MG4 Wins the Northern Group of Motoring Writers’ Car of the Year 2023
MG has taken home the trophy for the Northern Group of Motoring Writers Car of the Year 2023, with its MG4 electric hatchback voted as the Group’s favourite car over the last 12 months.
The MG4, which starts at £26,995 for the entry-level, 51kWh SE model and tops out at £36,495 with the 429hp, all-wheel drive XPOWER, came out as the winner after the Group’s driving day earlier this year with a record average score and a record number of first-place votes — beating 2022’s winner, the Dacia Jogger.
For 2023, the Car of the Year competition comprised three stages. Firstly there’s an initial survey of all new and significantly revised models launched over a 12-month period. That sees the vehicles divided up into one of six categories, before they’re whittled down to a top-three in each.
From there, Northern Group members take part in a ranked-choice vote to determine which of the cars is the winner in each category. Finally there’s the driving day, at which an assembled panel of judges takes some time to pore over the six class winners to decide the overall winner.
The MG4 was the members’ top choice in the EV category, beating the BYD Atto 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6, and garnered 13 votes to win overall — out of 15 attending judges — at the driving day to take victory. Hyundai’s new Kona crossover came second, while there was a remarkable three-way tie for third shared between the Kia EV6 GT, Lexus RX, and Volkswagen ID. Buzz.
Group Chairman Andrew Evans was among those voting the MG4 in first place, commenting:
The MG4 is an antidote to the trend of making ludicrously fast, pricey, and heavy electric halo products. It’s a simple, inexpensive, electric hatchback for the masses with enough performance and – importantly – range for most. Although there is a ridiculously fast one too!
Other attending judges concurred, with one adding:
It is a testament as to how far MG has come in just a few short years, and it is the only affordable EV that I am happy to recommend to friends.
As is traditional, the Group announced the winner at the SMMT Test Day North, this year held at Wetherby Racecourse. MG was present at the event, with MG Motor UK’s event and PR marketing manager available to accept the “Arthur” trophy — an antique brass miner’s lamp named after one-time miner’s leader Arthur Scargill — on behalf of MG.
