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jaybird
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From our club's January newsletter:
SHANGHAI and Nanjing now appear to have extracted much of what they want from MG Rover and Longbridge, and are in the process of re-packaging the newly acquired know-how for their factories back in China - and that still leaves many unanswered questions about the legendary Birmingham factory... will it be used to entice Volkswagen-Audi into the UK?
Now that the Rover 25, K-Series engine and PG1 gearbox production lines have departed for China, the question about MG ZT and TF production at Longbridge is still very much outstanding. On the one hand, we have NAC's Mr Wang Qui Jing telling us that the company is deadly serious about its plans to restart production, but on the other, there's still the not-so-small matter of the finance to get it all moving again. Now that NAC has gone on the record stating that it needs a partner to help fund the plan, things are looking a little grim.
There is some talk that NAC may yet need fight to maintain its position regarding the ZT, and its rights to produce the car. "The Rover 75/MG ZT Intellectual Property Rights issue is still up in the air and SAIC may still go through the UK legal system to wrangle the IPR away from whoever claims ownership..."
However, NAC is serious about the company and the MG marque name - the octagon is most definitely not for sale, and Longbridge remains safe, with the factory and all the history tied up in it being considered 'extremely important' to the Chinese.
According to one austin-rover.co.uk correspondent: "MG is staying in China, the talk of the keeping dealer network together (in the UK at least) is hollow as they cannot expect the remaining dealers to have showrooms devoid of stock for upto 18 months. This is a smokescreen in the best P4 practice of trying to find a new partner. This strategy didn't work for Phoenix, and won't work this time either..."
So, with NAC struggling to get the ZT back into production without third-party funds, it looks like its hopes of a quick re-start lie with the MG TF roadster. Well, maybe not: "The TF is dead in the water as MG Rover left a hefty unpaid bill and Stacto will not restart production until they are paid in full..."
So, with the ZT and TF remaining with NAC, it looks like Great British Sports Cars (GBSC) will lease the MG licence from the Chinese, or simply go down the Austin-Healey route if it ends up producing the cars it wishes to. It will be more or less be starting from a clean sheet of paper. "The Austin-Healey projects that are being branded about are based on the 'Viking' project which was a cut down RWD ZT platform and front clip. This is/was little more than a paper project and NAC is using it as a carrot for prospective investors..."
Our correspondent continued: "The XPower SV Sport & Racing business looks like its going to be sold to a small German/Dutch company unknown name as yet - and as was reported back in April, Porsche was mentioned as a possible purchaser of MG - and now we are hearing that NAC-GBSC are talking to VW/Audi for engines... the Germans are playing up to the Chinese, but the current thinking is that NAC's UK operation (whatever that may be) is looking like it will be a sub brand of SEAT in a attempt to make that business more interesting for a third party sale..."
So... Volkswagen-Audi and Nanjing at Longbridge? If it happens, remember, you heard it here first.
SHANGHAI and Nanjing now appear to have extracted much of what they want from MG Rover and Longbridge, and are in the process of re-packaging the newly acquired know-how for their factories back in China - and that still leaves many unanswered questions about the legendary Birmingham factory... will it be used to entice Volkswagen-Audi into the UK?
Now that the Rover 25, K-Series engine and PG1 gearbox production lines have departed for China, the question about MG ZT and TF production at Longbridge is still very much outstanding. On the one hand, we have NAC's Mr Wang Qui Jing telling us that the company is deadly serious about its plans to restart production, but on the other, there's still the not-so-small matter of the finance to get it all moving again. Now that NAC has gone on the record stating that it needs a partner to help fund the plan, things are looking a little grim.
There is some talk that NAC may yet need fight to maintain its position regarding the ZT, and its rights to produce the car. "The Rover 75/MG ZT Intellectual Property Rights issue is still up in the air and SAIC may still go through the UK legal system to wrangle the IPR away from whoever claims ownership..."
However, NAC is serious about the company and the MG marque name - the octagon is most definitely not for sale, and Longbridge remains safe, with the factory and all the history tied up in it being considered 'extremely important' to the Chinese.
According to one austin-rover.co.uk correspondent: "MG is staying in China, the talk of the keeping dealer network together (in the UK at least) is hollow as they cannot expect the remaining dealers to have showrooms devoid of stock for upto 18 months. This is a smokescreen in the best P4 practice of trying to find a new partner. This strategy didn't work for Phoenix, and won't work this time either..."
So, with NAC struggling to get the ZT back into production without third-party funds, it looks like its hopes of a quick re-start lie with the MG TF roadster. Well, maybe not: "The TF is dead in the water as MG Rover left a hefty unpaid bill and Stacto will not restart production until they are paid in full..."
So, with the ZT and TF remaining with NAC, it looks like Great British Sports Cars (GBSC) will lease the MG licence from the Chinese, or simply go down the Austin-Healey route if it ends up producing the cars it wishes to. It will be more or less be starting from a clean sheet of paper. "The Austin-Healey projects that are being branded about are based on the 'Viking' project which was a cut down RWD ZT platform and front clip. This is/was little more than a paper project and NAC is using it as a carrot for prospective investors..."
Our correspondent continued: "The XPower SV Sport & Racing business looks like its going to be sold to a small German/Dutch company unknown name as yet - and as was reported back in April, Porsche was mentioned as a possible purchaser of MG - and now we are hearing that NAC-GBSC are talking to VW/Audi for engines... the Germans are playing up to the Chinese, but the current thinking is that NAC's UK operation (whatever that may be) is looking like it will be a sub brand of SEAT in a attempt to make that business more interesting for a third party sale..."
So... Volkswagen-Audi and Nanjing at Longbridge? If it happens, remember, you heard it here first.
