MG will no longer screw cars together at Longbridge.
Discussion
wildcat45 said:
The long slow death of Longbridge as a car factory is apparently complete.
All MGs are to be imported from China.
25 jobs to go, apparently.All MGs are to be imported from China.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-37...
...which says quite a lot about just how little assembly is currently done there.
It is a shame - but then again MG is a shadow of it's former self. None of the new offerings hold any appeal or any USP - they lack the sporty edge that the last UK generation (ZR, ZS, ZT) offered. They may have been fast rovers with body-kits on - but they can be a lot of fun on a B-Road and give a lot of modern stuff a run for it's money. There was some clever engineering behind them to make them handle as well as they do - only scuppered by a parent company that went down the toilet for various reasons (some deserved, some not).
The MG6 just looks like another anonymous hatchback - the MG3 looks like it's trying to be a funky hot-hatch but doesn't quite pull it off - the SUV thingy (forget it's name) is utterly pointless in a market awash with them. The current 'MG Brand' is a distant and bland relative of the original.
(Statement of Bias - ZT driver here)
The MG6 just looks like another anonymous hatchback - the MG3 looks like it's trying to be a funky hot-hatch but doesn't quite pull it off - the SUV thingy (forget it's name) is utterly pointless in a market awash with them. The current 'MG Brand' is a distant and bland relative of the original.
(Statement of Bias - ZT driver here)
I know a friend who bought an MG3 in the last year or so and is happy with it, was in the car for a short period of time and you can see from the quality of the interior they are going for they can't really compete with a lot of competitors.
I don't like the stuff MG has done in the last 20-30yrs personally, but doesn't mean this isn't a shame but as stated it's not a suprise
I don't like the stuff MG has done in the last 20-30yrs personally, but doesn't mean this isn't a shame but as stated it's not a suprise
LandRoverManiac said:
...they lack the sporty edge that the last UK generation (ZR, ZS, ZT) offered.
Eh? They were just factory-blinged old man's cars (200-25/400-45/75). I had a few of the 45-shape-400s, and they were perfectly decent, but nothing terribly special. Better than the Vectra/Mondildo/Golf GL that were my co.car alternatives...FN2TypeR said:
How many MGs are sold in the UK these days? I bet the figure is minuscule.
My uncle is on his second MG6, picked it up recently, facelift model. He's good friends with the guys at the factory, gets invited to the BTCC etc.Another uncle (his brother) also just purchased a 6.
Muddle238 said:
To be honest I hardly considered the MG3 and MG6 as actual MGs. They were just cheapo Chinese cars with MG badges stuck on. Even the Rover-based MGs to me were more Rover than MG. I guess it's a just been a very long, painful and drawn out death for the brand.
Out of interest, do you actually know anything about the MG6 from an engineering perspective? I struggle to understand how someone who does could consider it to be a "cheapo Chinese car with MG badges stuck on". If anything the engineering is more German than Chinese but it's more British than either. The assembly and material quality may be shoddy, but the underlying chassis is based on the Rover 75 and is actually very good.
Edited by kambites on Friday 23 September 13:29
Muddle238 said:
To be honest I hardly considered the MG3 and MG6 as actual MGs. ... Even the Rover-based MGs to me were more Rover than MG. I guess it's a just been a very long, painful and drawn out death for the brand.
Since the B was launched in 1962, apparently...Although, having said that, since MG started as just styling exercises on Morrises...
With only 25 redundancies it shows how little assembly was done at Longbridge, meaning the announcement has to have been inevitable.
The MG3 is quite a reasonable looking car, saw one only last weekend. Lack of dealers must hamper sales as I think many people just but from a local dealer, regardless of make - that has to be the reason there are so many Suzukis in the village where I live, the only dealer in the village is Suzuki. The percentage doesn't reflect general sales levels. But I can understand why dealers may not want to have an MG franchise.
The MG3 is quite a reasonable looking car, saw one only last weekend. Lack of dealers must hamper sales as I think many people just but from a local dealer, regardless of make - that has to be the reason there are so many Suzukis in the village where I live, the only dealer in the village is Suzuki. The percentage doesn't reflect general sales levels. But I can understand why dealers may not want to have an MG franchise.
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