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Full-scale car production resumed at Britain’s Longbridge auto plant under its Chinese owners on Friday, reviving the factory which was mothballed when MG Rover went bankrupt in 2005. Full-volume production of the two-seater MG TF LE500 sports car was underway at the facility in Birmingham, Britain’s second city, giving a much-needed boost to the country’s motor industry. After 100 years of vehicle production in Birmingham, the traditional heart of Britain’s motor industry, about 6,000 jobs were lost when historic car manufacturer MG Rover collapsed. Nanjing Automotive Company (NAC) bought MG Rover’s assets for 53 million pounds in July 2005. They were taken over last year by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC). “We have all worked extremely hard to meet our commitment to commence production of the MG TF in August,” said MG UK corporate communications manager Eleanor De La Haye. […]

MUNICH — BMW plans to export nearly 500 electric versions of its Mini car to California, company sources said. The electric Minis are being built at the Mini factory in Oxford, England, without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks, then shipped to Munich, Germany, where they are being fitted with electric powertrains. BMW sources told Automotive News Europe that 490 of the Minis will be leased to selected customers in California and 10 will be used as show cars. The electric Minis are painted silver and have yellow roofs, the sources said. BMW engineers working on the electric Minis are part of a new division called Project i established by the automaker to develop low-emission city cars. The electric Minis will help BMW to meet new California regulations that will require carmakers selling cars in the state to offer zero emission […]

The Midlands automotive sector has received a second major shot in the arm with the news that MG owner Shanghai Automotive has told UK dealers it expects to produce 600 of the new TF LE500 models between the start of production in August and the end of the year. That came as the new boss of Jaguar told Birmingham executives yesterday that the company is staging a fight back against its rivals. He spoke out just 24 hours after Jaguar Land Rover revealed plans to launch a recruitment drive to find up to 600 new employees, less than a month after a £1.15 billion takeover by Tata Motors of India was completed. SAIC’s UK dealers says first of the new sports cars are expected to be in UK showrooms in September and price details are expected to be released in […]

Trevor Wilkinson, the founder of TVR, the small British carmaker known for nimble little sports cars that early owners often assembled from a kit, died Wednesday in Minorca, Spain. He was 85. His death was confirmed by Marshall Moore, president of the TVR Car Club of North America. The soft-spoken Mr. Wilkinson built his first car in 1947 as a race special and incorporated TVR Engineering (later simply TVR) the next year. The company name was a shortened version of his first name.

It’s a strange time for the British sports car industry. With MG’s future still in doubt, TVR in a perennial state of flux, the briefly resurgent Marcos now in administration and formerly quaint Morgan embracing BMW tech, many of the great British names have either perished or changed out of all recognition. One manufacturer staying true to its roots is Ginetta, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. With a reputation built on its highly successful sports racing cars (and road cars) of the 1950s and ’60s, Ginetta has always held a special place in the hearts of discerning sports car fans of a certain age. While the marque’s more recent history has been defined by slow decline and on-going financial strife, it survived, and is now enjoying a renaissance in the hands of entrepreneur and successful racer Lawrence Tomlinson.

Breckland’s dual-fuel, 300kW V8 Beira roadster will be launched at the Motorexpo at London’s Canary Wharf on June 9, 2008. Visitors will be the first members of the public to see a brand-new, British-built sports car in the UK. The Beira is being assembled by Norfolk-based Breckland Technology and will be on sale from November 2008. Breckland started with General Motors’ Kappa platform, the basis of the American Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky models. This allowed the company (which specializes in producing low-volume cars and prototypes for clients) to keep development time and price to a minimum. The car has taken a year to develop and is expected to retail for about £55 000. For that, buyers will get a car based on proven GM technology but with unique styling and a six-litre V8 engine (also from GM, normally used […]

Consortium leader Dave Richards is quashing speculation that luxury sports car maker Aston Martin is for sale. “The company is not for sale,” Richards insisted during the Nurburgring 24-hour race last weekend, where Aston’s N24 Vantages finished 1-2-3 in their class. “This speculation is only there because we are talking to people all the time about engines,” Richards said. “But we are always talking to people, and it doesn’t mean we’re for sale.” Richard led a partnership that included two Middle East investment firms to take over Aston Martin from Ford Motor Co. last year. Since then rumors have circulated that the Prodrive boss and his investors would be happy to turn a quick dollar. But Richards’ denial is his most emphatic statement yet about Aston’s long-term future. The company’s future engine supply is less certain, though. Aston’s V8s are […]

In China the Chinese MGTF is to make its worldwide debut in just over a week – 6,000 miles away from Longbridge. Longbridge owners Nanjing today opened their doors to the British press to reveal that the two-seater MGTF would finally roll off the Nanjing production lines from May 20 onwards. The Chinese launch of the sports car paves the way for the long-delayed introduction of the two-seater in the UK in early August. Saic-Nanjing’s confirmation of the production launch came in response to the No More Chinese Whispers campaign by the Birmingham Mail, calling on the Chinese to come clean over their intentions for Longbridge.

