MG HS Trophy review 2024

Make and model: MG HS
Description: Medium-sized SUV
Price range: from £24,995

MG says: “The HS petrol and plug-in hybrid models underline MG’s commitment to exceptional value whilst delivering an extensive array of features.”

We say: The new MG HS is a huge step forward from the previous model. As a plug-in hybrid, it combines zero-emission electric city driving with plenty of long-distance range from the petrol engine.

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Introduction

As you may already know, the British company that was MG was rescued from imminent collapse by a Chinese company in the mid-2000s. It is now one of a portfolio of car brands belonging to Chinese giant SAIC. While some here in the UK are still determined to view the previous incarnation of MG sports cars through rose-coloured glasses, the reality is that the company is now more financially secure than ever before and selling more cars than ever before.

We’re now entering the second generation of cars developed by SAIC for MG, with brand-new versions of the MG 3 small hatchback, ZS small SUV and this HS mid-sized SUV all launched in 2024. All are massive improvements over the original versions, putting them firmly in the mix alongside big-name European brands, rather than being sold on price alone.

The MG HS is the company’s best-selling car in the UK, especially to fleet and Motability customers. The UK is also MG’s largest market for this model, taking more than a quarter of global HS sales. So it’s an important car for the company to get right.

What is it?

The MG HS is a medium-sized SUV-styled vehicle that is aimed at the heart of the modern family car segment. Size-wise, it compares to models like the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, Ford Kuga and so on. But price-wise, MG still holds a sizeable advantage, with pricing that tends to be anywhere from £5-£10K less than most of those rivals.

As of right now, you have a choice of petrol or plug-in hybrid power, with a basic (no plug) hybrid arriving in the next couple of months. If you’re interested in a plug-in hybrid model, the mid-sized SUV segment is the biggest sector of the market so there’s plenty of choice to be had.

In terms of styling, the new HS follows MG’s latest styling direction, which means sharp triangular headlights (either sleek or squinty, depending on your point of view) and a wide gaping maw of a grille. At the back, there’s a full-width light bar as is becoming popular with many brands, and lots of lower cladding all around the car to emphasise the rugged, pointlessly off-roady look that buyers love.

What do you get for your money?

As with most MG models, there are two trim levels to choose from – in this case, SE and Trophy. Both trim levels are available with a choice of a petrol engine (with either manual or automatic gearbox) or a petrol/electric plug-in hybrid powertrain (automatic only).

Pricing starts at £25K for the petrol manual in SE trim, while choosing the automatic gearbox adds an extra £1,500 to bring the total to £26.5K. Trophy models start at £27.5K for the manual and £29K for the auto. The plug-in hybrid models are priced at £31.5K for SE and £34K for Trophy.

The £2.5K premium for the Trophy-spec cars seems pretty good value, and MG expects that up to 90% of customers will go for the higher trim level. For the extra cash, you get ‘leather-style’ upholstery instead of cloth, electric adjustment (with memory for the driver) and heating for both front seats, dual-zone climate control, power tailgate, a couple more speakers for the stereo, 360-degree parking cameras, wireless charging and a few other minor bits.

All of the safety kit is included as standard on both trim levels, so you get blind-spot detection, lane-keeping assist, rear cross-traffic alert and so on. However, if you choose the petrol engine with a manual gearbox, you don’t get adaptive cruise control or traffic jam assist (which is fairly normal, since the cruise control can’t shift gears or prevent the car from stalling when you come to a stop).

Expert tips

• Seven-year/80,000-mile new car warranty
• All-new engines and gearboxes with the new model, rather than carrying over old units from the old model
• 85-90% of sales are expected to be top-spec Trophy models
• Plug-in model has low 5% benefit-in-kind tax rating, which is lowest available for a plug-in model

What’s the MG HS like inside?

When you compare the interior of the new HS with the old model (which MG conveniently had on hand at the launch for just such a purpose), you realise how much of an improvement the new model is. As well as being bigger in pretty much every direction, the fit and finish of the cabin are significantly better.

As with most new cars, the dashboard is dominated by screens. In this case, we have a pair of screen mounted side-by-side, which is becoming the default layout for many car manufacturers. In front of the driver is a 12-inch screen with speed, revs, fuel and all the usual information. Next to that is the central 12-inch touchscreen for controlling the car’s infotainment system. This has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, as well as MG’s own apps and system settings so you can disable all the annoying EU beeps and bongs (of which there are many, see further down).

MG has worked to improve the operating system for its screens, which work much more responsively than we found on the MG 4 several months ago. It’s still not the best in the business, but is definitely much easier to live with than before.

The seats are comfortable enough, although our drive time at the launch wasn’t really long enough to give all our lower backs and joints a proper workout. Rear seat space is good, and much better than the previous model. The boot is also a decent size and shape, offering plenty of room for your family’s inevitable accumulation of junk for a weekend away.

