MG3 Hatchback Recalled In Australia Over Driver's Seat Failure

Australia-spec MG3 hatch pictured. The model was recently recalled in said market, affecting over 10,000 units.

Seasoned readers will remember the third-gen MG3 hatchback that was shown locally during KLIMS 2025, indicating possibility of entering the Malaysian market. Whilst it held high promise then, recent news from Australia might not sit well with some local observers.

According to Australian news outlets, over 10,000 units of the MG3 are being recalled in said market following a critical safety issued discovered by the Euro NCAP crash-testing body. The faulty component triggering this revolved around its driver’s seat.

The recall in Australia was prompted by a discovery made by the Euro NCAP crash-testing body, and it involved a faulty driver seat assembly.

In a frontal-offset test conducted by Euro NCAP, it found that the inboard side of the driver’s seat in the MG3 had slid forward by 111.5 mm upon collision. In turn, this rotated the occupant towards the driver door, with Euro NCAP officials claiming this failure being something it had “not seen before” in its 28-year history.

Despite calling it a “critical failure” too, Euro NCAP still awarded the model with a respectable 4-star rating, which is an improvement over the initial 3-star rating it earned from the organisation’s Australasian NCAP (ANCAP) counterparts prior.

Despite calling it a "critical failure", Euro NCAP still awarded the MG3 with a 4-star rating. Nevertheless, MG Motor Australia's recent recall saw it address the fault by adding "an additional component" to the driver's seat rail.

Euro NCAP further clarified that its scoring system “does not currently allow for a deduction or override in the case of such component failure.” Moreover, the improved scoring achieved through Euro NCAP tests also sees the MG3 earn an upgraded 4-star ANCAP rating too.

Nevertheless, said findings prompted MG Motor Australia to investigate, leading to the recent recall notice issued recently affecting 10,516 units of the MG3 hatch in said market.

The fix should keep the MG3 as one of the Anglo-Chinese brand's best-sellers Down Under.

Through which, the automaker announced it will “fit an additional component to the driver’s seat rail” to address this defect. The automaker’s Australian arm added that it was “not aware of any incidents relating to the defect.”

Nevertheless, we’ll point out that the Anglo-Chinese brand has acted on the matter well enough, and it should see the MG3 remain as one of its best-sellers in Australia.

MG3 HEV shown during KLIMS 2025. Though initially touted for local market entry this year, MG Motor Malaysia has yet to launch this offering thus thus far.

Closer to home, it remains unclear if the MG3 – previewed locally as the MG3 HEV – will enter the local market just yet. As a refresher, the MG3 HEV shown locally packed a 1.5-litre 4-cyl petrol hybrid powertrain offering 192 hp and 313 Nm combined outputs. The marque had also touted a fuel economy average of up to 3.8 litres/100 KM (26.2 KM/litre).

For now, much of the efforts at MG Motor Malaysia (SAIC Motor Malaysia) is concentrated on establishing its local assembly (CKD) efforts with contract assemblers EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB).