Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC), the Chinese auto company, plans to restore production of the iconic MG TF sports car and other models at Longbridge, near Birmingham, to about 50,000 within two years.
The company, which began producing MG cars in its home city last month, also plans to develop a new, "very good sports car that would fit in with the brand" by 2009, according to its top executive in the UK.
"Within two years we would like to get our market share back, and get good products with a UK focus," said Wang Hongbiao, chairman of NAC (UK). The brand, which NAC bought from MG Rover's administrators in 2005, sold 44,337 cars in 2004 and 54,306 in 2003.
Production at Longbridge will resume in late May or early June and reach the "lower thousands" this year, and about 25,000 in 2008. Employment could reach 500 to 800 by the end of next year,against 140 now. NAC has invested about $500 million (€370 million) in the MG project to date, including in its Nanjing plant, which has the capacity to produce 200,000 cars. The Longbridge plant will source some parts from China for its UK-made MGs, including engines and gearboxes.
Mr Wang also said that work on a plan to license assembly of MG cars in Ardmore, Oklahoma, was "going very well".
The company's relaunch of MG marks the first takeover by an emerging Chinese carmaker of an established western brand and its manufacturing assets.
Founded in 1947, NAC produced the "Leap Forward", China's first light truck, during the "Great Leap Forward", Mao Zedong's drive in the late 1950s to "catch up with the British and overtake the US".
MG will face tough competition in the high-performance car segment, dominated by more-experienced companies such as BMW and Volkswagen's Audi marque, alongside smaller sports car makers such as Aston Martin, in which Ford Motor has sold its majority stake to a Kuwaiti-led consortium.
MG's Chinese owners are looking to reassemble a network of about 50 dealers in the UK in preparation for rolling out the brand in Europe.
In China, NAC has lagged behind competitors such as SAIC, which bought the rights to some former Rover models after MG Rover's collapse. Its main joint venture partner, Italy's Fiat, has underperformed other foreign carmakers in the Chinese market.
In China, Mr Wang said MG was considering replacing the MG TF's soft-top with a hardtop to take into account extremes of weather and pollution. "We are taking traditions from the British, and positioning it as a Chinese model," he said. - ( Financial Times service )
