The new flagship of the reborn English (now Chinese) brand
TopGear just rolled out of the new MG Marvel R. In TopGear Magazine 196 you will find the complete test report, here are the highlights.
Test object: MG Marvel R
Performance: Performance
Location: The Netherlands
Weather conditions: Dull, gray – typical Dutch summer weather even on the first day of autumn
MG Marvel R?
Yep – this is the third model that MG is launching in the Netherlands after the (with very quiet drum introduced) ZS EV and the (equally silent) EHS. This time they’re doing it a little differently, because this is their top model, from which they expect a lot.
Wait a second. MG – what was that again?
MG is basically a very old brand. It was founded in 1924 in Longbridge, England by William Morris – the letters stand for Morris Garages. It was best known for affordable but sporty open two-seaters like the MGA, MGB and MG Midget. After British Leyland bought the brand and (like everything it touched) carefully scrapped it, it ended up with Rover. It did, itself meanwhile taken over by BMW, an attempt at a revival, with, for example, the MG F. In 2005 the bankrupt estate was sold to China, where it eventually ended up with SAIC. That stands for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation; the company is the largest car manufacturer in China and the number twelve in the world. It makes cars for Volkswagen and General Motors, among others.
That’s not wrong!
No, you can certainly end up worse as a dead brand. Especially because SAIC decided that MG would be the brand with which they should take the leap to Europe. And you can clearly see that they have built a car there in Shanghai before: the MG Marvel R is well put together in every way.
Ah, yes, the MG Marvel R, that’s what we were talking about. What is it?
An SUV, of course. And an electric one, of course. It’s a big thing – think Skoda Enyaq/VW ID.4, then add a few inches. Funny detail is that SAIC has left/established a design studio in MG’s hometown of Longbridge. This was to ensure that their Chinese product would match European tastes. They are that smart.
He doesn’t look bad, does he?
No, fine even. It is typically one of those cars that you can objectively never call ugly. It does get a bit generic, though, all of those electric SUVs. This could also have been a Kia, or an Aiways, or something else without a real face. But indeed: nice thing.
Can he also do something?
Of course. The battery is always 70 kWh, enough for an acceptable range. That differs depending on whether you want the rear-wheel drive (402 kilometers) or the four-wheel drive (370 kilometers). Before you have already made your choice based on that: there are more differences. For example, the first has two electric motors and 180 hp and 410 Nm, the second has three, and 288 hp and 665 Nm. A sprint to 100 km/h takes 7.9 seconds and 4.9 seconds respectively.
Give me that second one!
We thought too. So we drove it and it went well. He is of course quickly tired, quiet, comfortable and spacious. He has no problems with corners and the steering has also been decidedly vaguer and more non-communicative. The huge upright screen is easy to operate, although we had a bit of a fight with the Apple CarPlay navigation. Not something you can blame the MG Marvel R for. It’s packed with auxiliary electronics, has a panoramic roof, heated seats, 19-inch wheels and a heat pump as standard, all of those things you want. The only thing we could think of was a head-up display – let’s just not have that. Furthermore: nothing to wish for. Well, the boot space is okay, but no more than that. Because of all the stuff under the floor you will have to lift high and you will have 357 liters left. That contrasts rather sharply with the 585 liters of the aforementioned Enyaq.
But can I go somewhere in terms of maintenance?
Yes of course. MG ended up here under the wings of Van Mossel, now only the largest dealer group in the Netherlands. They have set up five (will be more) special MG branches. And you won’t need a lot of maintenance anyway, because electric. And a full seven-year warranty. So…
Okay – how much does that MG Marvel R cost?
That’s not entirely clear yet. It should start ‘around 40,000 euros’, where we suspect that it will be one euro below that. However, that would be for the Comfort version, which is not yet certain whether it will come to the Netherlands. Probably only the fully packed rear and four-wheel drive will come here (in October, December), for which you have to think of 45k and 50k respectively. Big money, but competitive.
I hear another ‘but’ coming…
Well no. Yes. New. Or anyway. The annoying thing for us car journalists is that this is yet another electric SUV that you can hardly find fault with with good decency. It’s just fine, perfectly fine. And roughly speaking exactly same as what we have been riding for the past few months. The distinction is getting harder and harder to make – it kind of takes the fun out of it. Anyway, our problem – no consumer has to worry about that, of course…
