British Leyland, Austin Rover, MG Rover, or whatever else you want to call it, was like a British soap opera – long running, with a plot lurching from one crisis to another, with never really any glamour and it generally left you feeling disappointed. It should have been all over in 2005 with the appointment of the administrators, but the Chinese decided to kick-start their car industry with the remains of the last British volume carmaker.
MG Roewe, by way of divorce, reconciliation and a name change, has not only taken on the heritage but inadvertently the drama. The Rover SD1, 800 and 75 were all meant to be the last-chance saloon under British ownership, full of potential but never quite achieving what they should have. With Roewe seeming to be the domestic brand, and MG for both export and Chinese sales, it is up to the marque previously best known for small sports cars to breathe life into the company.
In Britain, where there is still considerable nostalgia for Rover and MG, sales were hotly anticipated. Before MG and Roewe rejoined at the end of 2007, both Chinese companies promised imminent sales in Britain. The excitement was lost by the time the MG 6 made it to those shores in 2011. Hampered by an antiquated drivetrain, initial sales were appalling despite it having good handling. Things got off to a better start with the MG 3, thanks to keen pricing and customisability.
With the MG ZS having been unveiled at this month’s Guangzhou Auto Show, we decided to take a look at the brand’s first stab at an SUV – the MG GS – and here, the carmaker put the sport in sports utility vehicle. At last, it’s a car from the new MG that does not suffer from lacklustre performance. For the Chinese market, there is a choice of 1.5 and 2.0 litre turbocharged engines.
Our test car came with the 1.5T developed in collaboration with General Motors, available with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dry dual automatic transmission. With 166hp on tap, the engine gives brisk performance once the turbo kicks in. Changes are smooth with the dual-clutch system. Paddle shifts are only offered on the 2.0T Deluxe trim, so the only option is to use the drive selector. Despite similar weight and dimensions to the Nissan Qashqai, the 1.5T has a slower top speed (190km/h) and uses more fuel than the European specification 1.6T Nissan.