Expert tips

• Boot is a good size – 507 litres – and is the same size for petrol and plug-in hybrid models, which is unusual
• New HS is about 5cm longer than the old model, all of which is aimed at the cabin and boot space
• Optional tan ‘leather’ (an extra £500) is very nice, much better than the usual black
• Ergonomics not quite right, my right ankle got sore after half an hour or so
• Steering wheel not the most comfortable, with buttons that are not logical or clearly labelled

What’s the MG HS like to drive?

The improvement in quality from sitting in the driver’s seat translates into a similar step forward in how the new MG HS drives. Overall, it’s smooth, comfortable, quiet and refined – and as good as most rivals in its class, if not better. Like most family SUVs, there’s no excitement to be had, but most customers are not motoring journalists and are not too bothered about that…

Performance in the standard petrol version, however, was pretty sluggish. We were driving the cars alone with no passengers and no luggage and it still felt slow. With your whole family on board, it would be notably worse. If you’re going to be spending much time on A-roads and motorways, you’ll really want the plug-in hybrid model.

The plug-in hybrid model has a commendable official electric range of 75 miles. We didn’t drive it in EV mode anywhere near long enough to see how close we could get to that figure, but it’s significantly better than most plug-in hybrids get using the same government tests. If you have the ability to regularly charge your HS at home, you could potentially end up doing the vast majority of your driving on electric power only for very little money, only needing the petrol engine for long trips or when you need some extra oomph that the electric motor can’t provide on its own.

Expert tips

• Generally quiet and smooth
• Petrol model felt underpowered
• Excellent EV range in plug-in hybrid

How safe is the MG HS?

It’s all good news on the safety front with the new MG HS. Euro NCAP tested the car at the end of 2024 and gave it a five-star safety rating, with excellent scores in all categories. The HS does well at both avoiding an accident and protecting you if a crash is unavoidable, for both adult and child occupants (assuming the kids are in age-appropriate car seats).

What’s also impressive is that every model in the HS range gets all the available safety equipment as standard, rather than having to pay extra for the latest tech. The only point to note is that manual gearbox models (with the plain petrol engine, as the plug-in hybrids are all autos) don’t get adaptive cruise control or traffic jam assist as the car can’t shift gears to maintain speed or prevent stalling in traffic. But that’s the same for any car, not an MG issue.

The only real annoyance is not MG’s fault but the EU’s. Every new car comes with a hideous cacophony of warning beeps and bongs to alert you to any speed limit changes, or if you’re exceeding the limit by 1mph, or if you look away from the windscreen (sometimes even to check a mirror or look over your shoulder). You can switch these off, but some of them will always reactivate every time you start the car because the EU says they have to. It’s annoying and it doesn’t make anything safer, but we’re stuck with it because no car manufacturers will produce UK-specific settings that are not EU-compatible. Sorry.

Expert tips

• All models have high level of safety kit as standard
• EU-mandated warning beeps and bongs are horrendously annoying

MG HS economy, battery range and charging

Fuel economy on the petrol models is not amazing, with official averages of 37mpg for the auto and 38mpg for the manual. There are plenty of rivals that can do much better than this. As for the plug-in hybrid, you can safely ignore the official government fuel economy figure of 565mpg(!) because it’s nonsense. Don’t blame MG, the tests were concocted by the EU (which we were a part of at the time and still use today). New plug-in hybrid tests are coming later this year, which will apparently result in more accurate real-world figures – although we’ve heard that from officials before.

The official electric range of the plug-in hybrid is an impressive 75 miles, which is significantly better than most rivals. The plug point is above the left-rear wheel, so you may find reversing into charging bays is better than driving in forwards to make sure the cable reaches your car.

Expert tips

• 27kWh battery, which equates to an official 75-mile range
• Claimed 30+ more miles on battery than a Ford Kuga, Hyundai Tucson or Kia Sportage

Verdict

The second-generation MG HS family SUV is impressive. You get plenty of standard kit at a price that’s better than most rivals, and its safety scores are excellent. The driving experience is dull but comfortable, which is more than enough for most buyers. If you want an exciting drive, a £30K family SUV is the wrong place to look anyway.

The plug-in hybrid model is definitely easier to recommend unless you do all your driving around town. Performance when accelerating up to motorway speeds is much stronger, and you may well find that you can do most of your local commuting on electric power only.

The icing on the cake is MG’s seven-year new car warranty, which is equal to the best in the industry. Kia also offers seven years, along with new Chinese rivals Omoda and Jaecoo, but most other brands still only give you the bare-bones three-year warranty.

All in all, the new MG HS is a very good family car that’s well worth considering if you’re in the market. It’s night-and-day better than the previous model, and is as good as most rivals for less money than most of them.

Expert recommendations

• Plug-in hybrid model has much better performance for a family SUV
• Trophy spec is £2.5K dearer than SE but offers decent extra kit for the money

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