Since the return of the MG brand in 2010, the manufacturer has forgotten its heritage in the form of the MG Midget, B, and F, and instead has focused on high volume value offerings. Auto Express' review for the MG6, the first car in the brand's comeback, summarizes that the car "offers great value and an engaging drive, but the powertrain and interior need more work."
This sentiment has dominated the discourse surrounding the new MG brand is that it's great value but still needing work. On higher specified trim levels, the MG6 doesn't look so sparse on the inside, but this isn't the case for the entire range. The MG3, which currently retails upwards of around $24,000, is one of the cheaper city cars in the segment, but the interior up until recently has looked hard and dominated by cheap plastics.
The latest revision now comes with an infotainment display as a $2,000 option that looks more upmarket without sacrificing the brand's high level of value. MG's current design philosophies are bleeding into their concept cars and, most recently, the MG Maze, the next generation of city car.
The MG Maze concept lays the foundation for the next generation of city car.
A Gaming Inspired Concept
In a press release from Gallagher's of Manchester, an MG dealership, it was announced that the MAZE was "Built around the tag line of ‘Get Out & Play’", meaning that it is designed to make the city more accessible and fun. They have gone on to say that SAIC Design, which developed the concept has combined the consumer's interests in gaming and motoring. This rings true throughout the entire car, but a logical place to begin is the exterior design.
The MAZE is a compact two-seater, which foregoes traditional two-seat coupe design in favor of a wheelbase that is more like a hatchback. The cars of the future won't have internal combustion engines, so there is no need to have a large bonnet which makes parking more difficult than it needs to be. The MAZE has one single door for the cabin, which is a front opening hatch.
Images of the concept show an incredibly minimalistic cabin with a central tablet-style control panel; presumably the concept, if it ever made it into production, would also benefit from autonomous driving modes. The rear of the MG MAZE appears to be more conventional. Despite its science-fiction-inspired aesthetic, the rear light cluster has a hint of the GR Yaris about it. The double spoiler design looks aggressive and sporting; this is complemented by the motors, which are mounted to the rear wheels.
The reveal video on the SAIC YouTube Channel teases at some sort of modularity, with two panels being labeled as a CPU and GPU as well as the battery being removed from the chassis. This is where SAIC's gaming inspiration bleeds through as not only does the MAZE look like it would fit into the world of video games in a dystopian future, but it incorporates upgrade possibilities that are accessible to PC gamers in the same way that fossil fuel cars get modified.
Surprising New Technology
By calling this concept the MAZE, MG and SAIC hint at the nature of this compact car. It's something to navigate the urban maze of busy streets. City driving has never been particularly fun but with features that gamify the driving experience like driver levelling as shown in the YouTube video, the MAZE does just that as well as having an appropriately small and nimble structure to survive the city and dart between traffic like a motorbike.
Auto Express report that the MG MAZE has "smartphone-controlled steering", a technology that has long been prophecized; after all back in 1997, Pierce Brosnan's Bond drove a BMW by a handheld device. This sort of technology will more likely see implementation from either Tesla or Mercedes first, but it's refreshing for a budget-oriented brand by looking into the future instead of relying purely on their bean counters.
MG has recently begun aiming their sights on younger drivers both with their budget-oriented MG3 but also their newer MG HS, an SUV which What Car say is competing against the popular SUVs the Peugeot 5008, Mazda CX-5, and Citreon C5 Aircross, which all have bold, eye-catching designs. The MAZE has a design bolder than all of these and the technology to convince drivers away from these vehicles if this proposed technology made it into production and the rest of the MG range the brand's.
The MG Maze Represents A New Direction
It has to be noted that most concept cars never make it to production. Certain design ideas may be reallocated to another project or used as inspiration for a whole new concept. However, the MG MAZE at least hints at a new direction that city cars might take. The current crop of Up!, Picanto, MG3, i10 and Fiat 500 all try to balance passenger space, boot capacity, driving dynamics and cabin quality, all whilst being sold for a lower price.
The MAZE concept discards boot space to prioritize the comfort of those in the cabin. If this direction would be pursued, it would lead to an influx of small cars which specialize in different areas. City cars are very much the same; small, boxy and the entry-level cars in their manufacturer's range. The MAZE hints at this perhaps coming to an end.