MG AND ROVER TO COMPETE AGAIN
New battleground ahead as MG moves east
MG TF: the last British model
SAIC was talking to MG Rover last year about selling the company for around £200 million -- but Rover collapsed, enabling SAIC to pick up the remains for the relatively paltry £67 million. Over 6,000 jobs were lost.
Interestingly, it means that MG and Rover are now in competition for the first time in decades -- but the battleground is China. That's because the MG name plus the car designs were sold to the Chinese company Nanjing Corporation by administrators. The price was similar too: £53 million
It was 1968 when the two marques were last in competition, just before the British Motor Company and British Motors merged to become the ill-starred British Leyland. It was nationalised seven years later, after it collapsed, and the MG badge was left with the vestige of an association with its sports car heritage.
But now a new chapter awaits Morris Garages. MG is going to stand for something new under its new owners, according to Nanjing boss Zhang Xin. He said: "We want Chinese consumers to know this brand as 'Modern Gentleman'. To see that this brand represents grace and style."
