MG has brought two concept cars to Goodwood this year, and both point at where the brand goes next.
The GO! and Cyber Concept mark the latest chapter in MG’s 100-plus years of British heritage, blending the marque’s sporting DNA with electric powertrains — and both made their world debut at the Festival of Speed.
The GO! previews a B-segment electric hatchback due in 2027, while the Cyber Concept looks further out, towards a D-segment performance SUV.
Different segments, same idea: MG wants its future range to carry genuine character, not just spec-sheet numbers.
MG GO!: retro-futurism with a purpose
The GO! draws on MG’s mid-century design language — think MGB GT — but its designers were adamant this isn’t nostalgia for its own sake.
Carl Gotham, design director at MG’s London studio, led the project alongside his team, aiming for something that feels current rather than retro-themed.
“With MG GO!, we wanted to create something compact and contemporary, but also warm, expressive and immediately likeable,” Gotham said, adding that the goal was capturing MG’s traditional “clarity, charm and emotional appeal” in a shape relevant to today’s roads.
The design pulls threads from across MG’s history — the MGB GT, Metro Turbo, ZR and EX4 — without directly copying any of them.
It’s meant to prove that even a compact, mainstream hatchback can have a distinct identity, rather than blending into the electric-car crowd. Production versions arrive in 2027.
Cyber Concept: performance, upsized
Where GO! is small and playful, the Cyber Concept goes big. It’s pitched as MG’s flagship SUV vision, taking cues from the EX181 — the land-speed record car that once made MG a household name for outright pace — and applying that ethos to a large, high-performance electric SUV.
The brief was straightforward on paper, harder in execution: build something as usable as a family SUV but as engaging as a sports car. Long-distance comfort, city manoeuvrability and a genuine driver’s edge, all in one body.
Jozef Kaban, MG’s Vice President of Global Design, framed it in broader terms.
“Great design begins with people, not products,” he said.
“Technology and innovation are essential, but they can be shared. Character cannot.” Kaban argued that cars need to spark curiosity and desire rather than simply function — a design philosophy he says underpins both concepts.
Robots, AI and a look at what’s coming
MG’s stand also hosts a Future Motion Show, running throughout the day, spotlighting the brand’s progress in AI, autonomous driving — using sensor, camera and LiDAR tech — and connectivity.
The centrepiece is a series of robot performances, an unusual but deliberate way of signalling that MG’s ambitions stretch beyond traditional car-making.
Six production models on display
Alongside the concepts, MG has brought six current models to Goodwood, spanning its plug-in hybrid, Hybrid+ and fully electric ranges.
Two are new for 2026: the MGS9 PHEV, the brand’s first seven-seat large SUV, and the MG4 EV Urban, a front-wheel-drive hatchback aimed at offering strong space and value for money.
They’re joined by the MG HS Plug-in Hybrid, which recently topped an independent ranking of 59 plug-in hybrids sold in the UK, the tech-heavy MG IM5, the MG ZS Hybrid+, and the MG Cyberster — the brand’s electric roadster and arguably its most direct nod to MG’s sports-car past.
