Well, I’m first to admit that the MG One does look good. Out of all the brands to come out of China (yes, I know, the brand’s British), it’s the only one to have a strong familial look. Even better, designers did something original here as opposed to simply copying someone else. Thank God it’s not a budget Porsche, Lamborghini, or Land Rover.

Plus, it manages not to be overstyled. I’m pretty sure MG calls their design double face, double dragon, or something, and for that, you can see likeable things like the slim, sinewy headlights and the scale detailing by the rear pillar. But at least, they’ve paired the design back where it counts. All in all, it works.

Step inside, and the experience, at least looks-wise, is the same. The minimalist, paired back design is easy on the eyes and the materials used are top-notch, mostly. It’s interesting how this unit, at 14,000-kilometers old, an eternity for a media demo unit, remains solid. Nothing squeaking or falling out in here. The tactile switches and buttons have a nice, clicky feel to them; all save for those on the steering wheel. The four-way directional pads—one to control the cruise control settings, and the other the infotainment and on-screen menu—move around with the precision of a well-worn Family Computer game pad.

The tech execution too would have been alright if not for MG’s decision to migrate some basic controls onto two capacitive areas—one by the left of the driver and another just below the 12.3-inch touchscreen. Here, it’s clear that MG designers have watched one too many episodes of Star Trek. The left bank, located beside the instrument cluster, controls the mirrors, door locks, and lights is hard enough to reach and hit precisely. At times, it thinks it knows better, blanking out some commands whenever it sense movement. Want to adjust your sideview mirrors or lock/unlock your doors just as you’re crawling to a stop? Sorry, MG says you can’t do that. The right bank of controls, which act as shortcut buttons for the climate, doesn’t fare any better. Thankfully, there’s a quick “On/Off” mode so hit that once and you can be on your merry way.

The same thing could be objectively said about the MG One’s on-board menus. Although the screens are pin-sharp and offer excellent contrast, the menu system on both the instrument cluster and infotainment screen are laggy and all over the place. The instrument cluster, for example, isn’t intuitive to navigate, but also lacks consistence in design. Graphic designers for sure will hyperventilate at the sight of it as I counted at least four different font types crammed in there. The center screen is no different as touch prompts take a split-second to register. Thankfully, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard out of the box, but there’s no option for a wireless connection here.

It's a shame, really, as the MG One does the basics right. It’s comfortable and offers tons of space. The steering wheel may not adjust for reach, but for the average Filipino height, it suffices. The bolstering itself is on the thick side, so wider individuals may find it an issue, especially when trying to squeeze in and out of the car. But for those of you who’ve manage to keep your frame size down, the reward is cushy front seats. Over to the back, it’s just as comfortable. There’s a small center hump there, but regardless, sitting three adults abreast is no problem. The cargo hold is equally generous with a hidden shelf keeping tools and small items organized, while a tonneau cover keeping valuables away from prying eyes.

Now that I think about it, the “One” in MG One might stand for it being the first one to ride on MG’s feted SIGMA—SAIC Intelligent Global Modular Architecture platform. While that certainly holds a lot of promise, especially considering how SAIC Motor hyped it up, it’s very clear that this was one more for packaging flexibility. When it comes to on-road manners, the SIGMA platform is more oriented for comfort than corner carving.

Without a doubt, where the MG One excels in is dutifully doing the daily grind. Keeping your driving toned down to a sensible level, and it’ll reward you with polished manners. The steering is light and precise, and the suspension is responsive, yet pliant. It never bottoms out or crashes out even at the nastiest of bumps. However, as you start pushing it, you’ll discover that it reaches its limits early on. At just around 80 km/h, the MG One feels lumbering. There’s just so much body roll going on, amplified by steering and suspension that’s unresponsive to quick directional changes.

And despite having a turbocharged 1.5-liter producing pretty potent numbers—170 horsepower and 275 Nm of torque—it feels more adequate than impressive. There’s some shove for sure, but it’s nowhere as close to a level that I’d consider as exciting. Neutering its performance is the accompanying CVT since there’s noticeable delay between pressing down on the throttle and the actual engagement. Flicking down to Super Sport negates this somewhat by keeping the revs higher before switching ratios. At its expense? A boomy engine note. Fuel economy isn’t that impressive as well. Despite the engine’s relatively small displacement, it manages just 7.14 km/L in heavy traffic (average 14 km/h), going up to 8.92 km/L in light traffic (average 22 km/h).

Priced at P 1,458,888, the MG One, in this Lux trim, is the most expensive combustion engine MG model you can get today. And that’s probably a big reason why it’s so uncommon compared to the MG ZS, G50, and MG 5s you see on the road today. The price tag doesn’t make much sense since the MG One doesn’t really push the envelop or offer something different whatever the scale you measure it against. MG Philippines’ probably realized this as much since they’ve now dropped the price, for cash buyers at least, by P 210,000. At P 1,248,888, it becomes way more palatable—especially considering the amount of standard kit it gets.

Without discounts though, the MG One finds itself stuck squarely in the middle ground. Although it looks great, is roomy, and is fully-featured, it’s hampered by too many small issues that add up, ruining the overall experience. There are flashes of brilliance from time to time, but as a concept, the MG One doesn’t really work. If only the MG One were sportier or bigger or had seven seats or had hybrid power—something other than style—then it could have worked. As it stands, it’s not quite there yet. The brand itself has a solid enough line-up of crossovers, so the last thing they need is another offering in the same price range to add to a buyer’s confusion.