A new car from a British motoring legend will be available to car loans customers later this year, it has been announced. According to consumer watchdog Which?, MG will relaunch itself under its new Chinese owner in September with a sporty new car that the company is calling the TF LE500. It is reported that the vehicle will be produced at the company’s Birmingham plant Longbridge and according to MG’s director of sales and marketing, Gary Hagen, will be reminiscent of the firm’s past glories. “The open top sports car is an iconic image of British motoring and forms the basis of the MG marque’s long pedigree,” he said, adding that the TF LE500 would be “at the heart of the brand as we take it forward”. Last month the Times reported that Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the group now […]

Yes, another famous name in the manufacture of British cars has been sold – although this time on a much smaller scale. Model railway maker Hornby is continuing its expansion in the hobby market by buying up toy-car firm Corgi. Hornby, which originally made its name with model railways, paid £7.5 million for the model car firm, which though originally a British brand was owned by a US company. “We are pulling together the hobby elements of the British toy industry,” Hornby chief executive Frank Martin told the Guardian. The firm also owns Scalextric, a brand that has been making a come back with Formula 1 and film tie-ins. It has also bought plastic model firm Airfix and Humbrol paints. Martin hopes to use the formula that has worked for Scalextric for the Corgi models, hoping that not only will […]

The 1,000bhp club has a new member – and it’s British! With 1,500bhp, the Keating TKR delivers even more power than the Bugatti Veyron supercar. The mid-engined two-seater is designed solely for track use. But don’t panic, as there is a roadgoing model, too. The latter is called the SKR, and looks the same as its more powerful stablemate. It’s available with a choice of four engines, offering outputs ranging from 404bhp to 656bhp. The fastest street-legal car does 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds and can hit 205mph. All models use the same General Motors-derived 6.0 and 7.0-litre V8s, and engineers have used superchargers and twin-turbos to boost power. The Keating’s sleek lines, tall rear spoiler and air vents look as if they are straight from the race track. And with a bespoke steel spaceframe chassis and fibreglass bodywork, it’s light, […]

Legendary British sports car maker AC Cars is returning home to Britain to build its cars at Brooklands in Surrey. The company that built the iconic AC Cobra had been based in Malta but a legal dispute over the factory has prompted the return to Britain. Owner of the AC brand, Acedes Holdings LLC, struck the new deal with AC specialist Brooklands Motor Company, which has been based in Jack Brabham’s former workshops in Weybridge, Surrey, for the past two decades. The company will make the original AC Ace, the AC MK11, the AC MK11 FIA and the AC MK111 at the Brooklands facility. A new factory in Michigan is also planned where AC will build cars for the US market. It is expected that about ten cars a year costing £150,000 will come out of the Brooklands workshop and […]

This is the car which will put MG back on the map – in Birmingham. It’s called the Roewe 550, but Auto Express can exclusively reveal that an MG-badged version is on its way, and is likely to be made at Longbridge. The 550 has been designed to appeal to British buyers – the lines were penned by a team of leading UK stylists working for Roewe’s owner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). The Chinese firm recently bought NAC MG, and is now looking to use the famous octagon logo to give it a slice of the lucrative European market, as SAIC has decided not to bring the Roewe badge here. A car based on the 550 will be the first MG to go on sale.

DEARBORN, Mich., April 20, 2008 – Geoff Polites, chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover, has died peacefully in his home country of Australia. He was 60. Mr. Polites, who is credited with leading the team that returned the Jaguar Land Rover business back to profitability and successfully steering it through its ongoing sale process to Tata Motors, had been battling serious illness for the past two years. “Geoff’s untimely passing robs his family and friends of a man who was a real inspiration to us all,” said Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Company. “His drive and determination, combined with his clear sense of vision for the business, played a huge role in turning round the business at Jaguar Land Rover and returning it to profitability. Geoff ensured that Jaguar Land Rover was not distracted and […]

The last car to be manufactured at Longbridge may have already rolled off the production line, industry insiders fear. They said the decision by main supplier Stadco to stop manufacturing body-shells for the MG TF sports car, as The Birmingham Post revealed on Saturday, could effectively sound the “death knell” for the Nanjing project. One influential source said he doubted whether Nanjing parent SAIC would ever produce cars from Longbridge.

Ever since MG Rover went bust in 2005 and was bought by Nanjing Automotive, rumors have flown about when the automaker’s Longbridge factory would resume production of its iconic roadster and other models. Well after a long wait, to the delight of enthusiasts MGs are once again available in the UK…just not ones made by the Chinese parent company. A new endeavor launched by Englishman William Riley called MG Sports and Racing Europe has begun selling a supercharged coupe called the MG X-Power WR. Based on the old company’s most expensive model, the new sports car is built in Eardiston, UK, and priced between approximately $150,000 and $175,000, with seven models sold so far and 35 additional orders in the pipeline.

With the launch of the XF sedan and the deletion of the S-Type and X-Type from its U.S. lineup, Jaguar now offers cars in America powered only by V8 engines. The XF’s hard points come from the S-Type, which it replaces. But Jaguar is using the V8 engines, suspension, subframes, six-speed transmission, propeller shaft and differential from the upmarket XJ sedan and XK sports car. Despite all the parts scrounging, the XF has little in common with the rest of the Jaguar lineup or its predecessor. This could be the car that carries Jaguar into the modern age and out of the wood-and-leather ghetto.

According to MotorTrend, the economic slowdown is actually going to be a benefit for the British car industry. Cardiff Business School car industry guru Professor Garel Rhys is predicting that the falling value of Sterling will make British built cars easier to export, despite the gloomy economic outlook. He said that some 76 per cent of UK car production was for export, and Sterling’s value fall would make these vehicles more profitable, helping to justify inward investment in the UK car industry, notably from emerging economies such as China. The latest UK vehicle investor is Indian industrial combine Tata, which has recently bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford. Other investors include the Russian backers of the LDV van making business. He added that the currency value shifts would cut the profitability of imported cars, which currently account for 86 […]