SHANGHAI -- The Chinese owners of the UK's MG sports car brand plan to invest heavily and launch new models to grow MG around the world, with Europe being the main target market. Shanghai-based parent, SAIC Motor Corp, owner of MG Motor UK, has already spent 1 billion pounds in resurrecting MG and its sister brand Roewe, formerly Rover, and will now spend another 2.2 billion pounds ($3.6 billion) to boost MG and Roewe sales to 700,000 by 2015. Last year, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, mainly in China. Only 2,000 were exported abroad. MG launched sales of the MG6 compact car in the UK, the first new car assembled at its Longbridge, England, plant in 16 years, in April. The model will go on sale in mainland Europe next year when a diesel engine is ready. "We will not go into (mainland) Europe without a diesel," said UK managing director, William Wong. MG has a range of six new models is at various stages of launch or development. These are: The MG3 small hatchback, a roomy, sporty-looking car that's already been successfully launched in China. The MG3 will launch in the UK at the end of 2012. Success in the UK will determine the launch date in mainland Europe for the MG3 and the brand's other new models. MG3 The MG5, a compact model that will rival cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. Revealed in concept form at the Shanghai auto show in April, this hatchback will be key to the brand's mainstream revival in both the UK and mainland Europe when it arrives in 2013. An SUV-style crossover will go on sale in 2014 in the UK to rival the Nissan Qashqai. Also in 2014, a replacement will launch in the UK for the MG7, which is based on the Rover 75 developed when MG Rover was an independent company and first launched in China back in 2007. The new hatchback version draws on SAIC's partnership with General Motors Co. in China and will share the Epsilon 2 platform used by the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, according to Chen Xhixin, SAIC Motor's executive vice president. A replacement for the TF roadster is due in 2016 in the UK. "If you don't have a sports car, the brand doesn't look so robust," Liu Tao, the carmaker's product planning director said. A small EV, based on the Roewe E1 concept, is also planned for a 2012 launch in China. SAIC, China's largest automaker, which sold over 3.58 million vehicles in 2010, will restrict Roewe brand sales to small sedans in China and will export MG-badged hatchbacks, small SUVs and sports cars to markets in Africa and South America, as well as Europe. Source - Automotive News
Roewe, formerly Rover...... Hah, the the new owners couldn't pronounce Rover, so they changed it????...
Not quite... The Rover marque is now property of Tata Motors. A quick history of the name... Started as Starley & Sutton Co in Coventry in 1878. Absorbed as part of Leyland Motor Corporation in 1967 Became Rover Group in 1988 as part of British Aerospace ownership transfer, then sold to BMW. BMW sold MG Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium but that company went under. Nanjing Automobile Group purchased the assets in 2007. The sale did not include the Rover name. Ford bought Rover from BMW in 2006 to bring the name under it's Land Rover umbrella to consolidate the name in preparation to sell. In March 2008, Ford reached agreement with Tata Motors of India to include the Rover marque as part of the sale of their Jaguar Land Rover operations to them, alongside related Daimler and Lanchester marques. Legally the Rover marque is the property of Land Rover under the terms of Ford's purchase of the name in 2006.
Red Rover red Rover, please don't come over... :frown2: MG = More Garbage... Sad to see a fine old brand reduced to this.
Wow. That really sucks. Has nothing in common with MG cars of yesteryear. I was recently considering this fine specimen: MG : Midget | eBay But the guy wanted almost $18k for it.
Run away!!!! Run away FAST!!!! That is one is an abomination to all things MG. A Midget with a Spitfire engine & the stance of a 4wd truck. :frown2:
Hey, double %}#{^*! on both of you. I had one back in the summers of 81-83. So many fond memories about mammaries. Don't try to take my youth away from me.
Yute is always better in the rear view mirror. I drove many a fine old Brit car in my yute. Today I would not put up with them for more than a day or so. Took me years to figure it out, but now I have the best British sports car, my Miata. rrr:
Sooooo, here's the new MG6........:frown2: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyym-Q0Yxns&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - MG Television Commercial.mov‏[/ame] WOW...... Handles Great.......:crazy: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRQXX25TlmE&feature=related]YouTube - MG6 GT Driving Experience - Handling.mp4‏[/ame]
Why is that MINI has been the only brand that actually retained a good portion of what made the car great in the first place? That MG looks like every other Scion/Honda/Prius out there. Whatever happened to car STYLING??? Sad. Would have been cool to see another cool roadster, instead, we get the SOS. Agree, we need a puking smiley. EDIT: "...only SMALL CAR brand..." Aston Martin has kept their styling and made their new models amazing, as has Porsche...
Our family had 8 MG's, from the TC to the MGC. The cars were fun. Each car was unique in it's own way. Use to see them on the roads everywhere. It is a shame that this marque and other classic British marques are reduced to the whims of the Chinese marketplace. The cars produced now have nothing in common with the classics. I doubt that they will ever be imported to the US. At least that spares us from supporting China.