Corporate Business

MG Motors UK, which is majority-owned by the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), has started selling two of its models – the MG550 and the MG6 – in Brazil, the Brazilian press reported. The MG motors models, which are represented in Brazil by Sao Paulo based company Forest Trade, will be sold for between 94,000 and 100,000 reals (between US$59,000 and US$63,000), with a number of items as standard including DVD player, satellite navigation, ABS brakes, light and rain sensors and 17-inch tyres. The MG Car Company was founded in the 1920s and produced cars continuously until the autumn of 1980. After two attempts to re-launch production, the second of which was commercially successfully, the MG brand and the Rover brand, merged to become the MG Rover group in May, 2000, and production came to a stop in April, 2005 […]

A beleaguered British motor industry delivered its second boost to the economy in as many days yesterday as BMW announced plans to build its next generation Mini in country. The German car giant said it will make a fresh investment of £500 million to build the new Mini coupe and Mini Roadster models in the UK. The news followed an announcement on Wednesday by Nissan that it was investing £192m to build the next version of its Qashqai model in Britain. Both announcements safeguard thousands of jobs. Business leaders, unions and the government welcomed the development, which the Prime Minister said was a “tremendous vote of confidence” in BMW’s UK workforce. The Mini coupe will be launched later this year and the Mini Roadster in 2012, both produced in Oxford, where more than two million Minis have been built since […]

Aston Martin is planning to move production of the Rapide sports saloon to the UK in 2012. The production will be moved to the British automaker’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire in the second half of 2012. After the conclusion of a six month feasibility study, the automaker had decided that the production of the Rapide is not feasible in Gaydon due to some constraints. Therefore, in 2008, the company joined hands with Magna Steyr to manufacture this car and the latter established a dedicated facility in their Graz facilities in Austria. The pre-production of this car began in late 2009 and full production began in 2010. Explaining the decision to move the production of this car, Aston Martin’s chief executive, Ulrich Bez, said that the facility restrictions in Gaydon would have created problems in production of other cars if the […]

Longbridge’s first all-new MG for 16 years has drummed up over £3 million of business in just two weeks – with 180 cars sold. The MG6 has got off to a flying start since the official VIP launch in April, with buyers facing a waiting list of up to six weeks as dealers cope with a flood of orders for new MG model. Sales of the new MG6 follow the relaunch of volume car-making at the Birmingham car factory six years on from the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005, when 6,500 jobs were lost. MG Motor UK PR and Events Manager Doug Wallace said the Chinese-backed company was delighted with the response to the MG6, which sells for between £15,495 and £18,995. “The value of MG6 GT fastbacks sold or ordered is just over £3 million – we […]

The electric version of a Rolls Royce Phantom presented by the British luxury car maker at this year’s 2011 Geneva Auto Show will not spawn any production version, at least not yet, according to the company’s CEO, Torsten Mueller-Oetvoe. In March, when the model was presented, Rolls said it was trying to probe the public’s reaction to an electric luxury car, and only after having enough data would decide whether to build it or not. Now, some three months later, the model has been given the temporary axe, not because people showed little interest, but because the model, at least for now, would make no sense. According to the CEO, since most of the people buying Rolls Royce cars live some great miles away from cities, the limited range current batteries can provide will not help them very much. Meaning […]

Ok, so this is blatant begging, but I will do it anyway. Google has introduced their new +1 system of website appreciation. This is very much like Facebook’s “Like” button and helps the search engine and other folks to how much you like or appreciate a site. I would take it very kindly while you are visiting the JustBritish.com website if you would click the Google +1 button that is up there in the right top header of the page, just below the date and the subscription links. Clicking it won’t cost you a thing but a moment of your time, or any of your Google juice, but it will me the world to us. Thanks, and of course, please let me know if there is anything we can do for you!

