What topic should we cover in our next podcast?

[Stuart Wright]

What topic should we cover in our next podcast?
Please vote for your favourites.
You can vote for up to 3 choices and we will look first at the topics with the most votes.
Thank you!
[Edit: The most voted topic Common MG EV issues and how to solve them has been chosen for the July 24 2024 podcast and so has been removed from the voting options.
Please review your choices amongst the remaining topics. Many thanks.

 

[tsedge]

Also, do tell us if there's a topic that isn't on the list that you'd like to see us cover.

 

[Jomarkh]

Buying a second hand MG what to look out for?

 

[fatboyfat1981]

Roundup of any details on the rumoured Mk3?

 

[decrep]

Just listened to the march edition, well impressed guys, extremely informative,
What interested me the most was talk of solid state batteries, I didn't realise they are a thing already.
I'll have to do some research.

And I couldn't find a like button, where have you hidden it?

 

[Stuart Wright]

Just listened to the march edition, well impressed guys, extremely informative,
What interested me the most was talk of solid state batteries, I didn't realise they are a thing already.
I'll have to do some research.

And I couldn't find a like button, where have you hidden it?

Thank you. There is a like button on YouTube if that's what you're looking for.

 

[johnb80]

How about getting a group together that can pool an action or request to SAIC on behalf of UK users. A group that can help SAIC to improve their product. A group that can highlight common issues. All often discussed on here but with no apparent link to SAIC where something could get done. We need to try and get SAIC onboard.

All of this is of course in my humble opinion.

 

[siteguru]

Just curious ... why is this podcast poll/thread in the ZS EV board rather than MG EVs Podcast or even General Chat Forum board? I only saw it because of the forum banner.

 

[tsedge]

Just curious ... why is this podcast poll/thread in the ZS EV board rather than MG EVs Podcast or even General Chat Forum board? I only saw it because of the forum banner.

It is in multiple forums (MG4, MG5, ZS) but they all link back to the same single thread. This was done because people rarely read the podcasts threads and we wanted good exposure to get a decent number of responses - perhaps the General Forum would have been a better idea.

Edit: It seems it was originally created in the ZS forum and that means thread updates only bump it up here not on the other forums, which is a shame.

Edit2: Because of that I have created some new threads pointing to it from the MG4, MG5 and General forums.

How about getting a group together that can pool an action or request to SAIC on behalf of UK users. A group that can help SAIC to improve their product. A group that can highlight common issues. All often discussed on here but with no apparent link to SAIC where something could get done. We need to try and get SAIC onboard.

All of this is of course in my humble opinion.

I like the idea.

There's a practical problem of how. Unless someone has a way in to SAIC there's little we can do. They have a policy of NOT engaging with forums.

Just bumping this up again.

 

[johnb80]

I like the idea.

There's a practical problem of how. Unless someone has a way in to SAIC there's little we can do. They have a policy of NOT engaging with forums.

I understand that but clearly the participants of the podcast have some connections in their, maybe not very strong ones but maybe something we could develop for everyones benefit (including SAIC).

 

[siteguru]

There's likely only one podcast participant who may have some "in" to MG UK (but not SAIC). I can't see anyone else having any such "in". ?‍

 

[johnb80]

There's likely only one podcast participant who may have some "in" to MG UK (but not SAIC). I can't see anyone else having any such "in". ?‍

Oh well, only a suggestion, let’s not bother trying ?

 

[tsedge]

I think we could do coordinated outreach to SAIC or at least MG UK.

But we'd need to think carefully about what we want to achieve and how we say it - for example, we could create a petition for more openness and transparency and then deliver it to MG UK HQ and get some press coverage for that. If we could create the petition on a trusted petition site that might help.

I think we'd need to emphasise our support for the brand and be careful to position this as something we are doing to improve the brand and help MG.

 

[decrep]

Don't forget, our cultures are totally different.
I had a small dealing with a Taiwanese company. The engineer was open and seemed to enjoy two way feedback, which indeed improved the product. But management stepped in and shut him down. They really didn't understand their user base, and the product just deteriorated until it's no longer produced. I think a Chinese company will be worse, because the Government has the old Opium wars hang up. They don't want advice, or being told what to do by westerners.
To succeed I think you really need an insider for advice on the best way to approach this.
Certainly any form of criticism, will kill it dead.

 

[johnb80]

I was suggesting a positive approach rather than a negative one. Minor improvements that would enhance their product examples from my perspective, change the programming in the entertainment system to reduce the volume when a door is opened, have a creep on/off button which would allow one pedal driving, program the volume up and down buttons to adjust temperature when the HVAC display is open. Truly minor items, zero cost, each one just a few lines of code.
There are more, the USB handling of music is the worst I’ve seen and could be easily improved with a rewrite of that section of code to allow folder access etc.

 

[tsedge]

Don't forget, our cultures are totally different.
I had a small dealing with a Taiwanese company. The engineer was open and seemed to enjoy two way feedback, which indeed improved the product. But management stepped in and shut him down. They really didn't understand their user base, and the product just deteriorated until it's no longer produced. I think a Chinese company will be worse, because the Government has the old Opium wars hang up. They don't want advice, or being told what to do by westerners.
To succeed I think you really need an insider for advice on the best way to approach this.
Certainly any form of criticism, will kill it dead.

MG UK is a British organisation with Chinese owners, so it isn't quite the same challenge, although I am sure they are constrained in what they are allowed to do.

I was suggesting a positive approach rather than a negative one. Minor improvements that would enhance their product examples from my perspective, change the programming in the entertainment system to reduce the volume when a door is opened, have a creep on/off button which would allow one pedal driving, program the volume up and down buttons to adjust temperature when the HVAC display is open. Truly minor items, zero cost, each one just a few lines of code.
There are more, the USB handling of music is the worst I’ve seen and could be easily improved with a rewrite of that section of code to allow folder access etc.

Yes and I understand that the software we use is done in the UK (well at least in Europe, they may outsource it).

Again, identifying improvements isn't hard, but the first job would be to build a relationship and that requires creating an opening that they'd be interested in persuing. So I guess what is the benefit to MG UK that we are offering?

 

[johnb80]

So I guess what is the benefit to MG UK that we are offering?

A group of enthusiastic owners willing to give feedback on how to improve their product in the marketplace.

 

[tsedge]

A group of enthusiastic owners willing to give feedback on how to improve their product in the marketplace.

Can we make this stronger?
(I am not asking you specifically, but anyone to contribute).

MG probably think they can get this from their own dealer/customer feedback anyway. If it was as simple as this, they'd already be doing it, wouldn't they?

 

[decrep]

Minor improvements that would enhance their product examples

To the Chinese, the word improvements could be seen as criticism. If you ever get the chance to work with them.

 

[johnb80]

To the Chinese, the word improvements could be seen as criticism. If you ever get the chance to work with them.

I have worked with Japanese in Osaka for 18 months which is I believe, a similar culture. They listened to what the customer wanted and changed things overnight, they were really keen to be seen as the best in the world at what they did.