MG HS review

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Affordable family SUV enters its second generation with a redesign, an interior revamp and more technology

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In its century-long history, MG has launched several cars that changed the face of the brand. Cast your mind back to the MG B, deemed by many to be the first ‘modern’ MG, and to the MG F, which revitalised the brand’s sporting image. The MG HS hasn’t yet institutionalised itself in quite the same way.

But it has become one of the UK greatest unhailed commercial success stories, now sitting as it does right on the fringes of the chart of the UK's top five most popular new cars. According to the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, MG sold more than 28,000 HSs up to the end of November 2024, beating the Tesla Model Y, Audi A3, Peugeot 3008, Volkswagen Polo and plenty of other household names.

MG was deemed the eighth least reliable brand by What Car? in 2023, but it offers the HS with an eight-year/80,000-mile warranty to ease your worries.
Jack Warrick
Staff Writer

Arriving six years after its predecessor, this second-generation HS brings a complete exterior design overhaul, a heavily updated interior and a suite of technology updates – all of which, MG hopes, will cement its position as an alternative value option in the ever-competitive SUV segment. But its crowning glory is what it offers as a plug-in hybrid: a near-25kWh drive battery, some 75 miles of official electric range and benefit-in-kind tax qualification at just 5% of its showroom value for the 2024-25 tax year, with that showroom value securable at little more than £30,000, if you so choose. 

In the broadest of terms, then, the HS might be the UK's best-value, real-world fleet car – although in simpler ones, MG sees it as a rival to the Ford Kuga, Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Qashqai.

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In pure petrol form, it usefully undercuts those cars, with a starting price of £24,995, so it's enticing value whether you're a retail or fleet customer. 

MG HS range at a glance

VersionPower
HS SE168bhp
HS Trophy168bhp
HS PHEV SE295bhp
HE PHEV Trophy295bhp
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DESIGN & STYLING

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MG HS review front quarter

The new HS shares many of its visual cues with the new MG 3 hybrid supermini, including slimmer headlights and a revised front grille. Changes at the rear introduce a new light bar and reworked bumpers.

MG offers the HS with five colours: black, white, grey, silver and red. That famous octagonal badge moves from the centre of the grille onto the bonnet and takes on a more flattened look, in line with the brand's new design ethos. 

The car is 30mm lower but 26mm longer and 14mm wider than its predecessor, while its wheelbase has increased by 45mm to 2756mm. In the metal, it look more like a natural rival for Skoda Kodiaq or Peugeot 5008 than the cars from the segment below against which it's priced, although MG doesn't offer a seven-seat version.

Under the bonnet sits either a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 168bhp and 203lb ft of torque or an improved plug-in hybrid powertrain. The latter uses an enlarged 24.7kWh battery, a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, a 207bhp primary electric drive motor and a second starter-generator, for total system outputs of 295bhp and 258lb ft. Like the smaller ZS Hybrid+, it drives primarily through its electric motor, and when it's running, its engine connects to the front wheels through a two-speed automatic gearbox. On paper, it can hit 62mph in 6.8sec.

However, the key selling point of the PHEV is its electric range of 75 miles, which puts rivals including the Kuga, Tucson and Kia Niro to shame, because all offer fewer than 45 miles.

A mild-hybrid petrol HS is also due at the start of 2025. 

MG expects the pure-petrol model to be the biggest seller in the UK, but with numbers like those, the PHEV shouldn't be far behind.

INTERIOR

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MG HS review full cabin

The larger dimensions of the new HS lay the foundation for passengers to enjoy a practical, comfortable, roomy cabin. The dashboard gestures towards premium appeal, adorned as it is with soft-touch and leather-like materials - although closer inspection reveals that some look and feel more plasticky in nature. Seat comfort is good and visibility likewise.

There’s generous space for tall passengers in the front and rear, and the boot measures a very generous 507 litres – 44 litres more than the previous car. It’s also notably more capacious than the Kuga (412 litres) but beaten hands down by the Tucson (620 litres).

Ahead of the driver, a 12.3in instrument display is paired with a 12.3in touchscreen infotainment system. Both are clear to read and responsive enough, but for clarity, usability and easy access to critical functions, they're frustrating.

The MG Pilot assisted driving system is included as standard. Some functions work intuitively, such as adaptive cruise; but the driver awareness monitor, which uses a camera mounted on the A-pillar to track the driver’s eye movements, is far too reactive, while the speed-limit reminder alarm and lane-departure warning systems are made harder to access by their location within the touchscreen setup than they should be - and neither is sufficiently mature or sophisticated in its tuning to enable you to leave it active.

The car's driver monitoring system is especially annoying. Take your eyes off the road for a split second – for example, to look at the infotainment, speedometer or even when you’re looking back to reverse – and it will warn you to keep your eyes on the road. It’s an unnecessary distraction, and while it can be switched off, it reactivates itself whenever you restart the car.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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MG HS dynamic driving 2

The HS range opens with the 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol version, which produces 168bhp and 203lb ft. 

