Following an eight-year hiatus, MG is back in South Africa. Before the automaker officially opened up shop on local shores at the end of 2024, CAR Senior Writer Marius Boonzaier headed to China to sample a few of the brand’s SA-bound offerings. First up, the ZS, the opening gambit to its local product portfolio.
Looking for your next new and used vehicle? Search here with CARmag.
MG ZS 1.5 MT fast facts
- Price: n/a
- Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, petrol
- Transmission: five-speed manual (tested)
- Power: 78 kW @ 6 000 r/min
- Torque: 141 N.m @ 4 500 r/min
- 0-100 km/h: n/a
- Top speed: n/a
- Fuel consumption: n/a
- CO2 emissions: n/a
What are we driving?
Introduced in 2017, the first-generation ZS has arrived in South Africa as MG SA’s entry-level crossover/SUV offering. Positioned above the ZS and below the HS midsize SUV, we expect the second-generation car, which made its global debut in 2024, will make landfall on SA shores in 2025 wearing the “ZS Pro” badge.
Locally, a single engine-transmission configuration is employed across the two-strong model range. The ZS is exclusively available with a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine, coupled with a four-speed automatic cog swapper. The naturally aspirated unit produces 84 kW and 150 N.m of torque and according to the brand, has an average fuel consumption of 7.1 L/100 km. (It is the currently-not-for-SA five-speed manual derivative we sampled in China, however.)
The ZS is generously equipped as standard, with noteworthy items including 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment, replete with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto screen mirroring; four- and six-speaker sound systems in the Comfort and Luxury models, respectively; and rear park distance sensors (Luxury trim grade gains a reverse-view camera array). Comfort and Luxury levels of specification feature cloth and faux leather upholstery, respectively.
Tyre pressure monitoring is also included with the ZS package. Safety items include six airbags, Isofix child-seat anchorages, electronic stability control and hill-start assist.
Related: Chinese-Owned MG Confident of Success With SA Comeback
Why is the MG ZS significant?
The ZS is MG’s foray into SA’s ever-expanding, not to mention increasingly important, budget-oriented crossover/SUV segment. With its keen pricing (see below), the ZS, is a bang-for-your-buck crossover proposition and will arguably be MG SA’s bread-and-butter product.
What does the MG ZS cost?
Positioned as MG’s entry-level offering, the ZS line-up is priced from R289 900 and R309 900. Included in both models’ sticker prices are a service plan spanning five years or 60 000 km, a five-year/200 000 km vehicle warranty and a seven-year/unlimited km engine warranty.
- ZS 1.5 Comfort AT — R289 900
- ZS 1.5 Luxury AT — R309 900
What are the MG ZS’s rivals?
With the rate at which SA’s crossover/SUV, especially those of the budget-oriented variety, is expanding, there are several new and established compact crossover competitors against which the ZS has to prove its mettle. However, with the SA-spec ZS models exclusively available in automatic guise, not to mention their asking prices, the list of rivals gets somewhat shorter.
In the same price range as the ZS, there are the (R294 400) Nissan Magnite 1.0 Acenta EZ-Shift, the latter of which is Nissan speak for automated manual transmission (AMT), and six-speed automatic-equipped (R294 999) Mahindra XUV 3XO 1.2T MX3, the sole turbocharged crossover featuring here.
Related: MG Announces SA Line-up — Pricing and Specs
However, if you are willing to part with a few extra rands, you have the option of the (R314 900) Chery Tiggo 4 Pro 1.5 LiT CVT and the popular Suzuki Fronx (in 1.5 GL automatic guise). The latter is priced from R318 900.
What is the MG ZS like to drive?
Before we continue, it is worth noting that the ZS variant we sampled at SAIC Volkswagen’s testing grounds in Zhengzhou, China was equipped with a five-speed manual cog swapper — as opposed to the four-speed self-shifter driving the SA-spec models’ front wheels — and a slightly detuned (78 kW/141 N.m versus 84 kW/150 N.m) version of the 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine powering the models available in SA. However, even so, this did provide us the opportunity to test the ZS’s handling and ride quality.
The five-speeder does, however, deserve a mention. Combined with a light clutch, the manual unit was smooth in its workings, allowing the driving to keep the revs in the desired range to maintain forward momentum. The engine, although down on power compared to the automatic model, felt sufficiently punchy (again, thanks to the five-speeder’s operation) on a (relatively) short straight section of the test track.
Considering the four-speed automatic unit, many, including us, have previously noted that vehicles equipped with a torque converter with this number of cogs could be further improved upon with the fitment of a five-speed automatic ’box. As such, we are curious as to how the automatic ZS will perform and whether the four-speed item fitted to the ZS package could prove this notion wrong.
The ZS’s steering felt light, but not overly so as to make it devoid of feedback. However, over our limited time behind the wheel, we would have appreciated a touch more weight to the steering’s overall feel, especially when cornering. The ride was suitably supple, though it is worth noting that there wasn’t much in the way of the suspension to soak up, as the track’s surface was billiard smooth. As such, we’re looking forward to testing the ZS on SA roads.
Verdict
As mentioned, the ZS — a package featuring a generous amount of standard specification for a keen asking price — will arguably be MG SA’s bread-and-butter product. For the sticker price, there’s a lot to be had. Although we can’t comment on how the SA-spec model, with its automatic transmission, performs, the manual derivative gave us insight into the ZS’s overall handling and ride characteristics, which should be similar to the car that’s available locally. We remain eager to evaluate the automatic model on SA shores to find out how it fares in an increasingly competitive segment of pocket-friendly crossovers.
