• Just one petrol hybrid engine option
• Excellent fuel economy around town
• Decent warranty, still an unknown over long-term dealer support

What are the running costs?

There’s only one engine to choose from, but from what we’ve seen, this seems to have most things covered. We’re yet to put the MG3 Hybrid through extensive fuel consumption testing, it’s shaping up to be very competitive. Bear in mind, too, the low cash price and competitive finance costs and this will remain one of the cheaper small cars to run on a cost-per-mile basis.

The numbers back this up – the MG3 Hybrid has an official WLTP combined fuel economy figure of 64.2mpg and CO2 emissions are 100g/km. In real-world testing, with admittedly motorway-biased driving, it averaged 50.5mpg, with nearer 60mph in slower, urban driving. I’m looking forward to testing this further, because this is quite a result considering the car’s performance.

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Servicing and warranty

MG offers one of the longest warranties in the business, matching Kia’s seven-year cover. Only Toyota and Dacia can beat this with their 10-year Relax and Zen warranty schemes – assuming you always get your car serviced at a Toyota or Dacia dealer.

Reliability

MG’s reputation for reliability hasn’t been faultless, but previous owner experience of the MG3 is that it’s been largely faithful, and some of the earlier parts supply and dealer issues have been ironed out. Friendly local MG dealers and that seven-year/80,000-mile warranty make things much more palatable, but this is an area that still feels largely unknown.