It’s not as quick as the PHEV, reaching 62mph in 9.4sec, but this engine is nevertheless responsive and quiet around town. 

A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, although we tested a car equipped with MG’s seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. It’s a responsive unit and, if anything, feels a little let down by the engine’s strained-feeling mid-range power delivery, when the engine takes on a particularly gruff note. Once you’re up to cruising speeds, though, with less being asked of the engine, progress becomes more serene.

The PHEV, meanwhile, allows quite a lot of fairly assertive electric-only driving. It accelerates from 0-62mph in 6.8sec and doesn't feel like it needs to fall back on its engine for a fairly gutsy turn of speed around town. On the motorway and on quicker A-roads, the engine's contribution is more regular and important - but it always seems to run commendably quietly and 'in the background', unlike some hybrid systems with their irksome 'hamster-wheel' or 'elastic band' -style power deliveries.

Run in longer-distance 'range-extended' mode, the PHEV's additional power is welcome, and it feels sufficient to deal with the weight of the car (187kg) well. The transition between electric and petrol power is quiet and almost entirely seamless: the engine kicks in with little noise, which makes for a more relaxing drive. And we can confirm that, while the official electric range of 75 miles is a little optimistic in reality, you can certainly expect between 55 and 65 miles, depending how and where you're driving.

RIDE & HANDLING

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MG HS rear

The HS's steering has three modes, ranging from Comfort to Sport, and these vary the weight of the action to some extent, but it's always a fairly slow, amply assisted system that doesn't entice much.

There’s a dullness to the set-up that makes the HS harder to place precisely and less assured in its road-holding than we would like. Certainly, a Qashqai or Tucson is easier to dart down streets in.

Comfort mode lightens the rack, and this is the mode we prefer for day-to-day driving. 

Elsewhere, the new HS is more comfortable than its predecessor, offering a compliant ride over most surfaces – but it does have a way of communicating its size and weight on the road, particularly in the case of the PHEV, and tends to gives comfort the lead over body control on quicker country roads, as it begins to roll and wallow a little at speed. Keep your hurry restrained, however, and the HS is an entirely competent big passenger car. 

Around town, certain rivals deal better with more threadbare road surfaces - but, for the most part, the HS is well isolated and refined. There is noticeable road noise when you're travelling at higher speeds, although it's not intrusive.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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MG HS review front lead image

An eye-catching selling point of the HS is its hyper-competitive pricing: the petrol starts at £24,995, while the PHEV starts at £31,495. 

For those prices, both trims that MG offers – SE and Trophy – are well-equipped, with Trophy including 19in wheels, a powered tailgate, a 360deg reversing camera and wireless smartphone charging.

Its rivals are more expensive. The Peugeot 3008 PHEV costs almost £10,000 more, for instance, and the Qashqai in its most basic form starts from just over £30,000, as does the Tuscon, at £32,000. 

The HS PHEV lands in the 5% BIK tax band, which, combined with that low purchase price, should make for running costs particularly appealing to fleet operators. In the longer term, BIK tax on PHEVs is set to rise considerably - but not until 2028. Until then, with plenty of company car drivers looking for a car they can run both easily and cheaply, with practicality to meet their needs and without the limitations of an EV, the HS PHEV should continue to sell well.

The PHEV doesn't offer DC rapid charging and at its 7kW maximum charge rate needs close to four hours to go from empty to full. It also seems to rely on its engine as a source of heat for its HVAC system, whose temperature tends to fluctuate a little depending whether it's running in EV or HEV mode.

VERDICT

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MG HS static parked 2

The HS is a simple prospect at heart: although certainly not the classic retail-market, budget-brand offer that goes above and beyond in some respects but lags behind class norms in others. It's clearly a more rounded proposition than that.

For one thing, it's probably more family car than you will expect you can afford. Whether you want pure petrol or PHEV power, this car is priced to offer markedly more than its nearest rivals - on space, on performance and, in the case of the PHEV, critically on electric range also. And so, whether you simply want a tax-efficient, family-friendly fleet option or are genuinely interested in spending less at the pump and maximising your zero-emissions motoring in between visits, it has the potential to achieve quite a lot for both your wallet and your carbon footprint.

There are some notes of maturity and sophistication about the car's rolling comfort and refinement levels, while the drivability and civility of the PHEV version is also worth singling out for praise. The petrol model is a little noisier and less well-mannered, with the kind of powertrain you might expect of a budget option.

The sheer size and comfort-first agenda of the car's chassis makes it less agile than some rivals, and it's unlikely to appeal much to interested drivers, who are equally likely to turned off by the irksome ADAS, which should be more discreetly tuned and easier to disable.

We would recommend the PHEV over the petrol. It may be a little derivative to look at and forgettable to drive, but its rational qualities are clear to perceive and help to make it a value family car that you would feel few reasons to apologise for.

 

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.