This is unfortunate: our sister publication Lucire really rated the third-generation MG 3, but Euro NCAP gives a stark warning: during the frontal offset crash test, the driver’s seat latching mechanism failed. This is serious, and such a failure has never been seen before at Euro NCAP.
The driver’s seat twisted part-way during the impact, with poor protection for the dummy’s right leg.
MG has committed to improving the seat latch mechanism’s design to ensure it remains robust in an impact.
Because of its performance in other areas, the 3 still scores four stars, something that Euro NCAP says it wishes to revisit in future rating schemes when there is a component failure. It has issued a warning about the MG 3 and advises buyers to look at its competitors.
ANCAP in Australia had awarded the 3 only three stars initially, but MG improved the crash avoidance systems.
Before the bad news on the safety front, the 3 was looking like a B-segment world-beater that not only rivalled the likes of the Renault Clio and Volkswagen Polo, but it would win over Ford Fiesta buyers who no longer have a model to go to in the Ford range.
In 1997, a one-star Euro NCAP test of the Rover 100, a forerunner of the MG 3, made by the marque’s previous owner, forced the company to withdraw the model from sale.