
MG 3 Hybrid+ to miss out on fix for performance issue
'We're really confident in our Hybrid power system and we think it delivers the right balance of power and efficiency for the average Australian driver,' said a company spokesperson when asked if a similar update will be forthcoming for the MG 3.
'Our engineers are always looking to refine the driving experience of our vehicles, so if we feel the need to tweak it in the future, we will.'
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As we've experienced in testing, the MG 3 Hybrid+ – as well as the ZS Hybrid+, with which it shares its powertrain – can see its power delivery dramatically reduced when the hybrid battery nears depletion.
This can leave the vehicle without the necessary power to overtake safely or comfortably climb a steep hill.
MG announced in January it was rolling out an update to address this issue in all versions of the ZS Hybrid+ small SUV. That included vehicles already delivered to customers, for which a fix can be carried out at MG dealerships.
'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 explained in announcing the update for 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.'
It's unclear why the MG 3 Hybrid+ hatch – which has the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain, albeit with 3kW less system power at 155kW – won't receive the same update.
CarExpert's video review of the MG 3 Hybrid+ from June 2024 revealed a similar issue as had been experienced with the ZS Hybrid+. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
After prolonged periods of demanding driving, the battery would deplete and leave the hatch with almost one third of the power it normally has.
Once the battery was depleted, the MG 3's instrument cluster showed just 45kW of power being produced. As with the ZS, there's no direct way to control the hybrid system's power delivery and charging, either.
In subsequent testing of an MG 3 Hybrid+ in Brisbane, this issue also occurred when driving in a mountainous area. After the battery depleted, the MG 3 couldn't reach the posted 60km/h speed limit on a steeper grade even with the driver's foot to the floor.
Despite this issue, the MG 3 Hybrid+ is bearing down on the hybrid-only Toyota Yaris in the sales race.
In the first quarter of 2025, MG delivered 393 MG 3 Hybrid+ hatchbacks – accounting for 12.8 per cent of total MG 3 sales – while Toyota delivered 519 Yaris Hybrids.
MORE: Everything MG 3

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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
ASX-listed gold miners arrive at Diggers & Dealers with more than $7.5b of cash and bullion to play with
Local gold miners are making the annual pilgrimage to Kalgoorlie while carrying piggy banks bursting at the seams. The Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum begins in the gold heartland on Monday after a record year for the precious metal. Gold miners were already flying high at last year's Diggers & Dealers and since then bullion's value in Australian dollar terms has surged another 38 per cent to $5120 an ounce. ASX-listed producers of the precious metal are now flush with funds — collectively holding more than $7.5 billion of cash and bullion at June 30. How those riches will be spent, or not spent, is set to dominate conversation among the 2000-plus attendees at the three-day conference. 'Perhaps they could be used for further acquisitions although prices now paid to obtain such new assets are very high,' Surbiton Associates director Sandra Close said. 'The concern is that the larger the cash reserves become, the more the company may become a tempting takeover target.' Dr Close, who has been a gold industry analyst for three decades, said there was 'another rather obvious solution'. 'I am sure that shareholders would love to see higher dividends.' A wave of consolidation has already swept through the gold industry over the past 18 months, with about $9 billion of mergers between Red 5 and Silver Lake Resources, Westgold Resources and Karora Resources, and Ramelius Resources and Spartan Resources. Gold mines and early-stage developments have also been snapped up at a premium left, right and centre across WA. South Africa's Gold Fields in May shook hands with Gruyere mine partner Gold Road Resources to buy its half stake in the Goldfields project for $3.7b in cash and shares. A day prior to this handshake, Northern Star Resources wrapped up its all-stock deal to take control of De Grey Mining and its prized Hemi development in the Pilbara for $6b. Northern Star has the biggest pile of cash and bullion among miners listed on Australia's bourse. It held $1.9b at June 30, well ahead of Ramelius in second place at $810m. Evolution Mining had $760m, Vault Minerals $686m, Greatland Gold $575m and Regis Resources $517m as the other local miners with liquid asset balances over half a billion dollars by the end of FY2025. While gold chiefs are poised to chest-beat at Kalgoorlie's Goldfields Arts Centre's lectern, their battery metals counterparts will cut forlorn figures for the second year in a row. Some, like IGO's Ivan Vella, have decided not to front. WA's once-thriving nickel industry is one mine closure away from complete collapse, lithium remains in the doldrums and no local rare earth element explorers of note had a bumper year. Uranium has also lost its glow. The radioactive commodity became a hot topic at last year's Diggers & Dealers after former Coalition leader Peter Dutton gatecrashed the conference to spruik his nuclear energy policy. Mr Dutton's election failure in May and weakening uranium prices over the past 12 months have largely killed the hype. A notable absence at this year's forum will be the presence of any of the three biggest miners in the State — BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue. Fortescue presented last year via Kristen Pelc, a corporate development manager, and BHP had a booth — infamously an empty one after announcing a month prior to the conference that is sprawling Nickel West arm would into care and maintenance.


