Dacia Sandero or MG 3?

mattykan said:

Sadly there doesn't seem to be much if any DNA from the Metro in the MG3.

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I liked the Metro too, but I don't think we can call it "sad" that a modern car doesn't contain lots of bits from the Metro (which itself had the 1959 gearbox-in-sump engine on launch).

The Metro was a real Tardis but had crashworthiness to match.

The world moves on, today's MGs are built for today's regulations. Just a shame we can't judge for ourselves yet and they should get here faster.

Or would we want every report on the MG6 to say it was a warmed-over Rover 75 with a K-Series engine lol?

stuartm1 said:

In my mind an MG enthusiast would prefer a 2 seater roadster or something sporty.

It might attract younger buyers, housewives or some ex zed owners but I would question whether these constitute being MG enthusiasts. Quite alot of zed owners probably never previously owned an MG badged car and only bought the zeds as they were basically tarted up more modern looking Rovers - that's why I bought one.

I see all true MG enthusiasts as having been F/TF owners or something pre 1980 and these people will never go anywhere near an MG3. I'd rather they just called the MG3 an Austin Metro for the UK market.

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I dont understand why this attitude persists. MG has produced saloons and family cars alongside its sportscars throughout it's history.

Just as a point of interest BMW own the rights to the Metro name.

Yes but they've nearly always had a sports car in the range at the same time

No expert but...

Weren't MG known for sporting up existing models? and producing a sports car?

To me, they're doing neither at the minute so as far as I'm concerned, MG isn't MG. It's just a badge on some random car.

Littlened said:

It's just a badge on some random car.

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That's exactly how I feel about it

John said:

Yes but they've nearly always had a sports car in the range at the same time

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Not between 1982 and 1995.

MG did relaunch with a sportscar, the TF but it didn't sell, I am sure that a sports car would have been a priority if only the TF sales had been better.

Littlened said:

No expert but...

Weren't MG known for sporting up existing models? and producing a sports car?

To me, they're doing neither at the minute so as far as I'm concerned, MG isn't MG. It's just a badge on some random car.

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Indeed they were, but despite a number of different owners they never managed to make a success of that strategy, which is perhaps why SAIC have gone in a different direction. Not that SAIC have made a great success of it either mind, perhaps the hard truth is that MG just doesnt have enough cachet to survive.

Huff said:

Indeed they were, but despite a number of different owners they never managed to make a success of that strategy, which is perhaps why SAIC have gone in a different direction. Not that SAIC have made a great success of it either mind, perhaps the hard truth is that MG just doesnt have enough cachet to survive.

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MG as a brand needs something to make it stand out from the crowd. At the minute the Chinese are clinging onto what brand awareness MG has left over from the past.

For me, what should of happened is they should of used another brand to make the 6, 5 and 3, and then made a really trendy british everyday sports car under the MG brand.

That way they get money from the 6, 5 and 3 to finance the sports car without diluting the worlds (or at least my) perception of the MG brand.

Roewe tuned by MG?

John said:

Rowe (spelling?) tuned by MG

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Potentially, at least that way in the likes of China they are associating Roewe with the MG brand to increase sales.

Then, when they've released a british sports car over here in Britain, then can export it to China (or have it built there) and it'll actually be a british sports car, designed specifically for the British.

littlechicken said:

Not between 1982 and 1995.

MG did relaunch with a sportscar, the TF but it didn't sell, I am sure that a sports car would have been a priority if only the TF sales had been better.

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I agree.

I can't think of any sportscar manufacturer selling cars at the lower end of the price bracket that only sell sportscars. Mazda may be known for the MX-5 (some would dispute whether it's actually 'sporty') but they can only make the MX-5 because they have a full range of mainstream models bringing in the money.

The TF was never going to be a viable business plan for SAIC that have global aspirations not just a plan to please a very niche 2-seater market.

Littlened said:

MG as a brand needs something to make it stand out from the crowd. At the minute the Chinese are clinging onto what brand awareness MG has left over from the past.

For me, what should of happened is they should of used another brand to make the 6, 5 and 3, and then made a really trendy british everyday sports car under the MG brand.

That way they get money from the 6, 5 and 3 to finance the sports car without diluting the worlds (or at least my) perception of the MG brand.

