Clive Goldthorp AROnline’s regular readers might recall from our MG UK: The next phase of the New Journey? story back in mid-April that production of the standard MG TF 135 was about to commence and that an informed and reliable source had told us that a decision on whether the MG6 would be built at Longbridge was [...]

Joe Leahy and John Reed, Financial Times, 31st July, 2009 In the Mumbai office of Ravi Kant, Vice-Chairman of India’s Tata Motors, a sleek newcomer has appeared among the collection of toy cars and models on his shelves. Occupying pride of place over the miniature Hummer, the shiny steel tank and other trinkets is a [...]

Gasgoo.com, 27th July, 2009 China’s leading automaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), has completed 67 percent of its 2009 sales target during the first half of this year.   SAIC sales surged 29.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.23 million units during the six months, with a growth rate higher than the country’s average. [...]

David Bailey, Birmingham Post, 27th July, 2009 The UK operations of Jaguar Land Rover lost £673.4m (around $1.1bn) last year, after a £640 million surplus the year before. Adding in actuarial and pensions adjustments, “total recognised losses” at JLR topped almost £1.2bn last year, accounts filed with Companies House reveal. None of this should come [...]

Howard Wheeldon, Birmingham Post, 28th July, 2009 Birmingham-born Analyst Howard Wheeldon points the finger at the Government in the latest round of posturing over the future of Jaguar Land Rover. I am indebted to the Birmingham Post last week for the following: Taken from a letter dated July 16 2009 from Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson [...]

John Reed in London and James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai, Financial Times, 28th July, 2009 Tata Motors said yesterday that it had appointed KPMG and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to advise it on cost-cutting and cash management at its loss-making Jaguar Land Rover luxury business. The move came as India’s biggest vehicle maker reported a 58 [...]

John Reed, Financial Times, 27th July, 2009 Jaguar and Land Rover’s core UK operations swung from a combined net profit of £641.5m in 2007 to a combined net loss of £673.4m ($1.1bn) last year. The “total recognised losses” at the two carmakers – including actuarial and other losses related to their pension schemes – reached [...]

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 24th July, 2009 Months of talks over a crucial loan guarantee by the Government to loss-making Jaguar Land Rover have been stretched to breaking point – 24 hours after a deal appeared within reach. A letter leaked by the Government to the Birmingham Post’s sister newspaper the Coventry Telegraph has left [...]

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 24th July, 2009 The last remaining assets of the UK’s once most famous factory are being slowly realised – with up to £8 million still to be raised from the ashes of the Longbridge empire. Millions of pounds of assets are still tied up in MG Rover’s network of overseas import [...]

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 23rd July, 2009 A long-awaited deal to seal Government guarantees over a crucial £340 million European Investment Bank loan for Jaguar Land Rover is finally within sight. More than three months of negotiations over the Government stamp of approval for the Euro loan are said to be drawing to a close [...]

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 23rd July, 2009 Many trade creditors hit in the pocket by the collapse of Longbridge are missing out on a £40 million-plus nest egg – more than four years on from the demise of MG Rover. An unspecified number of potential claims from the UK and overseas – worth nearly half [...]

Clive Goldthorp British MG enthusiasts may still be waiting for MG Motor UK Limited to announce whether and, if so, when the Roewe 550-based MG 6 will roll off a Longbridge production line but SAIC Motor has now launched a range of Chinese-built MGs in non-European Union country Belarus. MG-badged versions of the Roewe 550 [...]

Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post, 22nd July, 2009 Hundreds of redundant LDV van workers have been warned that a potential sale of the company could now drag on until the end of the summer. Administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) admitted that the holiday period and the complexity of due diligence investigations could delay any potential agreement with a [...]

Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post, 20th July, 2009 Business Secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday urged the parent company of beleaguered car maker Jaguar Land Rover to respond to an offer of Government assistance. The manufacturer last week announced 300 jobs would be lost at the Halewood plant on Merseyside following the decision to end production of the [...]

MG race driver Paul Luti is launching his bid to enter the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with a new website, ‘racethemg.com’, where would-be sponsors can read about his quest to race an MG ZS in the country’s most popular race series. The 26 year-old Luti is currently competing in the MG Trophy Championship and [...]

Keith Adams MOTEST Autocare has a chain of nine garages based in the South East and, on current form, looks set to expand rapidly. The latest site to open is based in Farnham, Surrey and has a wealth of MG Rover heritage because, until last year, the premises were home to one of the oldest dealerships in [...]

Keith Adams I don’t tend to comment on the activities on MG-Rover.org Forums very often, but couldn’t let this latest piece of ‘news’ from over there pass without reporting to a wider audience. Cast your minds back to early 2005, when MG Rover was in its final dying days. John Towers was in the media almost daily, [...]

Liverpool Daily Post, 15th July, 2009 Halewood will cease production of the X-Type Jag at the end of this year with the loss of 300 jobs. Luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover also revealed plans to shut down production of the X-Type and Freelander models for at least three weeks between September and the end of [...]

Clive Goldthorp AROnline reader and Rover Owners’ Club member, Martin Green, contacted us last week to report that there are still a total of eight MGR-built, 08/08 registered and delivery mileage cars for sale at former MG Rover Dealers SMG Rover in Brislington, Bristol. A quick check on SMG Rover’s website and a subsequent telephone [...]

Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post, 15th July, 2009 The Government has never tried to interfere in the management of Jaguar Land Rover, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has insisted. He denied claims that attempts to impose a Government-approved chairman had blocked efforts to rescue the West Midlands-based firm. Lord Mandelson has come under fire for launching a [...]