This is the new MG3, the car which MG will use to take on the likes of the Ford Fiesta in the crucial supermini market. Unveiled at the Shanghai motor show, the MG3 will hit UK showrooms later this year.
The new model was designed at MG's Longbridge factory and will be built there too, making the MG3 a genuinely British car.
It's the second new model to come from MG since the brand's resurrection in 2006, and, to our eyes, it's a much better looking car than its bigger brother, the MG6.
The MG3 gets a blacked-out A-pillar which gives a wraparound windscreen effect, and is fitted with dual-colour side skirts and diamond-cut dual colour alloy wheels. At the front end, MG has also given the MG3 hockey-stick-shaped LED daytime-running lights.
MG claims that the MG3 offers 'class-leading' rear headroom and is spacious enough to accommodate four six-foot-tall adults easily.
Under the bonnet, the MG3 gets a 104bhp 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which sends its power to the front wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. It's unclear whether any more engines will be added to the range, but given the increasing popularity of turbocharged engines, we think MG would be foolish not to offer a smaller, blown unit.
One thing which the MG3 has in its favour, however, is that if it is anything like the MG6, it will be brilliant to drive. MG claims that the MG3 will deliver "impressive levels of body control, sharpness and a willingness to corner to engage keen drivers."
Prices have yet to be announced, but we'd estimate that the MG3 will cost from around £9,000 when order books open this summer.
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