MG

Two out of three people who lost their jobs when car maker MG Rover collapsed in 2005 are now earning less money, research has revealed. This is hitting the Longbridge area hard.

MG is expanding their line with a new hatchback model. Nanjing Automobile – the Chinese company who owns the MG brand – will launch a new Ford Focus-sized hatchback in the UK as soon as 2010.

A new MG saloon has been launched, the first all-new product to wear the famous octagonal badge since MG Rover collapsed into administration in 2005. But for now, the MG 550 has only been introduced in the Chilean market. Behind the MG badge this is a Roewe 550, a car developed by Shanghai Automotive and based on a heavily modified Rover 75 platform. It has an all-new interior and is powered by an updated version of the familiar Rover K-series engine in 1.8-litre turbo form. The MG branding has come about as a result of last year’s merger between SAIC and fellow Chinese manufacturer Nanjing, which acquired rights to the MG brand. One of the reasons Chinese authorities encouraged the two car makers to join up was because SAIC lacked a globally recognised brand for exports – something confirmed by […]

London Taxis are as British as bowler hats and Big Ben. But the latest models coming off a new assembly line in China are unlikely to ever touch an English road. At a sprawling factory in the lush green suburbs of Shanghai, young Chinese workers are gearing up for full-scale production of one of Britain’s most iconic vehicles. It’s part of an alliance that awants to give the distinctive black cab a greater presence outside its namesake city. London Taxi International, which will continue to build nine out of 10 cabs used in Britain at a factory in Coventry, England, couldn’t increase production at its small-scale, high-cost plant. So it turned to a partner — and to China — as a way to drive overseas expansion. “To say the writing was on the wall would be pushing it a bit […]

Plans to create a new town with up to 2,000 homes on the former MG Rover site at Longbridge could be delayed for years because of the slump in land and property prices, a developer warned. The derelict car factory, which ground to a halt after the collapse of the famous marque in 2005, is set for a £750 million transformation which will create 10,000 jobs and mix modern houses with parkland. Initial plans projected it would take at least 15 years to complete the biggest regeneration scheme ever seen in the West Midlands, meaning it could be complete as soon as 2023. But at a public inquiry into the plans yesterday, Jason Tait of landowners St Modwen said progress could be slower. “There might be some growth in the market in the next 18 months or two years but […]

The prototype MG X-Power SV-S WRC (William Riley Convertible) you see here is the very first and only example of the supercar. The drop top is the British maker’s second new model since the marque was bought by former racing driver William Riley from the ashes of the MG Rover collapse. Hand built at MG X-Power’s production and development centre in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, first cars will be completed by January before production is moved to a new facility in the West Midlands early next year. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in summer 2009. The SV-S is powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged V8, while the Kevlar bodywork means the convertible gains only 12kg in weight compared to the coupé. A manual cloth hood dispenses with the need for heavy mechanical moving parts, too. Every car will also come with […]

Normally I don’t cover any non-UK automotive news, but this one is such a potential game changer that I had to mention it. The New York Times is reporting that Chrysler and GM are in preliminary merger talks. As the article says, “A merger would be a historic event, with two of the most iconic names in American industry coming together to survive in an increasingly difficult environment. Both have roots dating back decades in Detroit and, with Ford, long dominated the auto industry — until Japanese and other foreign car makers began making inroads into the American market.” Amazing times we live in. Oh, and on another front, I dreamed last night that MG started producing a minivan and a Hummer-like SUV. Please, say it ain’t so. I need to stop eating spicy food before bedtime.

The sales of MG-branded cars has been badly hurt by the personnel changes at Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. Statistics show that MG’s monthly sales volume during the first five months of this year was not more than 400, compared with a monthly sales of about 800 units from September to December 2007. It is the frequent personnel changes Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (Group) (SAIC) launched in senior management of Nanjing Automobile that leads to the poor sales of MG, pointed out industry experts. SAIC, parent of Shanghai-traded SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. (SHSE: 600104), inked a contract to acquire Nanjing Automobile from Yuejin Motor (Group) Corp. at the end of December 2007. After the deal, SAIC launched a series of personnel changes on the senior management team of Nanjing Automobile. It appointed Huang Keji, a top executive with Shanghai GM Dong […]

Fans of the MG were flocking to a Black Country Rover dealer this past weekend as it became the first garage in the western world to take delivery of the new model. Summit Garage has the car for sale following the return of its production to the Longbridge plant in Birmingham. A total of 75 cars have rolled off the production line destined for a number of garages around the UK and further afield. Enthusiasts can choose from bright orange, red and black models today, priced at £16,399. Boss of Summit Garage in Himley Road, Lower Gornal, has been inundated with calls from drivers keen to take a test drive in one of three MGs which left the factory. John Newey was hopeful of clinching a sale on the first day. “We have got a lot of people coming out […]

Just a few days after its first roll-out, the fully upgraded RML MG Lola EX265C completed a faultless run to fourth place in the final race of the 2008 Le Mans Series. In a six-hour endurance that was punctuated by dramatic incidents and thrilling nose-to-tail racing, the much-admired new coupé performed without a hitch, rewarding the team’s hard work and meticulous preparation with a reliable and extremely competitive performance. “I’m delighted – chuffed to bits!” said a smiling Mike Newton, co-driver of the EX265C and CEO of AD Group, principal sponsors to RML’s sportscar programme. “The guys have done an amazing job to put this car together so quickly, and to achieve a trouble-free run is an exceptional achievement.” The team had always approached the Silverstone 1000 Kilometres as an extended, if very public, test session, but poor weather on […]

The first run of MG cars have left Birmingham’s Longbridge factory for the first time in more than three years. The cars, which departed the plant shortly after 11am on Thursday, will go on sale from September 20. Chinese owner SAIC/Nanjing began producing the sports car model, the TF LE500, at the factory last month. The Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) bought the assets of the collapsed MG Rover organisation in 2005. Approximately 6,000 workers lost their jobs at Longbridge when the huge car plant closed in April that year. The return of car production to the plant has been heralded as a boost to business in the region.

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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.