MG has overtaken Honda, Renault and Mazda as the electric car boom helped its UK sales soar by two-thirds last year.

The almost century-old British car brand, now owned by state-controlled Chinese company SAIC Motor, said a rush of electric vehicles sales helped it move a record 30,600 cars.

Excluding all-electric producers such as Tesla, MG claims to be the fastest-growing mainstream car brand in Britain.

The company has managed to shrug off the computer chip shortage that has dogged other large manufacturers after its owner found alternative suppliers and reduced chip usage in cheaper models. 

The strategy helped improve the market share of SAIC’s brands in China last year to more than 40pc and meant production dipped by less than 3pc.

The £29,500 MG ZS SUV was the tenth best-selling electric car in the UK last year, selling 5,380 units, just behind the Vauxhall Corsa-e. 

The ZS made it into November top 10 sales chart for all vehicles, the first time the company has done so.

Guy Pigounakis of MG Motor UK said: “This is a sustainable, long-term approach to growing our market presence, having already positioned ourselves as a leader in affordable EVs and great value, high quality cars.”