New MGs coming out again!

[regularman]

Loooks like they are reopening the MG Rover plant at longbridge and making a new two seater with the help of the Chinese buyout. New MGs

 

[rulle7]

Well, hope it works out and that these cars will be MGs in more than name only.
At least the rear wheel drive two-seater was designed by MG's "former owners"...

 

[DrEntropy]

Sounds ambitious. We'll see.

 

[regularman]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds ambitious. We'll see.

[/ QUOTE ]I know what you mean, it was the last of the british car companies to give up the ghost to foreign ownership. That bunch has been through heck over the last few years with deals falling through and crooked management. Lets hope this is the real deal. I must confess I never really cared for the MG badge on anything but a sports car. They should have kept the old Morris name for sedans and such, but that might have went with the Mini deal when they sold out to the Germans. That whole BMC, Leyland history is a real mess.

 

[mruanejr]

In today's NY Times:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthreads/verifyemail.php?verify=7021-Rb8JrKFK&Cat=0

 

[jlaird]

MG Motors plans to offer a full range of sports cars and sedans. The Oklahoma plant will produce a newly designed TF Coupe. The rear wheel drive two-seater was designed by MG's former owners but never built.

 

[stormbear]

Will this move be accepted as the Mini built by BMW in the UK? How about the new alleged BMW Triumph rumored to be built in South Carolina?

For me, call me a snob, but I will need to take a wait and see approach to this. Nanjing Motors (the owner of MG) is totally unknown to me and they will need to prove their worth. Can a Chinese car live up to the legends of Morris Garage? Time will tell.

More at this link...
https://www.rallybadge.com/?p=69

 

[DonP]

From Auto News.com this morning:

Nanjing Automobile Group of China is planning to revive one of Great Britain's historic brands -- MG -- and build cars at a plant in Oklahoma.

In a press release, Nanjing said the reborn version of MG Inc. will have three production sites. A plant in Ardmore, Okla., will assemble a redesigned TF coupe. MG's shuttered factory in Longbridge, England, which closed when MG Rover Group collapsed in 2005, will build the TF roadster. And a Nanjing plant in China will build three sedans.

Cars likely will go on sale in the United States in May or June of 2008, MG says.

The company said it expects to begin construction of the Oklahoma plant in early 2007 and start production by the third quarter of 2008.

MG expects the plant to produce 12,000 to 16,000 units a year. About 60 percent of the output would be for North America and 40 percent for Europe. The plant expects to use mostly manual labor, similar to how Lotuses are assembled.

Nanjing Automobile makes small commercial trucks along with cars. Its main carmaking operations is a joint venture with Fiat Auto S.p.A. in Nanjing that assembled just 35,832 cars in 2005.

Nanjing bought MG Rover in 2005 for about $97.3 million at the current exchange rate. The iconic British automaker collapsed in April of that year. MG's origins date to 1923, and it sold cars in the United States from 1947 to 1980.

Nanjing hired Duke Hale to be MG's CEO, with responsibilities for Europe and North America. He most recently was CEO of Lotus Holdings Inc. after two years in charge of the automaker's North American operations. He was also COO of American Isuzu Motors Inc. and has held positions with Volvo and Mazda during his 25-year automotive career.

MG said it hasn't signed up any dealers yet and said sales projections were premature. It is recruiting a sales team to sign up dealers in major markets.

The Nanjing local government has a majority stake in Nanjing Automobile. Nanjing Automobile joins a handful of Chinese automakers, including Chery Automobile Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Group, that hope to crack the U.S. market.

MG says it plans to distance itself from other Chinese companies by focusing on its European heritage.

Nanjing plans an official announcement on Wednesday, July 12, in Oklahoma City, site of MG's global headquarters for sales, marketing and distribution outside Asia. Nanjing said it will create about 550 jobs in Oklahoma, which was stung by the February closure of a General Motors assembly plant.

Nanjing said the capital investment in the United States will be more than $2 billion. The money comes from state and local governments in Oklahoma, the state's development agency and private investors.

 

[tony barnhill]

We'll see!

 

[jsneddon]

so if the coupe is made here and the roadster is over there... do you think they'll sell the roadster here too? I was of the understanding that the lack of a dealer network in the US was the biggest obstacle to selling them here in the past.

but I agree with Tony... I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Nunyas]

[ QUOTE ]
In today's NY Times:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthreads/verifyemail.php?verify=7021-Rb8JrKFK&Cat=0

[/ QUOTE ]

erm... that's not a link to the NYTimes... I was confused for a few moments when I got a page that opened to the BCF... lol

 

[kennypinkerton]

It doesn't make good economic sense for them to built the coupe version here and the convertible one there... It's the same car with only a few parts differences. And they are going to hand build them ~ala lotus? Sounds expensive and very low production numbers to me.

I'm with you guys - I'll believe it when the MG logo goes on a dealer lot, and cars too.

 

[Nunyas]

here's the NYTimes artical:

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/business/worldbusiness/12auto.html

 

[MGretired]

Interesting...The Brits spent 10 years making excuses why the new MG's couldn't be sold in the US...Nanjing owns the company for just over a year and wants to bring MG's back to their historic LARGEST SELLING MARKET!! Sounds like solid markeying to me...wish them all the luck...and if it happens, a new coupe will be in my driveway! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jlaird]

Wonders if they will have a limo for the wife. Hehe, Can't wait to see what they have in mind.

Hope they forget plastic.

 

[tony barnhill]

We'll see....& if they do, I'll definitely look them over...where's the dealer network? There's a problem if they try to come in as "MG" - lots of the old dealers still own the name/rights due to how MG left in '80...& many of them are just waiting to sue somebody about it!

 

[wkilleffer]

Sign me up for at least one of the coupes.

 

[Nunyas]

forget plastic? pfff... shah... like that'll happen these days... heh

I don't think I've sat in a modern car that didn't have a plastic interior in a really long time. The best I've seen in a new car so far has been plastic dash thinly disguised as something leathery looking but rubbery feeling, and woody looking plastic trim pieces. I'm beginning to miss vinyl dashes.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[53caddy]

i would buy one if they are resonable cheap, and can find one in the states. I think it is great that the mg is comming back thou.

 

[kennypinkerton]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm beginning to miss vinyl dashes.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

What happened to metal dashes - or REAL wooden dashes? Those have the best appeal - IMHO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif