MG Is Back: Should We Care?
As MG production starts, we look forward to the fun stuff...
The appearance of this...
This could be more than a zero-interest cooking hatch assembled from kits shipped direct from China, too: We hear tell that the MG6 actually drives in a moderately competent, amusing manner, and that SAIC-owned MG Motor has plans for the future that will see it gradually become more and more significant.
...won't mean the return of these...
Today, a tiny fraction of it is being used - but the huge CAB B building, originally designed to build the BMW MINI yet never utilised, is theoretically available, along with the MG Rover paint shop...
...but modern versions of these...
The current MG6 might use a 1.8-litre turbo derived from the old K-Series, but new (and more interesting) motors are on the way. The smaller units will power a future supermini, but there's also a large engine family being worked on, including four-cylinder and V6 units. Next year, a brand new UK-designed 1.9-litre diesel will come, too, a brave move in a world where most independent outfits are relying on bought-in units or technological joint ventures.
...or these are on the cards
Future MGs should rival the best for sector dynamics, he says, and that includes both handling AND ride. MGs in the MG Rover days were compromised (as in, stiff-riding) because of the need to be distinct from Rovers - "we don't have to engineer in that contrast now," says a development boss. The result will be cars with, say, Focus handling and Golf ride; indeed, that's already what MG engineers have been aiming for in benchmark tests.
It's a good-news story, the return of MG in the UK, that is cheering all the news channels today. Car buffs are naturally more cynical - but it should not be dismissed as pleasing but pointless.
Story by Richard Aucock
This means that blokes in the midlands are employed building cars. Providing for their families and bringing income to the economy. And that can never be a bad thing.
There is no point in the endless debating about the MG "brand" or the ownership by the Chinese etc. Lets just respect the fact that this is British design and manufacture and , therefore, something to applaud.
Good luck to 'em.
Also, the name really grates on me. Shouldn't it be MG Motors?
This is excellent news. I doubt it'll 'fail' either. The Chinese are rather ruthless as far as business and profit margins go and it would have been no skin off their noses to just ship the whole plant over to China and have them hammered together by people who make knock-off Honda C90s just to save themselves a few bob. But no, they want them designed, engineered and assembled here because they respect the fact that we know what we're doing and can build them to a high quality. The simple, individual parts are made in China to keep end-product costs down, I'd imagine, which is why you can get a British-designed, British-built warmish sports-saloon the size of a Citroen C6 for the price of a mid-range Ford Focus.
None of the road testers have had anything negative to say about the way it drives at all - Autocar said it was like a big Focus to drive. Bear in mind the sheer amount of metal you're getting for your money and it seems to me that it'll be a success, if not in curmudgeonly old Britain then in places like Italy, where they've been snapping up MGs and giving them design awards for years.
Also, if this sells, they'll build an all-new rear-drive roadster.
The main thing is though, as has been remarked by many is that the restart in production keeps people in jobs and the fact that design is being handled in the UK can only be good things.
Welcome back MG, lets hope you stay around.
There is a sort of satisfaction that ALL the elements of Britisch Elend are now back making decent cars again now they are under competent management and the buffoons & politico-meddlers such as Mr Benn have buggered off: MINI, VolumeMG, Land Rover, Jaguar, etc. Not necessarily always PH heaven, but certainly no worse and often a lot better than a lot of Eurorubbish.
This means that blokes in the midlands are employed building cars. Providing for their families and bringing income to the economy. And that can never be a bad thing.
There is no point in the endless debating about the MG "brand" or the ownership by the Chinese etc. Lets just respect the fact that this is British design and manufacture and , therefore, something to applaud.
Good luck to 'em.
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