MG 3 Review 2025

Time is a cruel mistress in the car world. Such is the never-ending conveyor belt of new models going on sale, yesterday’s bright young thing needs a facelift after three years, before being replaced ahead of its seventh birthday. So the new MG 3’s predecessor must have been a corker to have lasted 11 years, right?

Errm not exactly. While electrification has reinvigorated Chinese-owned MG’s range in recent years — its battery-powered MG 4 and plug-in hybrid MG HS sell especially well — the small hatchback entry point to the line-up seemed almost forgotten both by customers and its maker.

Yes the original MG 3 had received a bold new grille and interior revisions in 2018 but it was already five years old at that point — the value-centric veneer that had appealed early in its life was already wearing thin, while its petrol-only drive system was also off the pace.

So great is the leap to this all-new MG 3 that you’d be forgiven for wondering if there was a generation in between that somehow wasn’t shipped to these shores. As with MG’s other models, good value is a core principle of the 3’s appeal but there’s now much more to it than that.

That’s welcome because competition in the small hatchback market remains strong, despite notions you may have contrary to that since the Ford Fiesta’s demise.

Among the cream of the alternatives is the recently refreshed Renault Clio which along with the dependable Skoda Fabia offer the MG a challenge on the value front, although they’re all trumped for outright cost by the Dacia Sandero.

Pricier alternatives include the upmarket vibe that’s intrinsic to the Volkswagen Polo’s appeal with the space efficiency champion is the cleverly packaged Honda Jazz — its 1205-litre seats-down boot capacity trumps the MG’s 983-litre volume.

Keeping things nice and simple is the choice of just two MG 3 trim levels from its summer 2024 launch, following the company’s existing SE and Trophy hierarchy and priced at £18,495 and £20,495, respectively, backed-up by a seven-year/80,000-mile warranty.

Standard kit on the MG 3 SE includes a 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen to access the integrated navigation system, DAB radio plus phone connectivity via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You’ll also find automatic climate control, electric windows all round, electric door mirrors, rear parking sensors and the MG Pilot array of driver assistance systems.

Spend £2000 extra for the MG 3 Trophy if you fancy having your front seats and steering wheel heated, partial faux leather upholstery, keyless entry and starting, LED headlights, automatic wipers, darkened rear privacy windows, a 360-degree camera system and blind-spot detection.

On a similarly simplistic theme, there’s just one petrol-electric self-charging hybrid option for the new MG 3, with a novel arrangement where the less powerful engine is essentially supplementing the electric motor rather than the opposite way around, which is more usual. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a three-speed automatic transmission.

Working in unison the Hybrid+ system produces a rudely healthy 194PS and 313Nm of torque but don’t be lulled into thinking of the MG 3 as a hot hatch. Although its 8.0-second 0-62mph time is certainly brisk, the electronically capped 106mph top speed confirms efficiency is at the heart of this car’s mechanical make-up.

How efficient are we talking? On the WLTP Combined cycle the MG 3’s quoted at 64.2mpg with CO2 emissions of 100g/km, equating to a 26% Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) taxation rate for company car drivers for 2025/26.

Factor-in the real-world fuel economy’s likely to be in the low-to-mid 50mpgs and that even the priciest MG 3 is just north of £20,000 and the car’s modest monthly expenditure shines even brighter.

Keep this page bookmarked to read our comprehensive full MG 3 review in the weeks ahead.