2020 MG HS vs 2021

What's the difference?

If you plugged a computer into Australia’s car market and had it design a car, I’m fairly sure it would come up with something like the MG HS.

Does it compete in one of the hottest-selling segments in Australia? Yep, it’s a mid-size SUV. Does it compete on price? Yep, it’s impressively cheap when compared to segment favourites. Is it well specified? Yep, it ticks pretty much every box there is to tick when it comes to gear. Does it look good? Yep, it borrows key styling elements from successful rivals.

Now the tricky one: Is there more to the story? Yep, turns out there is.

See, while MG has made impressive progress with its colour-by-numbers approach to car design, selling increasingly large numbers of its MG3 hatch and ZS small SUV, it’s still had a lot of catching up to do to be considered serious competition for Australian consumers.

So, should you be wooed by the HS SUV? Does it represent true progress for a fledging competitor brand? We went to its Australian launch to find out.

MG is gaining popularity at a rock star rate with more and more popping up on our city streets. But what does this mean? Are they any good, or are they just affordable and great looking?

Well, we’ve tested the MG HS, which is the brand’s mid-sized SUV, in the Excite grade which sits high in the range.

Our car also had the less powerful of two engines available – the 1.5-litre four-cylinder with front-wheel drive.

So, is the MG HS Excite a good urban car? Read on to find out.