MG celebrates soccer with ZS Essence Anfield

MG MOTOR Australia has revealed a new limited-run flagship for its ZS small SUV range in celebration of the brand’s continued partnership with the Liverpool Football Club.

Dubbed the Essence Anfield, the new flagship ZS will be limited to just 200 units nationally, each priced from $25,490 plus on-road costs and is due in local showrooms early next month.

The Anfield comes with all the same standard equipment as the Essence, including a panoramic sunroof, 17-inch alloy wheels, 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display, Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, rear parking sensors and reversing camera, automatic headlights, satellite navigation, leather steering wheel, tyre pressure monitoring, configurable power steering and push button start.

Compared to the regular Essence, the Anfield adds a gloss black grille, red trim in the front and rear bumpers, red stitching throughout the interior and exclusively striped seats with red bolstering.

White or black are the only available exterior colour choices.

Power comes courtesy of the same turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine as the donor car, still sending its 82kW of power and 160Nm of torque to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.

MG Motor Australia CEO Peter Ciao said he was thrilled with the popularity of the ZS thus far and that the Anfield provided “a compelling new option” for customers, regardless of if they were Liverpool fans or just liked unique style.

Just like the rest of the MG model line-up, the entire ZS range – including the Anfield – is covered by MG Motor’s seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty and seven-year roadside assistance scheme.

MG has sold 1322 examples of the ZS so far this year ending May, up 4.4 per cent on the 1266 it managed over the same period last year, making it one of the few models in the sub-$40,000 small SUV segment to experience any sales growth as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Compared to its rivals, it occupies a slim 3.4 per cent of the segment while the Mitsubishi ASX rules the roost with a 15.7 per cent share (5319).

2020 MG ZS driveaway pricing

*Excludes on-road costs