The TF is about to return
Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) has given further information on it's plans to restore production of the MG TF at Longbridge. It reckons it can, with the help of new models, boost production levels to 50,000 within two years.
The Chinese carmaker has also claimed that a new model will arrive by 2009. It would be a “very good sports car that would fit in with the brand” a top executive in the UK told the Financial Times.
Production at the Longbridge factory in the West Midlands is due to resume in late May or early June and is slated to reach the "lower thousands" this year with levels reaching the 25,000 mark in 2008.
"Within two years we would like to get our market share back, and get good products with a UK focus," said NAC's UK chairman Wang Hongbiao. Some parts such as engines and gearboxes will be shipped from China for final assembly at Longbridge.
MG Rover sold 44,337 cars in 2004 before going into administration in 2005. NAC purchased the brand from the administrators the year after, and started producing MGs in its home country last month. It hopes to re-establish a dealer network in the UK of around 50.