Hybrid power for new-look MG 3

Supermini gets 192bhp, 64mpg, fancier interior, refined chassis - and £6k price rise

The MG 3 has been T adopting reinvented for a second generation, a bold new look and switching to full hybrid power in a bid for supermini sales supremacy.

Set to be priced higher than today's £14k model, at around £20k, the new 3 is due in the UK in the coming months as a rival to the Honda Jazz, Renault Clio and Toyota Yaris, majoring on practicality, efficiency and compelling performance.

The new-look 3 was designed at MG's Shanghai studio, taking stylistic influence from the Chinese brand's current crop of crossovers and hatchbacks, and is slightly longer and wider than its pure-ICE forebear.

MG's new Hybrid Plus powertrain (its first non-plugin hybrid offering) combines a 101bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 107bhp electric motor for a combined 192bhp and 313lb ft of torque, making the 3 markedly more potent than the Clio and Yaris hybrids - and quicker too, with a 0-62mph time of 8.0sec.

Whereas the old 3 was offered variously with a five-speed manual, five-speed automated manual or four-speed automatic gearbox, the new car drives its front wheels exclusively through a three-speed auto.