Honestly, MG’S estate is electric

WHAT 5 SW LACKS IN LUXURY IT MAKES UP FOR IN PRICE

Last year, as you have no doubt guessed, was a shocker for the car industry. Sales in the first lockdown were virtually non existent – and for the rest of the year dealerships struggled.

Unless, that is, they had an MG sign out front.

In 2019, MG was the fastest growing car brand registering 13,000 sales. And in 2020 it had beat that figure by September.

Why this spectacular performance? It’s simple really: MG makes cars that are very affordable, good value and crucially, many of them are electric. Like the ZS crossover which undercuts almost all EV rivals on price.

They’re what we motoring hacks like to call ‘honest’ cars.

And now we have the latest MG model on test. It’s called simply the MG 5 SW and it has the distinction of being the only pure electric estate on sale today.

Its positives well outweigh the negatives – and price is a big positive here.

To keep costs down it’s sensible to keep your range of cars simple – and MG has done that with the 5 SW. There are only two trim levels; the entrylevel Excite which is £24,495 (including PICG) and the

Exclusive at £26,995. Not only do these prices undercut most rivals, they’re lower than those for MG’S own ZS.

This MG is no beauty – a bit like a Kia or Hyundai from a few years back. But so what? It’s hardly ugly and you’ve got to remember that price.

It’s a similar story inside as there is a fair bit of hard plastic about the place. But I could live