This car is one of the reasons the car business in Europe is scared, writes Brian Byrne. The Chinese-owned MG brand is one of several such pushing their cars into European markets, and selling uncomfortably well. While the EU concerns include whether Chinese brands are being illegally subsidised by their state, a more tangible concern is the quality of the cars, both mass-market and premium. They're just very damned good. For the consumer, quality and value are not always match-fellows, but in cars coming out of China these days, the two characteristics are intimate.
The MG ZS Hybrid+ is a second generation of the original compact SUV model and went on sale towards the end of 2024, therefore is as fresh as anything in today's showrooms. It's sized a tad larger than Nissan's Qashqai and a little smaller than Toyota's Corolla Cross, but that bracketing puts it into a very competitive and busy segment here.
There's not a lot you can do to ring changes in the shape of a crossover in this space, and it's safe to say that the MG ZS will fit on any driveway without looking like a cuckoo in the nest. There's good strong thoroughly modern detailing in the front end, a pleasant profile, and smart looks about the rear, set off in the review car by some nice chrome-style elements around the tailpipes. The 18-inch alloys on the top Exclusive of three grades available are quite striking.
The same consideration to providing a car that will appeal to any buyer in the segment has been carried through to the interior. There's style to the dashboard design and its component elements. A good bright infotainment screen set down out of the way of glare has easily viewed and operated panels, with a row of switches underneath to manage defrost, emergency flasher, home and radio volumes. Even if the general climate controls are touchscreen, the graphics are big enough to operate handily enough. One downside is the lack of Bluetooth connection for CarPlay, but most can live with that. On the driver's side, the instrumentation is pretty clear and informative, though I could do without the brown stripes decorations.
The centre console has some things storage and a snazzy transmission shifter and big start-stop button. The steering wheel controls are OK, though I'm not a fan of the toggle bits. The MG motif in its octagon is a reminder of an automotive heritage that still twangs the memory strings even if it is owned by SAIC Automotive.
This top level version is only €5,000 more than the entry car, and for that you get a bigger infotainment screen, leather-style seats and trim that are well presented indeed, heated seats and steering wheel and electrically adjusted driver's seat, full LED lighting front and rear, a really good surround-view rear camera and inbuilt navigation that's quite a tidy system.
There's just the one powertrain, based on a 1.5 petrol unit and electric motor-battery setup that offers a total output of 196hp. Performance is adequately brisk and smooth, and given the size of the car a fuel consumption of around 6L/100km was satisfactory to me. I was impressed at how much on highway speeds that the car was travelling in electric mode.
The ZS Hybrid+ all looks good. It all feels good.The car is priced very well on the buyer side and comes with a 7-year warranty. Even though the ZS didn't quite make the five stars in the EuroENCAP, the competition in Europe is right to be scared.
PRICE: From €28,999; Review car €33,995. WHAT I LIKED: This is a real contender in an important buyer space.
