Sad News – MG to End Production in Britain

In very sad news, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation confirmed it was stopping the assembly of cars at Birmingham’s famous Longbridge plant. The owner of MG cars has been slammed for moving production to China – ending nearly 100 years of history.

Sad - British icon MG no longer to be made in Britain

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which bought crippled MG Rover in 2005, confirmed it was stopping the assembly of cars at Birmingham’s famous Longbridge plant. The company insisted it was a “necessary business decision.” Yet it came as the day MG announced a 130% surge UK sales.

Birmingham Northfield Labour MP Richard Burden said: “MG’s decision to close its assembly line at Longbridge is hugely disappointing and I believe it is premature.”

MG said the switch would lead to a “nominal number of redundancies ”, with sales and marketing staff remaining at the site.

The moving of production to China comes 92 years after the company was founded in Oxfordshire. The first Longbridge built MG was in 1956.

One of MG’s most famous owners was Prince Charles , who took delivery of an MGC in 1969. He later passed it down to Prince William.

The move also marks another sad milestone in the history of the once thriving Longbridge plant.  Car manufacturing began there in 1906 and, at its peak, it covered 400 acres and employed 25,000 people.

the-early-days-of-mg-production

The first new MG for 16 years rolled off the production line at the West Midlands site in 2011.

Matthew Cheyne, head of sales and marketing at MG Motor UK, said:

With efficiency and flexibility both key to long-term market success, off-shoring vehicle production is a necessary business decision. Relocating to state-of-the-art overseas production facilities will allow faster access to product and help to meet ever-increasing customer demand, all while maintaining the highest levels of production quality.

Note: This story originally appeared in part or whole in The Mirror.

Staff