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I can see the logic but I don't know as the 6 would sell any better as an Austin, Morris, Roewe or Rover than it has as an MG. The people who frequent this site perceive the problem to be that the 6 isn't MG-ified enough, where as the general populous just don't perceive the car at all.

To use Dacia as the example again, I have been bombarded with emails, leaflets and adverts for the Duster. Likewise the dealer was falling over himself to sort out a test drive......... and all this effort for a car that costs considerably less than the 6. I haven't seen any Dacia ads on the telly or any billboards and yet the car has still been marketed and the public perception of the brand is much higher. Admittedly some of that is because its so cheap and more of it because of the Renault connections but still, it shows that MG could have had a much higher profile if only the marketing had been better targeted and the dealers more on the ball.

stormbind said:

All the recent owners of Morris (and MG) have missed a goldmine. Obviously I don't want them to clone it, just port key design cues onto a new platform.

* Post-war feel good factor
* Tiff Needle celebrity car, who learned tricks and racing in a Minor (does that give it racing pedigree?).
* Retrotastic (more distinctive than Mini, Beetle, CV2, 500, MGB etc.)
* Gracious individualism
* Old England
* Humped bonnets are now ultra-modern (due to crash safety tests)

In my opinion, ignoring this potential sales-monster is where MGR most seriously goofed. An all-new Morris Minor could have replaced the 25/ZR, killed the new MINI, and perfectly complemented the 75/ZT. Has SAIC noticed their chance?

As marketing/investment/sales prospects the MG3/MG6/etc. are, by comparison, hopelessly "normal".

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The problem with the Minor was and still is that it was only ever really popular in the UK, it doesn't have the global appeal of the MINI, Beetle or Fiat's 500.

As MGR found to their cost, you need to sell cars all over the world to be profitable, not just in the home market.

stormbind said:

All the recent owners of Morris (and MG) have missed a goldmine. Obviously I don't want them to clone it, just port key design cues onto a new platform.

* Post-war feel good factor
* Tiff Needle celebrity car, who learned tricks and racing in a Minor (does that give it racing pedigree?).
* Retrotastic (more distinctive than Mini, Beetle, CV2, 500, MGB etc.)
* Gracious individualism
* Old England
* Humped bonnets are now ultra-modern (due to crash safety tests)

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Look at the success the Rover 75, the Jaguar S-Type, and the late 90s retro Lancias were.

Exactly.

It's not what people want or need. If you were choosing a car instead of none, would you choose a Minor reflecting an Issigonis design cooked up in Cowley during the war (who? where? when???) or something based on the revolutionary post-war Issoginis design of the Mini and the 1100?

The production Icon, as not the first offering, can however pick up on the retro theme... an SUV is surely Project Mosquito for the 21st century.

Huff said:

Indeed they were, but despite a number of different owners they never managed to make a success of that strategy, which is perhaps why SAIC have gone in a different direction. Not that SAIC have made a great success of it either mind, perhaps the hard truth is that MG just doesnt have enough cachet to survive.

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You can have MG without a sports car (for a while anyway)
You can't have MG without sporting DNA in the range

One thing the old MGR stuff had was character... let's face it if you judge the Zed range on most other counts they'd have been dead in about 1999. Somehow MGR managed to engineer \ style something into those cars that made them appealing enough to make up for the point they were quite poor in terms of the base product.

What SAIC are doing is producing incredibly dull cars with no soul or character whatsoever (feels somewhat like the phrase "designed by committee") where it feels like any interesting bits get squeezed out (imo by the risk-averse Chinese side)

They need something to excite people, Concept5 and Zero did it but production 5 and 3 won't and there's plenty of better brands out there if you want a shopping trolley or "white goods" family hatch.

But we got plain 25's, 45's and 75's before the ZED range, get the standard MG's out then the hot versions, most car makers realese a hot version after the original model has been released.

ROVER-25X said:

But we got plain 25's, 45's and 75's before the ZED range, get the standard MG's out then the hot versions, most car makers realese a hot version after the original model has been released.

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But they bought mg not rover. We never got dull mg's

gshaw said:

make up for the point they were quite poor in terms of the base product.

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You've never driven a ZT then! The 75 was a great platform to build upon. The only car out of the range without throw backs to the 80s

John said:

But they bought mg not rover. We never got dull mg's

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Nothing to do with what they bought, seems to be general practice with the other major makers like FORD, Vaux, Citroen etc.