SAIC Motor Corporation, the owner of MG Motors, plans to develop several new models for the British brand in order to boost sales outside its home market in China. The Chinese owner of MG Motors has already spent £1 billion ($1.64 billion) to re-launch the MG and Roewe brands (former Rover) and intends to invest another £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion) to achieve annual sales of 700,000 by 2015. In 2010, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, most of which were delivered in China, with only 2,000 units exported to other markets. This past April, MG launched its new mid-size MG6 in the UK, the first new car to be assembled at the British firm’s Longbridge plant in 16 years. The company said that when it completes the development of a diesel version, it will offer the car to rest of […]

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar is eying a possible sale or spin-off from Malaysian parent Proton. When he quit a top marketing job at Ferrari in fall 2009 to become chief executive of Lotus Cars, 37-year-old Dany Bahar already had considerable knowledge of motorsports and brand-building — but little experience in running a car company, even one as small as Lotus. Now 39, with 20 months under his belt at the helm of the tiny British sports car specialist, Bahar has embarked on an ambitious program to greatly expand the Lotus product portfolio, reposition the brand as a premium competitor to Porsche and boost annual sales volume to 6,000-8,000 cars by mid-decade, with about one-third of those going to the U.S. market. He also thinks the time may be right to separate from Malaysian parent Proton, which has owned Lotus since […]

The company, which only two years ago attempted to seek Government support as global car sales collapsed, said pre-tax profits rose from £15m last year to £1.1bn in the year to March 31. The increase has been driven by a huge rise in Jaguar and Land Rover sales in China and emerging markets, where the middle classes see the British cars as a status symbol. JLR sales rose 51pc in the year from £6.6bn to £9.9bn, which was also aided by new models such as the Jaguar XJ and favourable foreign exchange rates. “Jaguar Land Rover is now a strong, profitable and innovative competitor in the premium car industry,” said Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive of JLR’s parent company Tata Motors. Indian company Tata bought JLR from Ford in 2008, but initially suffered heavy losses as the recessions struck. Read the […]

Land Rovers began rolling off the assembly line Friday at the British brand’s first plant in India since it was bought by the Indian car giant Tata Motors. Parts are still being manufactured at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in Liverpool, England, but Land Rover Freelander 2 SUV’s are now being built in the western Indian city of Pune. India offers Jaguar great opportunities to build cars for less, Carl-Peter Forster, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Motors, told reporters. “Clearly, India can be a very attractive sourcing base, an opportunity to source increasingly high quality but lower cost components not only for India operations but for overseas operations,” he said. Forster has already indicated that Indian engineering will also play a role in the design of Jaguar Land Rover engines. Tata bought Jaguar from Ford in 2008 for […]

Close on the heels of Tata Motors-owned Land Rover announcing its plans to develop hybrid cars, the Indian automaker’s another British subsidiary has now decided to toe the line. Jaguar Cars, is now reportedly looking to introduce hybrid versions of its XJ and XF models in 2013-’14, using hardware developed with sister brand Land Rover, as reported by Britain’s Car magazine. The magazine has also stated that the first Jaguar hybrids could be launched soon after the planned 2013 introduction of the first Land Rover hybrid. It was reported very recently that by the end of 2010 Land Rover will be testing the first diesel hybrid prototype called the ‘range_e’ which is being developed using a Range Rover Sport platform. Tests of this vehicle will use the existing 3.0 litre TDV6 diesel engine featuring a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. The […]

British car output rose an annual 44 per cent in April with a total of 98,290 new cars produced in Britain last month on higher demand for new vehicles, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. In the year to date, car production was 64.9 percent higher than the same period a year ago. “Output in April is up across the car, commercial vehicle and engine sectors compared to the same time last year, reflecting a good start to the second quarter of 2010,” said SMMT chief executive, Paul Everitt. “The home market saw a significant increase in the month, a positive indication of a strengthening economy and an improvement in consumer confidence,” he added. – Reuters

