SUV Register News
MG Car Club SUV Register Holds First AGM
The SUV Register held its first AGM on Saturday 29th July 2023 at Kimber House, headquarters of the MG Car Club. A small turnout of members were present at Kimber House and via Zoom to discuss and vote on a variety of motions, including electing the Register’s first formal leadership committee. All members elected to Register committee roles are unpaid volunteers who have kindly agreed to give up their time to support the Register and the MG Car Club.
Chris Green was elected as Chair, formalising a role he has been carrying out for much of the past year. John Watson was elected Treasurer, again formalising a role he has kindly been dealing with for the Register for some time. Mark Cropper has been elected as Secretary.
In addition, Chris Green will continue to handle public relations and social media and John Watson will continue to oversee merchandising. Andy Knott, the MG Car Club Manager, has kindly agreed to continue supporting the Register by writing our notes for Safety Fast. We are still looking for a volunteer to handle events participation.
Chris Green provided a recap of the last year, detailing the success MG Motor is having with its SUV models in the UK, and noting that the recent refresh of the HS and HS PHEV models can only bolster the success of the brand in the UK and elsewhere. The Register has undergone a significant change in the last year, with a boost to our online presence inluding much more posting and conversation on our Facebook group (our primary community), as well as us creating original content to post on our MGCC microsite at https://www.mgcc.co.uk/suv-register/.
We now have an active presence on Twitter, Instagram and Mastadon, and we have longer-term plans for creating and posting content (with help from our members) to YouTube, TikTok and Threads. A more extensive web site, independent of the MG Car Club microsite we currently have, is also a future aspiration. This is so we can better build a resource for storing and sharing technical and user support information for the SUV models. Knowledge and insight is often hard to find on Facebook once it has been superseded by a newer post.
Event participation has been disappointing. Reflecting both a lack of participation and interest among heritage owners (those with a pre-MG Motor interest in the marque) and the fact that many modern MG car owners (MG Motor models) are currently far less interested in exhibiting their cars as they are with driving them and getting advice and help on how to fix problems, use them more or better.
We were unable to secure enough volunteers to support a formal SUV Register presence at the MG100 Silverstone event, or at the Post Abingdon Weekender, although Chris Green attended the 2023 Post Abingdon event in SUV Register merchandise in order to offer a visible presence and talk to attendees about the SUV models and the Register. The lack of volunteer participation is the most significant problem we have as a Register.
John Watson provided attendees with a review of the Register accounts and these were adopted. It was agreed that £501 of revenue from the 2022 MG40 Post Abingdon Weekender will be given to charity as originally intended, split 50:50 between the Sepsis Trust and Prostate Cancer UK. We hope this will be the first of many occasions where the Register is able to support charity causes. The Register is also looking for a new banking facility in order to reduce running costs. An update on this will be made once we have researched alternative bank account providers.
It was agreed that we will discuss with our merchandise provider the practicality of offering alternative sizes for the SUV Register window stickers.
Finally, a motion was passed to look at ways to collaborate with other MG Car Club Registers in order to make better use of combined resources and mitigate the shortage of volunteers.
Our thanks to those who attended.
New MG HS Plug-in Hybrid Unveiled
After MG announced a facelifted and tech-updated new version of its extremely popular petrol HS SUV, it quietly slipped out the same update for the plug-in hybrid variant.
Available in two trim variants and starting from £31,095, the SE model includes the MG Pilot driver assistance systems, dual-zone auto air conditioning, 360° parking camera, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and heated front seats. The top-spec Trophy model starts from £33,595, and adds a power tailgate, rear privacy glass, adjustable colour ambient cabin lighting, and sports style front seats. Two-tone red and black seats are still available as a £500 upgrade at the time of ordering.
The new models do not have a panoramic sunroof – this has not been reintroduced after it was deleted across the entire UK range due to parts shortage issues. Also, early models of the new HS that have arrived with customers still do not have a proper roof-mounted DAB aerial. MG Motor is still using a stick-on window aerial with the promise of a retrofit once parts are available.
No ETA has been provided for resolving the aerial issue, but given that this solution has been used on ZS, ZS EV, HS and HS EV vehicles for a year now, there will be quite a queue at the dealerships if and when MG makes good on its promise to replace the aerial with a neater roof-mounted one.
MG Car Club members can secure significant discounts on both MG HS models, as well as both MG ZS models using the MG Affinity Scheme.
MG Motor UK Launches Facelift MG HS SUV in the UK
We knew it was coming, it was always a matter of when. We are very excited to report that MG Motor has officially announced the updated MG HS for the UK, with prices starting at £23,495 on the road.
The most notable external change is a new front bumper, front grill and front headlight design, but there are several interior improvements too.
Two trim variants will be available – SE and Trophy – both offering MG’s 1.5L turbo-charged four cylinder petrol engine delivering around 162hp and a top speed of 118mph. Both trims offer the option of a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox. Combined fuel consumption is reported at 37.9mpg in the manual and 36.6mpg in the automatic.
Cruise cruise control is available on the manual transmission, while the DCT has Adaptive Cruise Control like its predecessor.
The SE trim includes a new 18’’ diamond cut wheel design, as well as bi-function LED headlights with front and rear sequential indicators for the first time, air conditioning, satellite navigation, rear parking camera with sensors, rain sensing wipers, keyless entry and a leather steering wheel as standard.
The Trophy trim expands on this by adding leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual zone climate control, ambient interior lighting, rear privacy glass and an upgraded 6-speaker audio system.
Prices
| New MG HS Models | On The Road Prices |
| SE (Manual) | £23,495 |
| SE (DCT) | £24,995 |
| Trophy (Manual) | £25,995 |
| Trophy (DCT) | £27,495 |
Both models also get a revised rear end with dual exhaust pipes and new rear LED taillight clusters. A new paint colour, Urban Grey, has been introduced in response to the current popularity of grey cars over silver. New 18-inch diamond-cut wheels have also been introduced.
Changes on the Inside
Inside the new look car, there is an updated infotainment system. The 10.1-inch touchscreen display of the previous model is retained, but benefits from uprated electronics behind the scenes which should result in faster, smoother and more reliable operation (much like the infotainment update delivered in the facelift ZS EV). The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster behind the wheel is also retained, but updated. New soft-touch materials have been added throughout the cabin, with the Trophy model also benefiting from the addition of ambient lighting.
Safety equipment across both options include a rearview camera (but sadly not the 360 degree camera system from the ZS), rear parking sensors and the MG Pilot drive assist package..
Let’s Address the Elephant in the Room – The Hybrid
You will notice we’ve made no mention of a facelift hybrid model. That’s because there isn’t one, at least not yet. MG Motor UK will continue to sell the existing pre-facelift hybrid model for the time being. The facelift and updates only apply to the petrol model at this time.
This may simply be MG Motor clearing stocks of the HS PHEV out of the production line and the dealer network before introducing a comparable updated version, or it could be an indicator that the hybrid might be phased out in the UK by the all-electric MG Marvel, long rumoured for a UK launch. This, of course, is simply speculation at this point.
The new MG HS can be pre-ordered from your local MG dealer right now. No news on when demo models will begin appearing in the dealer network, but when we know we will pass this on.
