We say ‘inspired’, but there’s inspired and then there’s inspired. Thankfully the MG Icon is only a concept sketch at the moment, so there’s plenty of time to avoid a lawsuit from Nissan’s design department.The Icon is presumably designed to show that MG really is on the up – so on the up that it’s thinking about making something as cool as a B-segment SUV.

There aren’t many of them at the moment – just the one, in fact – but it’s a segment that looks like it’ll explode into life shortly. Ford is bringing one out soon, called the EcoSport, as is Hyundai – and no doubt more will follow.
The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which owns MG, is looking to establish MG as a mass manufacturer with a unique identity, shedding the re-badged Rover image of the past.

Whether this concept is in any way unique is debatable, but the front end is visually linked to the 1965 MGB GT sports car, with a thin horizontal grille and relatively high set circular lights.

It’s very similar in size to Juke, with four individual seats in the cabin, the rear pair able to be folded down into the floor for a decent load space. It has ‘suicide’ rear doors for easy access onto the cabin, like a Ford B-Max.

It’s far too early to talk production, but it’s thought that a car similar in size and principle to this will hit China in 2014, which means it’ll probably come to the UK the following year.