China Watch : MG3 prices revealed

Keith Adams

MG3 goes on sale in China
MG3 goes on sale in China

The MG3 finally goes on sale in China and has been priced competitively in order to make a big impact in a crowded marketplace. The 1.5-litre hatchback is offered in several trim levels and is priced between £6800 and £9600.

More information to follow…

[Source: PC Auto]

Keith Adams
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25 Comments

  1. You know, as I have said many times before, I was always a more a Rover person than an MG person. That said, I still have a keen interest and, whilst the MG6 is not my cup of tea, I certainly do not dislike it and I genuinely wish it and all at Longbridge well.

    I hear that theMG6 goes well, it’s inoffensive to look at and the build quality, whilst not outstanding, is acceptable – in short, it deserves good things.

    However, the MG3 just leaves me cold. The cabin looks cheap and nasty, the overalL shape is very boxy and plain and the biggest thing for me is the totally insubstantial grille/face of the thing – it’s too mid-1990s Kia (with a Halfords makeover) for me and the whole thing just doesn’t work at all.

    That said, this is MG and I do hope that it is a success for the company and so wish it all the best, I really do. However, I can’t seem to remember a time when a so-called British car left me feeling so cold.

    I do wish it all the best luck in the world. I just keep looking at the MG3 and thinking come on MG you can do better than this.

  2. What is that Union flag all about?

    This is a CHINESE brand, built in CHINA by a CHINESE company by CHINESE workers – it’s even more inappropriate than the Union flag badges on the Indian-built CityRover.

  3. Leslie :
    What is that Union flag all about?

    This is a CHINESE brand, built in CHINA by a CHINESE company by CHINESE workers – it’s even more inappropriate than the Union flag badges on the Indian-built CityRover.

    …which was designed and developed in the UK by predominantly British engineering expertise and will be assembled here at Longbridge for the UK and European market. No-one objects when BMW MINI products have Union flags on the roof… Surely there is more UK input into this?

  4. The MG3 has had loads more UK input than the CityRover ever did. The MG3 was designed and developed in the UK by the hundreds of engineers at MG Birmingham.

    Sure, the Union flag might be pushing it a bit, but I think it looks like quite a fun and funky car, placed in a sector where it has the potential to sell in huge quantities all over the world.

  5. The MG3 is small and nippy and it’ll do well – it deserves to. It isn’t what an MG was but it is what an MG is going to be. We need to come round to this new way of thinking. Future MGs are never going to have wire wheels, flip-up petrol caps and crinkly dashboards.

  6. @Mark Pitchford
    You say: “No-one objects when BMW MINI products have Union flags on the roof… ” Well, er, actually, I do!

    Anyway, as for the MG3 and MG5, I used to be really sad that the Rover name had not been passed over to SAIC-Nanjing too but, now that I see them sticking MG badges on such characterless vehicles, I’m quite glad that it’s gone to Tata-JLR instead (even if they don’t use it).

  7. I reckon that, if the MG3 drives as well as the MG6, it’ll have a chance here. However, the MG3’s prices won’t start at £6,000, though.

  8. I don’t know why they bother with the Union flag at all – it means nothing to most people in the UK as every home nation has their own flag.

    Anyway, as for the MG3, I think it looks good and will do well over here – I just hope it has the MG ZERO front when it arrives on the UK market.

  9. I suppose that, in one sense, I’m pleased that a new MG is being produced, but I feel that this car doesn’t have proper MG breeding.

    We all know that the MG brand stands for sports cars or sports saloons like the new MG6 but the engine choice currently available in the MG3 doesn’t suggest typical MG sportiness.

    I agree with what has been mentioned already about the MG3 being akin to having a Tata badged as a Rover but, at least, it’s a start so let’s hope there are improvements along the way and that the car will be more of an MG when it reaches the UK market in the future.

  10. My one word summary: YUK!

    The MG3 looks like a Mazda2 crossed with the previous model Ka. The interior leaves me completely cold – there are no surprise and delight features. It’s a shame that they could not have picked up some styling cues from previous MGs.

    Not on my “buy” list…

  11. @Mark Hayman
    That depends – you can eek a lot of power out of a compact, well-built 1.5-litre engine these days and especially if you add a turbo to it.

    I think that, if the MG3 has been engineered properly, drive-wise it should easliy compete with the zippy lightweight Mazda2 and THAT would be the main rival.

  12. The MG3 looks very promising to me. I hope they do an ultra economical version like the new Kia Rio which as a 1.1 litre diesel capable of 80 plus mpg – that is the future of small cars.

    Hopefully, if MG Motor UK can inject a bit of MG style into the mix (red seat belts anyone?) and capture a bit of MG Metro with the interior, they will be onto a winner.

  13. @Simon
    Yes, the excitement when my dad got his Mk1 MG Metro in May 1982 with red seatbelts and the MG logo on the steering wheel and bonnet was quite something.

    That would be hard to recreate, but maybe this is the car they should try it on. I don’t, for some reason, think it would have worked on the ZR.

  14. The MG3 is terrible – it looks like a cheap, horrible Korean car with an MG badge stuck on it. Yuck! MG is dead – it has been since April 2005.

  15. I’ve just looked at the photos of the MG3 again and it is mind numbingly bad inside and out. Check out the back number plate with ‘Morris Garages’ on it. Please make all of this stop.

  16. The Mazda2 is a very good car to try and emulate. The 2 is, in my opinion, the benchmark ‘supermini’ – not the Fiesta. The steering is an absolute revelation and it has so many clever engineering solutions which make the chassis entertaining and keep the car light – it is the car the Peugeot 207 should have been. Let’s hope the new MG has the fundamentals fully sorted too.

  17. I think that, within the boundaries of current family car styling, the MG3 is actually rather pleasant and quite distinctive in a subtle sort of way. Ditto the MG6, especially the profile of the Fastback.

    Oh, and the Union flag roof adds character to a car of this size – the kind of thing appreciated by buyers of MINIS, Fiat 500s and Beetles. I don’t think it’s that bizzare given the British design content and, one assumes, eventual Longbridge build.

  18. The interior makes me sick. However, the rest of the car looks good and it’ll sell well – I just hope they do a less Korean job on the new TF.

  19. This is not a British car anymore, its a cheap Chinese copy of an MG. Wake up and smell the coffee, MG has gone who wants to buy Chinese rubbish.

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