A venerable British sports cars brand was reborn in a Chinese industrial suburb today as Nanjing Automobile Group rolled out its first MG sports cars and saloons.
A racing green MG TF two-seater convertible, a copy of the popular original British model, was unveiled at a plant in the eastern city of Nanjing - the first made-in-China MG car.
Nanjing Auto, a state-owed medium-sized car maker, will use the MG marque, founded in the 1920s, to target China's fast-growing ranks of wealthy buyers.
"We are keeping the original British flavour," said Zhang Xin, general manager of Nanjing subsidiary making the cars. "But in the future, the major market for MG will be in China."
Two models of the MG 7 series saloon, based on the original MGZF model, were also revealed to a 1,000-strong audience of Chinese government officials and global media.
MG cars built in the Chinese plant and the former MG Rover plant at Longbridge in the English Midlands, which Nanjing Auto plans to restart in May, will also be sold in Europe.
Nanjing has also signed a letter of intent to make MG cars in the US state of Oklahoma.