The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Upward spending trend unlikely to shift needle on rates
Australian spending habits will help the Reserve Bank fill in its picture of the nation's economy, with another rate cut expected at its next board meeting amid global tariff woes. All eyes will be on the monthly spending indicator for June as it becomes the main measure of retail trade when published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May when consumers splashed out on clothes, shoes and new vehicles with borrowing easier since the RBA began cutting rates in February. This trend is expected to have continued in June, with Commonwealth Bank economists predicting a rise of one per cent. The data could seal the deal for the central bank's August interest rate decision following a rise in unemployment in June and a fall in inflation for the quarter, with the trimmed mean figure dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Thursday hailed the "very welcome" data, as the central bank had been searching for more evidence of inflation returning to the midpoint of its two to three per cent target band. A host of new and increased US tariffs are expected to come into effect later in the week after nations scrambled to try lock down trade negotiations with President Donald Trump ahead of his August 1 deadline. Australia has been spared a higher tariff and though most of its goods will continue to face a 10 per cent levy, no US trading partner has a lower rate. This continuation is a "relief" according to AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who noted Mr Trump has previously foreshadowed further tariffs on pharmaceuticals - one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Increased tariffs on Australia's trading partners could also have indirect impacts for the domestic financial markets. "The surge in US tariffs still poses a significant threat to the global economy, which will likely become more evident in the months ahead," Mr Oliver said. Wall Street investors were feeling the pinch on Friday as new tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. The S&P suffered its biggest daily percentage decline in more than two months, with an 8.3 per cent tumble in shares after it posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its cloud computing unit also weighing on equities. Australian share futures dropped 32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 16,231. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 80.8 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,662.0, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 81.9 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 8,917.1. Profit reporting season also begins this week, with major companies such as News Corp, AMP and QBE Insurance set to reveal earnings results. Australian spending habits will help the Reserve Bank fill in its picture of the nation's economy, with another rate cut expected at its next board meeting amid global tariff woes. All eyes will be on the monthly spending indicator for June as it becomes the main measure of retail trade when published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May when consumers splashed out on clothes, shoes and new vehicles with borrowing easier since the RBA began cutting rates in February. This trend is expected to have continued in June, with Commonwealth Bank economists predicting a rise of one per cent. The data could seal the deal for the central bank's August interest rate decision following a rise in unemployment in June and a fall in inflation for the quarter, with the trimmed mean figure dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Thursday hailed the "very welcome" data, as the central bank had been searching for more evidence of inflation returning to the midpoint of its two to three per cent target band. A host of new and increased US tariffs are expected to come into effect later in the week after nations scrambled to try lock down trade negotiations with President Donald Trump ahead of his August 1 deadline. Australia has been spared a higher tariff and though most of its goods will continue to face a 10 per cent levy, no US trading partner has a lower rate. This continuation is a "relief" according to AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who noted Mr Trump has previously foreshadowed further tariffs on pharmaceuticals - one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Increased tariffs on Australia's trading partners could also have indirect impacts for the domestic financial markets. "The surge in US tariffs still poses a significant threat to the global economy, which will likely become more evident in the months ahead," Mr Oliver said. Wall Street investors were feeling the pinch on Friday as new tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. The S&P suffered its biggest daily percentage decline in more than two months, with an 8.3 per cent tumble in shares after it posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its cloud computing unit also weighing on equities. Australian share futures dropped 32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 16,231. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 80.8 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,662.0, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 81.9 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 8,917.1. Profit reporting season also begins this week, with major companies such as News Corp, AMP and QBE Insurance set to reveal earnings results. Australian spending habits will help the Reserve Bank fill in its picture of the nation's economy, with another rate cut expected at its next board meeting amid global tariff woes. All eyes will be on the monthly spending indicator for June as it becomes the main measure of retail trade when published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May when consumers splashed out on clothes, shoes and new vehicles with borrowing easier since the RBA began cutting rates in February. This trend is expected to have continued in June, with Commonwealth Bank economists predicting a rise of one per cent. The data could seal the deal for the central bank's August interest rate decision following a rise in unemployment in June and a fall in inflation for the quarter, with the trimmed mean figure dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Thursday hailed the "very welcome" data, as the central bank had been searching for more evidence of inflation returning to the midpoint of its two to three per cent target band. A host of new and increased US tariffs are expected to come into effect later in the week after nations scrambled to try lock down trade negotiations with President Donald Trump ahead of his August 1 deadline. Australia has been spared a higher tariff and though most of its goods will continue to face a 10 per cent levy, no US trading partner has a lower rate. This continuation is a "relief" according to AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who noted Mr Trump has previously foreshadowed further tariffs on pharmaceuticals - one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Increased tariffs on Australia's trading partners could also have indirect impacts for the domestic financial markets. "The surge in US tariffs still poses a significant threat to the global economy, which will likely become more evident in the months ahead," Mr Oliver said. Wall Street investors were feeling the pinch on Friday as new tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. The S&P suffered its biggest daily percentage decline in more than two months, with an 8.3 per cent tumble in shares after it posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its cloud computing unit also weighing on equities. Australian share futures dropped 32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 16,231. