This is the kind of car that’s scaring the daylights out of European carmakers.
BY BRIAN BYRNE
Slap between the VW Tiguan and Ford’s Kuga at one end and the Mercedes GLC at the other, the MG HS plug-in hybrid is mixing it in the most important part of the overall car market, the C-segment crossover-SUV.
None of those makers can afford to ignore the Chinese cars now putting up their dukes.
MG is British heritage, comfortable on an absolutely Chinese frame. Owned by SAIC, the largest state-owned carmaker in China, the iconic to these islands brand now has no less than seven models selling in this country. In electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid guises.
Targeting all segments, including the sports car one on which MG originally built its name.
Currently number 21 on the Irish sales ladder, the brand is climbing fast with already 30 percent more units sold this year over 2024.
With its arrival in Ireland, the HS is fresh into its second generation.
For anyone in the market for a crossover-SUV – and that’s 55 percent of car buyers here – the looks alone are going to make them take a good gander at this one.
The lines are sophisticated, the details nicely toned to appeal to European taste.
The front elements meld well with each other, and there’s a level of elegance about the rear design that suggests a sports tourer more than a boxy SUV.
The whole style sense is ‘ready to go’ and ‘go wherever’.
There’s a bit of under-styling about the interior, a straight dashboard rather than one with curvy bits.
One wide panel combines infotainment and driving instruments, and it would benefit from having round rather than sharp-angled corners.
But the graphics are pretty clear, if a bit muted in colours. There’s a short line of real buttons, but most of the usual climate and radio management are by virtual ones on the screen.
A ‘favourites’ star on the steering wheel can be set to bring you to the driving ‘assistance’ screen so you can turn off the noises that annoy before you drive away.
It’s a roomy car, with plenty of space behind me for full adult passengers.
They’ll ride in comfort too; all fittings and trim materials are of a satisfying quality and style.
Boot capacity is adequate rather than large, and I suspect the mission was to provide room overall in the car for people rather than stuff.
There’s a real sense of solidity about the HS that makes it impossible for any competitor to sniff ‘cheap build’.
China has gone well beyond that — after all, they have landed a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, built their own space station, and successfully placed a rover on Mars.
My only sniff is that there’s no Bluetooth Apple CarPlay link in the HS; you have to use a lead.
There are two grades; my review car was the upper of these, which gave me heated front seats, more speakers, wireless phone charging, and a smart tailgate.
The PHEV powertrain is set around a 1.5 petrol and an electric motor system with a 24kWh battery that claims up to 120 km on EV driving.
Take that with the usual caveat, but the car will still offer 1,000 km of travelling from a full petrol tank and a full battery charge.
The driving experience tilts at the Merc end of the competitor range, and the comms tech includes an app that allows the owner to do a lot of stuff without touching the car.
Overall sense? Terrifying, if you’re a competitor carmaker. Pretty fine, if you become an owner.