A detailed electronic service and repair manual known as the MG TF RAVE disc is now available to MG TF owners from all XPart AutoService centres and wholesalers. MG TF owners can now access valuable service and maintenance information for their cars with an electronic workshop manual, available from all XPart AutoServices centres and wholesalers. The first disc of its kind to go on sale to motorists, it offers extensive technical advice for owners of MG TFs manufactured by MG Rover between 2002 and 2005. It contains a greater depth of technical detail than can be found in paper manuals, together with comprehensive search and cross-referencing functions, and the option to enlarge diagrams and print pages of interest. “Modern cars have a great deal more complex mechanical and electronic features than cars built even ten years ago,” explains Barry Smith, […]

There was a lot of eye rolling and worried looks when Ford sold Jaguar to India’s Tata. But based on the latest December figures, maybe there wasn’t reason to worry. Jaguar sold 1,246 cars in December in the U.S., a 24% increase from last year. Land Rover sold 3,595 of its rugged SUVs, a 37% boost from a year ago. For the full year, combined sales of both brands dipped 14%, not bad considering how the overall auto industry saw sales plunge even more. Needless to say, execs are happy: “Three consecutive months of Jaguar and Land Rover growth is a great way to end 2009, and a sign of better times to come,” said Jaguar-Land Rover North America President Gary Temple. “We start 2010 with sales momentum, strong product lineups for both brands, and the launch of the 2011 […]

Imagine you’re the successful your mom always wanted. You have cash to burn, successful career on autopilot and the mansion is finally mortgage-free, you’re in the market for a new car, one that speaks to your success and station in the community. But, you’re also in full mid-life crisis, sentimental for the tearaway youthfulness you now regret suppressing every time you open that second bottle of Chateau Lafite. Indeed, in your last act of impetuousness before children and creeping maturity reared their ugly heads, you owned an Aston Martin. Not one of these new namby-pamby ones, what with their button-down engineering and sophisticated electronics, but a real he-man-of-yesteryear Vantage with eight thundering pistons, a rock-crunching transmission and coil springs stiff enough to suspend the Golden Gate Bridge. So, you head down to your friendly neighborhood British luxury car dealership only […]

According to Nanjing Automobile, it bought the rights to the MG trademarks and logos when it bought the assets of the firm from administrators. It told High Court judge Sir William Blackburne that MG Sports and Racing Europe, based in Tenbury Wells, was using the famous octagonal logo and name on its MG X POWER supercar. Nanjing is now seeking an order to stop the company. Iain Purvis QC, who is representing the company, told the judge that Nanjing “have made great strides” in reviving the MG brand in the UK, with the Longbridge plant manufacturing again and a major new car launch planned for next year. He added that the British company admitted this was likely to cause confusion but claimed they are entitled to use the mark because they had bought the rights to it from liquidators of […]

The maverick but multi-award winning British car designer and engineer who left his eponymously named company in Leicestershire after a new owner took over is to build a new supercar prototype in South Africa. Lee Noble, whose work in recent years is said to have defined the British low volume sports car market has set up a new company, Fenix Automotive, and today (19 November) announced the launch of “one of the most dramatic supercars of the century” next year. With production cars like the Noble M12 and M400 to his credit, Noble says he is now delivering a lightweight, ultra-powerful mid-engined V8 supercar to market by the end of 2010. The as yet unnamed car, which will cost from under £75,000, “will trounce all previous Lee Noble-built Nobles for performance with a 0-100mph time of under seven seconds”, and […]

British super-luxury car manufacturer, Rolls Royce, unveiled an all-new, four-door, premium saloon model called the Ghost. It will be available in the second quarter of 2010. The company hopes to sell 50 to 60 Ghosts in the domestic market each year. Since Rolls Royce cars are made to order, and exclusively manufactured in the company’s UK facility, the time taken for delivery is between two to three months after a booking. The Ghost, earlier code-named RR4 and popularly tagged as ‘Baby Rolls Royce’, is smaller in dimensions than the company’s current Phantom model and is aimed at widening the appeal of the brand. “Ghost is a more informal design that broadens the appeal of Rolls Royce cars,” said Colin Kelly, Asia Pacific Regional Director. Rolls Royce sold 1,212 units of the super-luxury cars last year, in which India accounted for […]