MG Revived?
MG, one of Britain’s most historic brands is soon to be reborn, and will even see sales this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Best known for producing some of the world’s most loved sports cars in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, MG (originally standing for Morris Garages) fell from grace in 2005, when parent company MG Rover Group declared bankruptcy. Having not produced a car since April 7th, 2005, the MG factory in Longbridge, England has remained unused since; however, the famous brand has found an unlikely saviour in the Nanjing Automobile Group of China.
The new owners of MG, Nanjing, bought the name in late 2005 at a price of approximately $109.7 million ($97.3 million USD) with hopes of returning the iconic marque to its former status, when more than 500,000 MGs of all types were sold in North America from 1947 to 1980. With three manufacturing facilities planned, new MG head and ex-Lotus Group CEO Duke Hale hopes to fast track the brand’s re-introduction to the global marketplace, opting to produce the best known car MG has produced in recent years; the TF roadster, at MG’s ancestral English home, while a TF coupe will be built in a factory in Oklahoma.
Finally, three sedan models will be built at the Nanjing Group’s current Chinese facilities. Both the Chinese and English facilities are already being prepared to tool up for production, however, the planned Oklahoma facility has yet to be built, and MG hopes to have that facility up and running by early 2007, with production planned to start the following year. Hit hard by the GM plant closure, the planned Oklahoma facility, which will serve as both production centre and global headquarters, will bring approximately 550 jobs to the area.
Hardly the budget sports car that the originals were, Nanjing is looking to break into the North American market with a more upscale product than previous MGs, so the new ones will be built by hand. As a result, production will be expectedly low, with only 12,000 to 16,000 units produced annually at the Oklahoma plant; 60 percent of which would be for distribution throughout North America. Right now Nanjing has a production contract with Fiat s.P.a., having produced a meager 35,832 cars for the Italian car maker in 2005.
Just one of the various Chinese manufacturers looking to break into the North American market, Nanjing hopes that by moving the established English brand upscale and focusing on its recent acquisition’s European heritage, that the North American public will be accepting of the Chinese company’s products. And while no production figures or solid deadlines have been laid out, the plan is already in action and we should be able to expect the first MGs since 1980 to hit showrooms sometime in 2008, with the TF series being the most likely candidates for early release.
With an official release planned soon, it’s expected Nanjing will further explain their plans, and may even elaborate on the additional Chinese-built sedans they hope to produce in concert with the somewhat underwhelming TF sports car. Stay tuned…
