MG MAJESTOR

DOES THE MG MAJESTOR DO ENOUGH OVER THE GLOSTER SHAKE UP THIS SEGMENT?

- WORDS TUHIN GUHA

A ladder-frame, 4x4 SUV is quickly becoming a bit of a rarity.

So when a new one comes along, it's bound to get us quite interested. Now, at first, you might think of the MG Majestor as a regular midlife update to the Gloster. It turns out there's a good reason for it taking a while to actually go on sale. It's been heavily reworked right down to its bones. So does it have enough going for it now to seriously challenge the Toyota Fortuner?

Styling

The MG Majestor has some presence being that it is over 5m long and 2m wide. The aggressive new face is a big departure from the quite neutral Gloster. Only the doors have been carried over and the Majestor is one of the few cars that still stands out in a white shade, largely due to the heavy cladding all around. It's not for you if you want to keep a low profile, but it works well to draw eyeballs on the road. This is helped by the chunky panels and wheels.

We do wish there were fog lamps, although there are those big light clusters now. Along the sides you have some sturdy footboards given its 219mm of ground clearance, and the rear has been made even more over-the-top than earlier. You have large badging, more heavy cladding and full-width lighting. Those contrast exhaust tips stand out too.

Boot

You now have a gesture-controlled boot function, and a thoughtful safety feature is that the powered function only works when the car is in Park. As is usual for three-row SUVs, with all rows up there's only enough space for some soft bags and, at a pinch, a small carry-on. But folding the last row opens up 342 litres, although the space does seem larger than this. It's a square, boxy shape so you will be able to stack a fair few items here, although the lip is quite high. With the 7-seat version, you can also fold the second row fully flat. That grows boot space to a good 1,350 litres. This isn't possible in the six-seater we are driving.