MG is flying. There is simply no other word for it.
The Chinese-owned British brand is outselling Skoda, Mini, Peugeot, Land Rover and more and will leapfrog Ford by 2026 at this rate.
I guess that’s what happens when you sell good cars with brilliant warranties at excellent prices.
MG delivered more cars in January than in the whole of 2018 and will shift a record 70,000 motors by Christmas.
The multiple award-winning MG 4 is the second best-selling electric car after Tesla’s Model Y and is about to get even better.
There’s a 77kWh extended range version coming soon that’ll do up to 329 miles on a charge.
But I’m more interested in the MG 4 X Power with 443hp and all-wheel drive. I repeat, 443hp.
It’ll catapult from 0-62mph in less than four seconds and has a trick e-diff for darting around considerable corners at substantial speeds.
I’m also told it has the same beefy brakes as a BMW X5. It needs them.
This “sleeper car” is the first of a new breed of hyper-hot hatches and is expected to cost around £38k.
MG’s cheapest motor, the £14k MG 3 petrol, will be getting a complete overhaul early next year and will be powered by a 1.5-litre self-charging hybrid.
MG boss Guy Pigounakis said: “We have seen stupendous growth over the last few years. Everyone said it was a blip when I first started.
“But we’re in the third year of that blip.
“Why are people buying our cars in the numbers they are?
“Because we unashamedly make fantastic value-for-money cars that are well equipped and class-leading.
“I picked up another award for the MG 4 last week.
“It’s won more awards than anything I can think of recently and the orders are stacking up.
“It is pound for pound priced against mainstream petrol competition from Ford, Vauxhall and everybody else. People have latched on to that.
“The other factor that has played massively into our favour and ties directly into this car (Cyberster) is the affection for the brand – it’s the bit that is critical in the last stage of people buying a car, and lots of other products in fairness.
“I genuinely believe the MG brand is an extraordinarily powerful part of the equation. It generates emotion.
“The MG brand among people of a certain age is pretty neutral. There’s not a huge amount of awareness.
“Then you get into people of a slightly different age and all of a sudden you are talking about the good old days and the MG Bs and the MG Metros, all of the good stuff that is associated with MG.
“So it is very important that we understand the legacy of the MG brand and that we steer MG in the right direction in the future.”
Which leads us nicely to Cyberster, a thoroughly modern two-seat roadster as MG nears its centenary year.
Pigounakis said: “I think we have a winner on our hands.
“I look at this car and, in terms of technology, it is going to be right up there at the top of the pile. In terms of aesthetics, it’s a great-looking car. We’re quite comfortable with that £50k-£60k bracket.
“It will be the first all-electric sports car in the market and we know the next one is probably going to be six figures.
“We are confident the dynamics and performance of this car will stand in comparison with anything in the marketplace in a year or two.
“You don’t make a car like this to make profit, you make it to start repositioning the rest of the brand and how people perceive your products.
“I’m assuming we won’t have enough cars to meet demand for the first 12 to 18 months.”
You’ll be able to see Cyberster and MG 4 X Power for yourself at July’s Goodwood Festival Of Speed.
