I got a text message at 5pm from a friend at auto.sohu.com, “Ive got a cool thing to share” he said “get on QQ ASAP“. Nursing a suspected cracked rib and sitting on the train, I was clearly in no rush to open my laptop and get online to look over a concept car from any company, but it seems the error was totally mine. The cool thing that he wanted to share was of course of the MG SUV concept, which goes by the MG Icon name.
It seems MG have thrown caution to the wind once again and created a concept that manages to define the word concept, it has an air of arrogance with MG’s new design theory that seems to throw classical English tones to the wind and says this is our way now. MG can do no wrong with their concepts, they come out as strong as ever only to be watered down when it comes to production time. The MG6 oozed sex appeal, the MG3 reminded us that Britannia was still cool well past the 1997 sell by date that Tony Blair started, the MG5 concept was the baby of the Shanghai 2011 Show and easily outshone everything else in the auto halls, the MG SUV is going to have strong competition in Beijing but it looks like it will once again outshine every other product.
The side profile is very Nissan Juke in its stance whilst the rear reflects back to MG’s past with the MGB clearly jaunting out – perhaps MG’s sole nod to the past to date. MG as part of SAIC design have set aside five keywords to describe the MG SUV: Revive, Fashion, Classic, Modern and Sporty. On the inside, the Icon has four seats, the usual racing bucket style seats but with the added coolness of the rear ones folding down flat to give a greater cargo space in what already looks like a limited area, think Range Rover Evoque but with a little less space. The dashboard looks nothing like what we have seen from MG before, and hopefully it will avoid the plastic jungle of the MG6 and the spartan (but very functional) MG3′s and MG5′s.
Engine power has still not been mentioned, MG’s fiercest critics have claimed that MG has not got its power plants right time and time again, but then they have to remember that SAIC opened the UK Technical Center in late 2005 and in that time they’ve had to roll out three cars and three different engines to satisfy Chinese demand, new engines are likely to becoming soon and the 1.5T is probably going to make its way into the MG Icon come production time.
More news as we get it.
Just stunning, really a beautiful bit of design. If MG can this into production even the Germans will be worried.
And PLEASE SAIC, build it in the UK! Or least those for the European market.
Absolutely amazing! Very fresh, very desirable. But will the production version be a disappointment, again?
Let’s be honest here.
All the concept MG cars that SIAC have shown have the WOW factor.
But sadly when SIAC turn these cars into production
vehicles they manage to loose the WOW factor.
It’s a real shame!
And whereabouts are the cars that MG really needs.
Namely a brace of affordable MG sports cars.
excellent rendering, i remember years ago seeing BMW’s early Mini sketches, cant ever remember anyone knocking them for the watering down when that car was launched, its all to easy for people to try an pull down what SAIC are trying to acheive here with the MG name. Too many so called car enthusiasts in the UK listen to morons like Jeremy Clarkson on top gear and hang on hos every word. If people took the time to look at what has been acheived in a relatively short period of time in the manufacturing world then maybe theyd think again before being so negative. The concept offerings show what the imagination is possible of, you have to remember the amount of legislation set against every new vehicle these days is immense so naturally some design detail has to change but hey everyone lets be encouraged by what we see here, isnt it exciting??
It looks different for sure. How it actually drove would be more the deciding factor for me. If it drives as sporty as it looks it could be interesting. If it drives like an old Cadillac then it doesn’t matter since there is very little off-roade driving in China other than driving on the really messed up roads during road construction.
agreed! the ride must be excellent to UK markets especially, the thing which still is a doubt is build quality. British and european markets are more demanding, the use of cheap plastics must be stopped, yes this will push the sale price up slightly but quality is paramount for these markets.
If they can get a bit extra punch form the proposed use of the 1.5t engine then yeah it may well be as sporty as it looks!! and it looks fantastic!!
This car is just fantastic, looks like a big new designed MGB GT!
Tim, ring me
Just ignore morons like Jeremy Clarkson. SAIC is to be praised for its investment in a Great British marque, in building substantial UK R&D facilities, and in restarting UK production.
It is still *very* early days and the product range will grow far more in size and quality. So will the number of cars produced in the UK. But what has been achieved so far in just a few short years is remarkable.