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 80.8 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,662.0, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 81.9 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 8,917.1. Profit reporting season also begins this week, with major companies such as News Corp, AMP and QBE Insurance set to reveal earnings results. Australian spending habits will help the Reserve Bank fill in its picture of the nation's economy, with another rate cut expected at its next board meeting amid global tariff woes. All eyes will be on the monthly spending indicator for June as it becomes the main measure of retail trade when published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May when consumers splashed out on clothes, shoes and new vehicles with borrowing easier since the RBA began cutting rates in February. This trend is expected to have continued in June, with Commonwealth Bank economists predicting a rise of one per cent. The data could seal the deal for the central bank's August interest rate decision following a rise in unemployment in June and a fall in inflation for the quarter, with the trimmed mean figure dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Thursday hailed the "very welcome" data, as the central bank had been searching for more evidence of inflation returning to the midpoint of its two to three per cent target band. A host of new and increased US tariffs are expected to come into effect later in the week after nations scrambled to try lock down trade negotiations with President Donald Trump ahead of his August 1 deadline. Australia has been spared a higher tariff and though most of its goods will continue to face a 10 per cent levy, no US trading partner has a lower rate. This continuation is a "relief" according to AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who noted Mr Trump has previously foreshadowed further tariffs on pharmaceuticals - one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Increased tariffs on Australia's trading partners could also have indirect impacts for the domestic financial markets. "The surge in US tariffs still poses a significant threat to the global economy, which will likely become more evident in the months ahead," Mr Oliver said. Wall Street investors were feeling the pinch on Friday as new tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. The S&P suffered its biggest daily percentage decline in more than two months, with an 8.3 per cent tumble in shares after it posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its cloud computing unit also weighing on equities. Australian share futures dropped 32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 16,231. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 80.8 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,662.0, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 81.9 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 8,917.1. Profit reporting season also begins this week, with major companies such as News Corp, AMP and QBE Insurance set to reveal earnings results.


Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Upward spending trend unlikely to shift needle on rates
Australian spending habits will help the Reserve Bank fill in its picture of the nation's economy, with another rate cut expected at its next board meeting amid global tariff woes. All eyes will be on the monthly spending indicator for June as it becomes the main measure of retail trade when published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. Household spending rose 0.9 per cent in May when consumers splashed out on clothes, shoes and new vehicles with borrowing easier since the RBA began cutting rates in February. This trend is expected to have continued in June, with Commonwealth Bank economists predicting a rise of one per cent. The data could seal the deal for the central bank's August interest rate decision following a rise in unemployment in June and a fall in inflation for the quarter, with the trimmed mean figure dropping from 2.9 per cent to 2.7 per cent. RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser on Thursday hailed the "very welcome" data, as the central bank had been searching for more evidence of inflation returning to the midpoint of its two to three per cent target band. A host of new and increased US tariffs are expected to come into effect later in the week after nations scrambled to try lock down trade negotiations with President Donald Trump ahead of his August 1 deadline. Australia has been spared a higher tariff and though most of its goods will continue to face a 10 per cent levy, no US trading partner has a lower rate. This continuation is a "relief" according to AMP chief economist Shane Oliver, who noted Mr Trump has previously foreshadowed further tariffs on pharmaceuticals - one of Australia's biggest exports to the US. Increased tariffs on Australia's trading partners could also have indirect impacts for the domestic financial markets. "The surge in US tariffs still poses a significant threat to the global economy, which will likely become more evident in the months ahead," Mr Oliver said. Wall Street investors were feeling the pinch on Friday as new tariffs on dozens of trading partners and a surprisingly weak jobs report spurred selling pressure. The S&P suffered its biggest daily percentage decline in more than two months, with an 8.3 per cent tumble in shares after it posted quarterly results but failed to meet lofty expectations for its cloud computing unit also weighing on equities. Australian share futures dropped 32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 16,231. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday dropped 80.8 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 8,662.0, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 81.9 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 8,917.1. Profit reporting season also begins this week, with major companies such as News Corp, AMP and QBE Insurance set to reveal earnings results.