Say hello to…
…the new MG HS, the Chinese brand’s mid-size family SUV that’s available as a 1.5-litre petrol with 169hp or as a plug-in hybrid with a whopping 307hp, and an EV-only range of 75 miles.
There are two trim levels.
- SE
- Trophy
Standard equipment on the SE includes 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, 12.3-inch driver’s display, rear parking camera, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, aircon, auto wipers, cruise control, satnav, 4x USB and 19-inch alloys.
Trophy adds heated front seats, powered boot lid, wireless phone charging, dual zone climate control, uprated stereo and 360 degree camera.
Is The MG HS Suitable For My Fleet
Pricing is MG’s strong point and the HS starts from less than £27,000 and as the figures below show, this translates into a very competitive monthly lease rate. The choice of a PHEV is also essential for anyone paying benefit-in-kind. As a family SUV, that competes head on with the likes of the Ford Kuga, the MG HS sits in fleet’s heartland. The boot is a healthy 507 litres and there’s plenty of room to fit four adults in comfort in the cabin.
Leasing An MG HS
Intelligent Car Leasing is offering the MG HS for £376 a month on a 3+36 contract with 10,000 miles a year. Forecast maintenance costs are £32 a month, according to Gensen Reports.
Driving An MG HS
MG has really sharpened up the styling on the new HS which now looks sleek with narrow headlights and a cohesive overall shape.
The cabin is improved too, although some of the materials used are clearly from the value end of the spectrum. That said, they do look like they would be hard wearing and the build quality is good too.
On the road, the MG HS suspension is soft and compliant and the steering is light. The combination works well for comfort both at town speeds an on the motorway.
However, the petrol engined version we tested while not overly noisy, it wasn’t the most refined with vibration coming back through the steering when using larger amounts of throttle.
The throttle response itself was also somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes the HS would accelerate as you’d expect, and other times there would be more or less power than you’d previously experienced for the same situation. It felt like the mild hybrid system was interfering with progress. The stop-start system too was particularly slow to restart result in less than smooth step-off from traffic lights and roundabouts.
However, these points could be driven around if you were extra careful with the accelerator.
What was more difficult to work with was the car’s infotainment and safety systems.
The infotainment was relatively logical to use, but was slow to react to inputs which made turning off the intrusive speed warning and lane keeping a long job every time you got in the car. And beyond that, the MG HS is also fitted with other safety systems that can interfere with the driving experience.
We experienced the HS carry out an automated full ABS emergency stop because another vehicle was approaching on a sideroad. The other car wasn’t and didn’t pull out, it just stopped waiting for a gap in the traffic, however, the MG must have assumed otherwise and if the car behind had been any closer the HS’s surprise stop would have resulted in a collision. After that experience, deactivating that safety system was added to the list of things to turn off when starting the car.
With a few tweaks – mostly software related – the MG HS would be a good car and worth recommending in plug-in form for fleets, particularly given the pricing and practicality.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The MG HS
Close to being a good car, but the slow infotainment system, erratic throttle response and annoying safety tech spoil the experience.
MG HS
- Model: HS 1.5T Trophy auto
- Power: 169hp
- Torque: 275Nm
- Max speed: 121mph
- 0-62mph: 9.6 seconds
- Official efficiency: 37.2mpg
- Test efficiency: 37.2mpg
- CO2 emissions: 173g/km
- BIK tax band 2024/25: 37%
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Why not join the conversation on SME fleets – visit our LinkedIn SME Fleet Discussion page