In independent crash testing, the MG 3 experienced a “critical safety failure” not seen in almost 30 years of Euro NCAP testing… yet it still scored a four-star rating, which has also been applied by local safety authority ANCAP.
During the frontal offset crash test conducted by Euro NCAP, the light hatchback’s driver’s seat latching mechanism failed, causing the driver’s seat to twist partway through the impact.
Naturally, this had an effect on the forces on the crash test dummy, leading Euro NCAP and ANCAP to give the MG 3 a ‘poor’ score for protection of the driver’s legs.
The driver dummy’s head was also found to “bottom out” the airbag against the steering wheel, resulting in a head protection rating of ‘adequate’.
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“The seat failure also meant that MG could not demonstrate how well the car would protect the knees and femurs of occupants of different sizes or those seated in varying positions,” the safety authority further explained.
It’s an issue Euro NCAP says it hasn’t seen in the assessment of hundreds of passenger vehicles it has conducted since 1997.
The auto safety authority says it shared its findings with MG, which reportedly initially argued the failure was due to improper latching of the seat before the test, before committing to improving the design of the mechanism.
Euro NCAP has shared its findings with the Vehicle Type Approval office that certified the MG 3 for sale across the European Union, in case it believes an official product safety recall notice needs to be issued.
But despite this obvious flaw in the MG 3, Euro NCAP says its scoring system doesn’t allow for a deduction or override in the case of a component failure like this.
Both Euro NCAP and ANCAP have said they’re reviewing this aspect of their testing protocols, particularly when a manufacturer doesn’t work to rectify or improve safety failures.
Nevertheless, the lack of a penalty for this issue saw the MG 3 actually receive a greater score than in it did in ANCAP testing conducted in 2024, with assessment of its improved suite of active safety and driver assist technology pushing up the overall rating even as footage shows the seat clearly twisting on impact.
This four-star rating has also been applied by ANCAP, given the independent auto safety authorities have largely harmonised their protocols; there are only slight differences in category scores like child occupant protection (ANCAP: 75 per cent, Euro NCAP: 73 per cent).
While the overall ratings were the same between Euro NCAP and ANCAP, there was a marked difference in the tenor of Euro NCAP and ANCAP’s releases.
“This uplift from three-stars to four-stars is a step in the right direction, yet the seat latch failure is not something we expect to see, and is cause for caution,” said ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg in the safety authority’s press release.
“It is clear that MG is trying hard to bring improved products to market. What we want to see, however, is a focus on quality as well as safety. These elements go hand-in-hand.
“The failure of the seat adjuster increased the risk of injury to the driver. Key vehicle components like this should be able to withstand this typical urban-environment crash.
“We expect MG to make a running change to rectify the fault, and move to retrospectively fix affected vehicles already in the market.”
Euro NCAP was much more withering in its criticism, calling the issue a “critical safety failure” and an “almost unheard-of occurrence” that “raises questions about how well the MG 3 can protect its driver in the event of an impact”.
Its program director, Dr Aled Williams, further recommended consumers look to rival vehicles.
“It is troubling to find a car on sale in 2025 with a fundamental weakness in its seat latching mechanism, an essential part of the car’s occupant restraint system,” said Dr Williams in Euro NCAP’s release.
“This fault has been reported to the relevant Type-Approval authorities so consideration can be given as to whether a vehicle recall should be issued.
“For that reason, we would recommend that consumers consider alternatives to the MG 3.”
Euro NCAP secretary general Dr Michiel van Ratingen further used the MG 3’s result to sound a warning to all Chinese auto brands.
“China’s car industry has undergone a rapid rise, with an influx of new brands and new models, and the nation became the world’s largest car exporter in 2023, overtaking Germany and Japan. Many of those new cars are being sold across European markets,” he said.
“We would urge all car makers to ensure they adhere to rigorous development and production processes, so that they maintain the safety standards that are prevalent in Europe.”
Even the titles of the authorities’ press releases communicated different tones – ANCAP said “caution still warranted”, while Euro NCAP included “rare and serious seat failure” in its title.
There has been a difference in responses by MG in Europe and Australia, too.
Euro NCAP says MG has confirmed it will implement changes to the driver’s seat latching mechanism from August and the driver’s airbag from October, though it won’t update vehicles already delivered to customers.
“MG is committed to continuing to improve safety across our range of vehicles wherever possible. We’re proud to see the MG 3 receive a higher safety rating across its range,” said an MG Motor Australia spokesperson in a press release published the same day as ANCAP’s and Euro NCAP’s.
“Our team has worked to improve the safety of this model and to ensure it was retested. We have taken ANCAP’s testing results and feedback on board and will incorporate this information into future models.”
MG Motor Australia provided no further comment when subsequently approached by CarExpert, and hasn’t said when a rectified version could arrive here.
It quietly rolled out a front centre airbag and a driver monitoring system to MG 3 vehicles produced from April 30, 2025, so the vehicle has received at least one safety update since launch.
Nevertheless, this is the latest example of MG Motor Australia not providing a specific date by which it will address a fault with the second-generation MG 3, its smallest and cheapest model.
While MG confirmed in January that the related ZS small SUV would get a software update for its available hybrid system to address a concerning safety issue, MG Motor Australia still has not confirmed an update for the MG 3 Hybrid+ which uses the same powertrain.
In CarExpert testing, the MG 3 Hybrid+ was found to not accelerate beyond 54km/h on a steep grade even with the accelerator pedal pushed all the way to the floor, on account of the hybrid battery lacking sufficient charge.
While the hybrid system in these instances should allow for more power to be supplied by the petrol engine, on multiple occasions the MG 3 Hybrid+ was found to not do this – an issue that could reveal itself in potentially high-risk scenarios like highway overtaking.
“The Hybrid+ powertrain will actively charge the battery when more load on the powertrain is detected, the engine will charge the battery to retain a moderate State of Charge (SoC),” the brand wrote of the update being applied to the ZS.
“When on an incline, the Hybrid+ powertrain has been recalibrated to engage the engine when the vehicle is driving with moderate or higher speed. The overall experience will be a balanced experience of power delivery and efficiency.
“When vehicle speed is over 100km/h, the Hybrid+ powertrain will engage the engine to ensure sustained power depending on the battery SoC.”