MG Motor UK HS (2018-2024) review

The 1.5-litre turbo petrol starts from £23,495 and the 1.5-litre turbo PHEV starts from £31,095. On lease you’re looking at around £365 and £535 respectively with a £5k down payment, 10,000-mile limit and four-year repayment period through MG’s own finance scheme.

Rivals? A Seat Ateca, Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq all start from just over £26k, while a Kia Sportage (nearly £28k) Vauxhall Grandland (£29k) and Peugeot 3008 (£32.5k) are pricier still, making the HS comfortably the cheapest.

That said, if it's a bargain you're after above all else, is a £17k Dacia Jogger not worth a look instead?

What’s the difference between trim levels?

The entry-level Excite comes with 18-inch alloys, auto headlamps and wipers, keyless entry, push button start, a 10.1-inch colour touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, rear parking sensors and 360-degree parking camera, heated folding mirrors and silver roof rails as standard.

Top spec Exclusive trim adds a powered tailgate, panoramic roof (with electric opening sunroof – when did you last see one of those?), full-leather upholstery in black or red and black, with ambient interior lighting, sports-style front seats, metal pedals, and LED headlights and indicators. 

Arctic White (regular petrol only) and Holborn Blue are your only standard colours. All others are £595, aside from the Dynamic Red you see pictured above, which sets you back an extra hundred quid on top.

What’s the best spec?

We’d wager that anyone considering one of these is doing so on a budget and on that basis alone we’d go for the standard 1.5-litre petrol over the PHEV, which offers a substantial £7,600 saving. Which is substantial when you think real-world economy was barely any different.

Being frugal we’d also go for the base-spec (yet still impressively equipped) Excite trim. MG’s seven-year warranty is the icing on the cake.