JULY-AUGUST
?
9th
May 2008
SAIC-Nanjing
Nanjing UK
chairman He Xiao Qing said that production of the TF LE500 would
start at Longbridge in July, following a process of planning,
re-organisation, active quality improvements and parts optimisation
that we recognise resulted in frustration for our stakeholders. The
re-launch of the car would be in August, this is fifteen months
after the launch last year.
Director of Sales and Marketing Gary Hagen said "The open top
sportcar is an iconic image of British motoring and forms the basis
of the MG marque’s long pedigree. The launch of the TF LE500
signals our determination to keep this class of car at the heart of
the brand as we take it forward. Meanwhile, designers are already
planning other exciting new models which the Chinese say will
capture the essential qualities of the MG brand, extending the
range into additional sectors. SAIC/Nanjing said in a statement:
The fact is that in 2008, desirable and competitive British made
sportscars will once again be rolling off a production line in
Longbridge".
_________________
MG -
SAIC
26th April 2008
Will
the sign above actually mean what it says.
The president of
Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) along with senior managers visited the
Longbridge factory on Thursday 24th April to reassure the workers
that production of the TF would resume in July. This would be
achieved mainly by the import of kits from China. There was no
guarantee that previous UK suppliers would get work, as the
president made it clear that components would be sourced globally
in order to get the best deal. With the re-launch in August, which
is not the best time in the year to launch a sports car, it will be
interesting to see how sales go. If sales are good they may
than decide to introduce another model into Longbridge.
It appears that the Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, Malcolm
Harbour, had a meeting with SAIC president Chen Hong at the end of
March. Mr Harbour stated that "Mr Chen assured me that, following
their acquisition of NAC, Longbridge would be part of their long
term strategy of developing their own car brands and increasing
sales outside China."
If they decide to make Longbridge the European centre for research
and development alongside production, then this would make the
Longbridge site more viable. I think, however, that as No 2 Paint
Shop on the Lickey Road would be surplus to their requirements,
SAIC will wish to relinquish this building to the developer, St
Modwen.
_________________
20th
April 2008
Was
the Slogan
But
are the clouds gathering over Longbridge.
It
is just over a week ago that Stadco, who own the body tooling, and
had set up the welding jigs for the MG TF bodies, made this
statement. Stadco are withdrawing from its contract to supply
panels-bodies for the MG TF on commercial reasons. I think that
this is a polite way of saying that, having set up the welding jigs
at Longbridge over a year ago and made less than 100 bodies, the
time has come to call it a day. Up to 30 jobs could be at risk with
this move, it has also made other suppliers, about 150 feel very
unease’s.
So are we to see just kits coming into Longbridge for assembly,
which is not going to employ many people. One interesting point is
that SAIC, UK engineers were planning to move from the Leamington
base to the Flight Shed Longbridge before Christmas, will this now
be put on hold.
A union spokesperson stated that “unless the Chinese come forward
with plans in the very near future, nobody can come to anything
other than the conclusion that Longbridge will never produce cars
again”.
In conclusion, Rachel Eade, programme manager for supplier support
agency Accelerate, said she had been told that a Chinese delegation
was to visit the plant at the end of April. "I’m led to believe
that an investment decision on the future may well be taken," she
said. "Considerable time, investment and goodwill has been
channelled into restoring some form of manufacturing to Longbridge
and we are still hopeful that this will eventually take
place.
_________________
MG
Lola EX265
14th March
It all started
in 2001 when the MG Rover Group decided to spend a great deal of
money and enter a car for the Le Mans 24 hour race. Lola were given
the brief and came up with a design called EX257. In the actual
race both cars failed to finish mainly because of ignition trouble
caused by torrential rain, causing the engines to
misfire.
Well
seven years on and history is been repeated with SACI now owning
the MG brand. Lola has been approached to fly the MG flag with an
updated version which has been re-homologated as the MG EX265. One
of the main changes is an association with Advanced Engine Research
Ltd (AER) using the two-litre turbocharged XP-21 engine.
RML AD Group’s new MG Lola EX265 completed a faultless first
shakedown test at the Silverstone circuit in February with the
Brazilian driver Thomas Erdos saying that he was thrilled by the
responsiveness of the new XP-21 engine, and looking forward to the
prospects of defending the LMP2 title in this season’s Le Mans
Series.
RML’s team manager Phil Barker stated that he was upbeat about the
team’s chances this year. Further testing will take place, and in
March the first official Le Mans test will be at the Paul Ricard
circuit in France.
The Le Mans race is on the 14th & 15th June. So SAIC feel that
they need to keep the MG brand in the public eye by sponsoring this
Lola built car.
Chinese Going Streetwise
8th
March 2008
Nanjing had
talked about bring out there own version of the Longbridge
Streetwise. Well now in China you will be able to buy one this
month. Its called the MG3 SW and comes in two engine sizes, 1.4
litre coupled to a manual gearbox. or you can buy the 1.8 litre
version but only available in CVT form. The price starts at £5683,
with the top model at £8525. It appears that MG dealers are now
taking orders and deposits of just £365, well we are talking
Chinese prices. So how will his model compete in the Chinese
market, it appears that on price and specification it should do
well.
Now that SAIC and Nanjing are in reality one company, it will be
interesting to know how the two companies will line up the various
brands. Nanjing has in fact the MG mark, with SAIC having the
rights to the 25 and 75. the 45 was based on the Honda platform, so
was not in the deal. Well SAIC have just announced that they will
be using both the MG and Roewe brand names. Just to recap, SAIC
could not use the Rover name, which belongs to Ford and may soon be
bought by Tata when they take over Land Rover and Jaguar, so SAIC
decided to bring out there own brand which they call Roewe. Its
likely that the MG badge will go on the more sporting variants
including the TF, and for the more luxury upper market models will
be called Roewe.
