No MG3 until second half of 2013

3711 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by stuartm1, May 20, 2012

preetoo

Discussion Starter · May 19, 2012

The MG3 won't be launched here until the second half of 2013 according to William Wang, MG Motor UK's Managing Director in an interview with the Birmingham Mail.

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2012/05/19/longbridge-in-gear-for-mg-s-euro-mission-97319-31005344/

The diesel MG6 is promised before the end of this year, but we seriously must question how long the remaining dealers can hold on for. Mr Wang is quoted in the article as saying:

“Our philosophy is that we go step-by-step. It will be small volumes in Europe at first. We need time to test the markets. We do not have ambitious, aggressive plans to produce 10,000 cars next year.”

If that quote's correct, talk about depressing. I've consistently given SAIC the benefit of the doubt in terms of the time it takes to homologate designs for the EU market, but the prolonged wait for what should be a popular seller in the supermini class suggests that MG Motor UK is pretty much an afterthought.

Deeply disappointing - especially as I want to support the MG renaissance but can't stretch to the MG6 and I don't want to wait another 12+ months to replace my Colt...

Save

1 - 8 of 8 Posts

Man in the Car

· #2 · May 19, 2012

I think the idea that the MG3 is potentially a big seller is misplaced (but that's just my opinion).

Whilst the models are selling in good numbers in the main market (ie. China), I don't see any good reason for SAIC to take up capacity in their factories in China to produce either fully built vehicles or CKD kits for a market where they are being given the impression that there is little real interest in them, and where a very significant number of very loud mouthed people do nothing but savage the company over almost every aspect of the cars it is now producing.

I find the attitude of people in the UK depressing; I find the attitude of SAIC/MG Motor merely disappointing, but it seems to be the way the Chinese work, so I find it completely unsurprising.

Save

DJM160

· #3 · May 19, 2012

This thread is in danger of being repremanded for negativity - despite all the facts pointing toward SAIC showing little interest in selling volumes of cars in the UK and Europe.

From a business point of view concentrating on their home country makes sense and I cant see why anybody would be surprised by this approach.

It is disappointing both that the cars we are seeing are so uninspiring and slow to appear but hardly surprising.

Save

patpending

· #4 · May 19, 2012

preetoo said:
Deeply disappointing - especially as I want to support the MG renaissance but can't stretch to the MG6 and I don't want to wait another 12+ months to replace my Colt...

Thanks for the find, preetoo. I want MG3s sooner as well.

Meanwhile, David Mills is in danger of being reprimanded for negativity - despite all the "facts" pointing towards him showing little interest in making posts supporting MG.

It is disappointing both that the posts we are seeing are so uninspiring and quick to appear but, as time goes by and we become used to the broken record, hardly surprising lol.

Save

MGFmad

· #5 · May 19, 2012

I hate to be negative but considering the crazy length of time to get a diesel MG6 to the market - not forgetting the MG6's delayed launch, I would be surprised if we see the MG3 at all in 2013 and how long after that until the MG5???

SAIC are a huge company and I am sure they know what they are doing but as far as UK operations are concerned, it appears to the casual observer as a disaster.

If they can get the MG3 and 5 ASAP together with good pricing and a proper marketing campaign to make sure the average non-enthusiast car buyer actually knows that MG exist, they could be onto a winner

Save

DJM160

· #6 · May 19, 2012

patpending said:
Meanwhile, David Mills is in danger of being reprimanded for negativity - despite all the "facts" pointing towards him showing little interest in making posts supporting MG.

It is disappointing both that the posts we are seeing are so uninspiring and quick to appear but, as time goes by and we become used to the broken record, hardly surprising lol.

Shame on you Pat. Used to think you had a balanced outlook, but simply picking on my post which is very supportive of MG's parent's business decisions is lazy, unnecessary and I had thought you were better than that.

I'll repeat again as you are obviously getting old and unable to actually read posts

The best business approach for SAIC (for both Rowe and MG) is to concentrate on their home market. Once that is saturated, then full scale expansion into the worlds markets makes real sense.

Save

48365

· #7 · May 20, 2012

I hope its going to be worth the wait. :broon:

I recon a fresh new brand option will be good for the UK car market than the usual brand names, the Zed range have a strong precence up my way so I can see the new ones prooving popular.

Save

stuartm1

· #8 · May 20, 2012

I fully understand why MG are delaying the MG3 in the UK and the need for them to prioritise and grow their home market in the Far East before looking at new markets.

However I can't understand how Guy Jones expects to recruit more dealers with such a limited product "range" - I bet there's a few angry dealers who were expecting the MG3 launch during 2nd half of 2012 that must be considering throwing in the towel and who could blame them.

Perhaps SAIC should just forget UK/Europe completely until they've established themselves properly in China first. They're hardly going to do themselves any favours with a meek "step by step" approach into an already overly saturated/competitive car market.

Save

1 - 8 of 8 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month