I find it hard to believe that anybody did think the chinese would build cars here... was it just daydreaming?

 

At best it would have been a token gesture to put a british flag on them and get into european markets easier. It's dead now - I think the time is to admit defeat

 

I read with interest all the posts angered at SAIC/NACs inability to deliver on LB, and I must firstly say that I wholeheartedly agree with this. However, the issue is clearly settled already, and indeed was settled years ago.

Here are my two cents:

• It is simply cheaper to make cars in China.
• China has a bigger (emerging) market.
• UK and European markets for MG struggled with outdated machines and sometimes dubious build quality (I say this as someone who has an MGF, and totally love it).
• A car built on a nearly 20-year old platform and based on lots of Chinese parts will have even less cred in a UK and Euro market than the previous MGR incarnation.
• Chinese people have more regard for the Britishness of the small open-top sportscar brand than we did - please don't pick me up on this point - I am not talking about all you guys, but the majority of the UK buying public, many of whom still tease me for being a 27-year old Rover and MG driver (I lie awake crying into my leather seats and walnut dash most nights...)
• SAIC / NAC know all of the above.

Now, imagine that you were a businessman. A Chinese businessman. A Chinese businessman who had little interest in helping an ailing, if not dead British motor industry, but lots of interest in making money for his company by exploiting a quintisentral British brand at an ABSOLUTE knock-down price.

THAT is the reality of the future of MG, and whilst it is pure conjecture on my part, I would imagine that all hints, false promises and even falser dawns regarding the future of MG production in the UK has been only to keep alive an element of the marque in the UK for marketing purposes. Think how much that photo of the NAC-chaps stood next to the Birmingham City Mayor was worth as marketing publicity! Pure advertisers' gold-dust.

I write this post with some real sadness, because like nearly all of you I would love to see MG at the forefront of a British motor revival. I think that the cars had massive promise, and were beautifully styled. But I'm afraid the only revival I can see on the horizon is a week in Goodwood each year.

 

howard-moore wrote:

• It is simply cheaper to make cars in China. A little, but it is costly to ship them
• China has a bigger (emerging) market. Up to a point, but why throw away a big (Europe) existing one? China isn't any sort of market for sports cars either.
• UK and European markets for MG struggled with outdated machines and sometimes dubious build quality (I say this as someone who has an MGF, and totally love it). So give them modern models with good build quality. China didn't have any MG's at all, a reason not to sell MG's in China?
• A car built on a nearly 20-year old platform and based on lots of Chinese parts will have even less cred in a UK and Euro market than the previous MGR incarnation. Agreed, the reason/excuse why production didn't restart except for possibly the token TF in future, but no excuse in relation to the future MG range.
• Chinese people have more regard for the Britishness of the small open-top sportscar brand than we did - please don't pick me up on this point - I am not talking about all you guys, but the majority of the UK buying public, many of whom still tease me for being a 27-year old Rover and MG driver (I lie awake crying into my leather seats and walnut dash most nights...) Small sports cars wil not sell in China like they do in Europe. And what about profitable volume non-sports cars that could be produced at Longbridge, like the ones 95% of the car buying public gets?
• SAIC / NAC know all of the above. Yes, including my observations, but they are probably not guided by commercial logic.

Now, imagine that you were a businessman. A Chinese businessman. A Chinese businessman who had little interest in helping an ailing, if not dead British motor industry, but lots of interest in making money for his company by exploiting a quintisentral British brand at an ABSOLUTE knock-down price.

Depends if I wanted it to succeed in China only (possibly a flop already according to some reports) or if I wanted it to succeed in Europe or elsewhere too.

THAT is the reality of the future of MG,

I hope you're right, because that wouyld mean volume production of 'normal' cars at Longbridge.

and whilst it is pure conjecture on my part, I would imagine that all hints, false promises and even falser dawns regarding the future of MG production in the UK has been only to keep alive an element of the marque in the UK for marketing purposes.

Very possibly, but it is short sighted if it is.

 

MG Power

Will MG ever be produced in any country? Maybe not, which could be why MG Power was bought by Mr Riley.

Maybe the MG brand will now go up for sale.

I have not read all the posts on this so maybe its been suggested already.

 

I really am not surprised if this eventually turns out to be true. Despite much loyalty and enthusiasm to the project, I feel this is now inevitable after so much waiting and am losing patience.

It is now getting on the verge of us not caring because nothing is happening!

 

Is she about to sing... (note the viking helmet - quite apt )

 

I've had a very quick chat with a contact I have who works for SAIC. He doesn't know what the situation is at Longbridge - he is just as much in the dark as we are!

 

I notice the relatively recently formed "Room 251" PR dept are very quiet about all these goings on - may be more of a Room 101?

How long til all the R&D heads off east? Despite what they say, IF it is the end for MG at LB then surely it doesn't make sense to have your R&D 1000s of miles away from your factories and customer base - unless by doing this they think they are doing enough to keep the British thing going.

I don't see how this follows - SAIC setup their R&D with Ricardo years ago, and they never had any intention of building cars in the UK at that time. That fact that they still don't doesn't change that.

They setup their European R&D to make use of the sjills available here. That still applies.

 

if SAIC relaunched MG in UK, what's the selling point? average?

 

if SAIC relaunched MG in UK, what's the selling point? average?

Well that's up to SAIC/NAC surely?

If it's that bad, why bother to sell it in China at all?

Why bother to buy it?

Why not just sell the name on?

You make it sound like it was picking up bankrupt assets and reusing them in China. Surely the Chinese aren't that insular are they?