hope it’s a success - but MG has shown that there’s more than one way to revive a British motoring icon and turn it into a viable brand again.

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