Is this the next MG 3?

Spy photos posted to social media may provide our first glimpse at the next-generation MG 3 city hatchback, due in European showrooms next year.

Images shared by the Chungking MG Club and reposted by Cochespias show a small MG hatchback wearing camouflage wrap, with design cues similar to the MG 5 sedan now in Australian showrooms.

The compact proportions of the vehicle – and that it wears tyres of the same profile as today's MG 3 Excite – suggest it may be the long-awaited replacement for the current MG 3, which dates back to 2011 in China.

And the presence of a traditional grille indicates it will keep petrol power – and resist the switch to electric propulsion.

MORE: New MG 3 a chance for Australia next year

Drive has previously reported an MG 3 successor is planned to reach UK showrooms in early 2024 – possibly under a different name.

There is a chance this car is not the MG 3 successor bound for Australia, as executives have suggested our market may receive an MG-badged version of a vehicle from another brand within the SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) motor group.

However with styling very similar to the MG 5 – with a similar shark-nosed front end, sharp headlights, ZS-style tail-lights and crisp body lines over the front doors and rear wheel arches – it is clearly an MG of some form, for certain markets.

The MG badges on the wheel centre caps confirm its identity, and the 195/55 R16 Kumho tyres on this prototype vehicle are the same profile as those on the top-of-the-range MG 3 Excite city hatch in Australia.

A camera or radar sensor module at the top of the windscreen indicates the new vehicle will be fitted with advanced safety technology for the first time – though it may bring a price rise beyond the $19,990 drive-away of today's base model.

A glimpse inside shows the same seats as the new MG 4 electric car – which looks very different to this test car, and sits on dedicated electric-car underpinnings – though the rest of the cabin is hidden by a cover.

It is unclear what would power the new MG 3, however there have been unverified reports out of the UK of 1.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid power.

MG general manager of marketing Rick Whaite told Australian media in March: "We're not walking away from value and we still need products like that, to give people the opportunity to have a brand new car with a seven-year warranty.

"It is approaching the end of its life. We do have a very clear pipeline around things that are in the future, but as we talked about earlier ... the UK is a little bit further ahead of us. So the conversations that you're hearing [are] in line with where their market sits right now."

MG Australia communications and public relations manager David Giammetta said at the same media preview: "Everything is under consideration, but we could essentially take other models from our parent company, and [they] could then take that [MG 3] nameplate."