MG Rover plant in Britain reopens

The huge car plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, officially reopened today, two years after closing following the dramatic collapse…

The huge car plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, officially reopened today, two years after closing following the dramatic collapse of motor giant Rover.

A special ceremony was held at the Birmingham plant to mark the next phase in the restarting of car production.

The new Chinese owners Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) is to build TF sports cars at Longbridge with models due off the production line later this year.

Pre-production MG TF sports cars will be driven off the newly re-commissioned production line as part of today's events.

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Officials attending the ceremony will include Mr Liang Baohua, governor of Jiangsu Provincial Government, the home province of NAC. There will be a special cavalcade of MG cars around the plant as part of the ceremony.

Almost 6,000 workers lost their jobs when MG Rover went out of business, dealing a huge blow to the UK car industry in general and the West Midlands economy in particular.

The crisis blew up just before the last general election and led to jobs being lost in companies which supplied the car giant with goods and services.

The Unite union welcomed today's ceremony but said it would continue to press for jobs to be created at Longbridge.

Eric McDonald, the union's regional industrial organiser said: "Longbridge has a long and proud history within the automotive industry and Nanjing's ownership will be another important chapter so we wish it every success.

"The restarting of car production will be welcome but we continue to press Nanjing to honour their stated objective of creating 1,200 jobs.

"There are still many ex-MG Rover workers who are unemployed and hoping to return to Longbridge. We are looking forward to a positive relationship with Nanjing."