MG Rover, the last major British-owned car manufacturer, collapsed yesterday. The 100-year- old marque, which once produced the iconic Mini and the Land Rover, had hoped to stay alive with investment by China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) but the two companies failed to reach a deal this week.
The company's demise puts the jobs of 6,000 workers at its vast Longbridge plant near Birmingham at risk and another 15,000 jobs could be affected at suppliers.
MG Rover announced it had asked accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to act as administrators.
British prime minister Tony Blair and chancellor Gordon Brown visited Birmingham yesterday for meetings relating to the Rover crisis after Mr Blair returned from the Pope's funeral in Rome.
Administrators are looking for interest from potential bidders for the bankrupt group and seeking talks with the government, they said yesterday.
PwC was appointed early yesterday afternoon. Shortly afterwards, they said bidders had already expressed interest.
"We have been approached by a certain number of people and we would be delighted to hear from more people," said Ian Powell, the head of PwC's business recovery services group.
The administrators would also be seeking talks with the government, Mr Powell said.
MG Rover Ireland, which has 21 dealerships around the State, said yesterday: "As far as we are concerned on the Irish scene, it is business as usual. We are naturally hopeful that the administrators will be able to find a buyer."
With concern growing among employees heading into work that they might not be paid from next week following a halt to production on Thursday, British trade secretary Patricia Hewitt announced a £40 million (€58.3 million) package of support for West Midlands companies that supply MG Rover. She also promised a wider package of assistance once a taskforce was set up to help cope with the crisis.
The government will also have to bail out Rover's pension fund.
The British government proposal followed nearly 24 hours of confusion over the financial state of the company, after SAIC pulled out of joint venture negotiations.
Mr Blair said he had phoned China and sent a letter to Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in an effort to save the company and still hoped a deal could be done.
"It's possible still that there may be the opportunity of doing something with the Chinese company, although not the original prospect that was there a few weeks ago," Mr Blair said.
The talks with SAIC ended as the firm failed to secure an emergency £100 million government loan. Rover said it needed the cash to maintain production - which stopped on Thursday after key suppliers demanded money for continuing component deliveries - while it negotiated with SAIC.
Both Mr Blair and Mr Brown had provided high-level support for a deal.