As
early as this month the first of the new models is excepted to
arrive, called the Roewe 750 using the 1.8t engine, It will be
available in three versions, the lowest specification priced at
just £14,200 up to £16,330 for the top model.
Roewe
750t
Both MG and
Roewe brands are planning to launch cars this year. Roewe is
planning to launch the Roewe 550 and the Roewe 750 1.8t, the t
stands for turbo. They may slot in a smaller car in the mid-range,
which would be call the 350. With the launch of the MG3 Streetwise,
and the MGTF, the next will be the MG7 Automatic, it appears that
the Chinese don't like manual gearboxes, probable because of all
the congestion on the city roads.
There is even talk of producing a Mini type car in about three
years time, now that would be interesting. Will any of these models
find there way into Europe, via Longbridge we can only wait and
see.
_________________
Factory leased by SAIC-NAC at Longbridge.
3rd
March 2008
If you are not
familiar with the size of the Longbridge plant, I have attached an
aerial view and it also shows what part of the plant is been leased
by SAIC-NAC.
Aerial view of Longbridge factory, it does not show what was the
Cofton works. The total area of the plant was about 410 acres in
red, with SAIC NAC leasing about 100 acres in
blue
Here we see a
better picture of the area leased by SAIC NAC.
The following
numbered picture are taken from the points
shown.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4 'Q' Gate
Picture 5
Production at Longbridge Stalls Again
16th Feb 2008
It
was in May last year that the Press were shown the new MG TF
roadster at Longbridge, with the slogan 'A NEW Journey', well now
nearly ten months on and still no cars in the dealers showrooms.
With the various changes happening at Longbridge and the latest
owner Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) starting to review the situation,
it has decided to put production on hold because of quality issues
with some of the components it imports from China.
SAIC is now hoping to start building the TF at one of its plants in
Nanjing, China, by May of this year but it still hasn’t fully
overcome the initial quality problems. Once production is finally
up and running at Nanjing, officials hope to kick start operations
at Longbridge just three months later, SAIC president Chen Hong
revealed to the Financial Times. “We want to begin production of
cars at Longbridge as soon as possible, but the first priority for
us is the quality of the product,” Hong explained. SAIC is wary of
China’s reputation of poor quality and doesn’t want to tarnish its
image by launching the TF without the quality customers
expect.
A SAIC delegation have been meeting Nanjing managers this week at
Longbridge and SAIC's vehicle development base at Leamington Spa,
said an official close to Nanjing. The executives will then decide
on the carmaker's future model policy for Europe and determine
which models will be assembled at Longbridge. One executive was
optimistic a decision on future models and production volumes would
result from the visit.
SAIC president Chen Hong said recently the company aimed to restore
production of original MG models at Longbridge soon and planned new
MG models for Europe. "The British business will become SAIC's
platform for overseas markets and a window for SAIC into Europe,
Now is a fairly crucial time in the process," he said. Eleanor de
la Haye, Nanjing's Longbridge spokeswoman, said three models could
be built at the plant.
With 50 dealers already selected to sell the car in the UK and with
officials planning to follow with a U.S. launch within the next one
to two years. The carmaker definitely has ambitious plans.
Officials are considering launching at least three new models,
including a replacement for the TF which it hopes could be produce
as early as 2010.
As
you can see from the above, it appears that we may have to wait a
few months for the dust to settle until the real plans for
Longbridge are announced. (Webmaster)
_______________
Will
the SAIC-Nanjing Company Deliver ?
27th Jan 2008
There
is growing concern now that Nanjing who bought the MG name and all
the production equipment, has still not delivered a single car to
the dealers.
In fact when the Official Press Launch was made at the end of May
2007 we were told that they would be with the dealers by about
September. It is now nearly February 2008, four months on, and
still no cars in the showrooms.
The Nanjing UK corporate communications manager stated recently
that she was no longer "allowed" to reveal details of Nanjing's
plans for Longbridge. She went on to say, "I am not fully briefed
about what the short-term or long-term plan is for the plant". When
pushed further about the tie up with SAIC, her reply indicated that
they were very pleased with the merger, but it was going to take
time before all the issues had been resolved.
Unions
were pressing the company to try and find out who is now
responsible for the running of the Longbridge plant. Dave Osborne
the union's car industries organiser said that having contacted the
company back in November, he had still not received a reply. "We
have grave concerns about the re-launching of the MG brand, but now
that SAIC are in the driving seat, perhaps their plans for
Longbridge are more positive than Najing have turned out to
be".
Report on the Press Day at Longbridge
29th May 2007
Will
the rising sun over 'Q' gate, be a new dawn for
Longbridge?
MG
TF Hardtop
The only obvious changes are a new front bumper and instrument
pack
This
is the scene that greeted the Press on arrival at Longbridge, then
it was on to registration in the Elephant House. A collection of MG
models throughout the years were on display.
1925
Super Sports
1928
14/40
Then
it was on to the Showroom, sorry Conference Centre which was packed
with VIP from both the UK and China along with the press and camera
crews
As some of the presentation was in Chinese it was difficult to
follow at times, although the VIP etc did have headphones for a
translation.
The main theme was that Nanjing wished to build on the long
tradition of the MG brand, and welcomed the support that it had
received from the MG Clubs and owners. Longbridge would be the
International Headquarters with Sales & Marketing along with
Product Development.
Exchanging
signed banners between MG car clubs & Nanjing
Time now to move to the Assemble Line
Outside
were lined up a number of MGs
Article
and pictures by John Baker
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