MG : Brand now set for expansion in China and the UK

MG Motor UK Limited’s parent company, SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, posted some impressive sales figures in 2010. Total year end vehicle sales have now been confimed at 3.58m units – up 31.5% on 2009 and a new record.

Passenger car sales alone totalled just under 2.28m units and increased nearly 42% on the previous year while sales of the company’s own brands, MG and Roewe, increased by 77% to a total of 160,000. The new A-segment MG3, which was launched at last month’s Guangzhou Auto Show, goes on sale in China in a few months’ time and should initiate a further significant increase in the marque’s sales there – the model reportedly met with an enthusiastic reception from the Chinese public.

The 300 Designers and Engineers now based at MG Birmingham played a major role in the styling, design and engineering development of both the MG ZERO Concept and the MG3 which inherits many of the former’s styling cues. Guy Jones, MG Motor UK’s Sales and Marketing Director, commented on the MG3’s Chinese debut and said: ‘The incredible reception the MG3 has had in China is a great reflection on all the hard work put in by the Designers and Engineers here in Birmingham.”

We are in talks now with a number of interested parties and we are now in discussions to appoint an initial 10 to 15 new MG Dealers within the next few months. It’s great to see so much genuine interest and enthusiasm from people who want to be part of the new MG story.” David Martin, Franchise and Dealer Development Manager, MG Motor UK Limited

Meanwhile, back here in the UK, Guy Jones and MG Motor UK are currently focused on expanding the company’s Dealer Network in preparation for the imminent introduction of the MG6 Fastback this Spring. There are 38 MG Dealers and six Authorised Repairers in the UK at present but the company has identified 45 key open points and is now in discussions with 25 prospective Dealers.

MG Motor UK’s Franchise and Dealer Development Manager, David Martin, said: ‘News of the MG6 created a huge amount of interest and there are a lot of people very interested in representing the MG brand and investing in dealerships.

‘We are in talks now with a number of interested parties and we are now in discussions to appoint an initial 10 to 15 new MG Dealers within the next few months. It’s great to see so much genuine interest and enthusiasm from people who want to be part of the new MG story.”

AROnline understands that MG Motor UK will be hosting a Press Briefing next month and that more details about the company’s plans for 2011 will be revealed during the event – our News Team will be there, so please watch this space!

[Source: MG Motor UK Limited]

Clive Goldthorp

8 Comments

  1. You couldn’t make this up…

    It’s like Tata announcing: “Jaguar Land Rover are now planning to crack the British market”.

    Staggering… (head shaking in disbelief!)

  2. @Obidiah Jones
    MG is a British-born company which has been present in the UK for over 80 years and so, when someone says they are looking to expand the brand in the UK, it tends to take the breath away. The way they are talking it is as if they are on the verge of undertaking a major achievement with a new marque.

    Furthermore, when you consider all that has gone before with the false starts and woolly information coming out up to now, you cannot blame people for being cynical. MG is a much-loved marque with an already huge ownership base and it irks somewhat to see people treating it the way they are.

  3. @Obidiah Jones
    I will admit that I’m more of a Rover fan than an MG fan. However, having MG is better than nothing in my books and, as I’ve said on this site many times before, I wish the new company all the best. I also hope that the MG6 is a success although the car doesn’t really do much for me.

    However, the MG3 just totally falls short and the new owners don’t seem to have a clue about the marque. Add to that the constant delays over the MG6 – even now they are saying “sometime” this spring – it’s just so amateurish!

    Everyone wishes on this website wishes MG well but it increasingly looks like no one has learned from the sins of the father and that’s what annoys most people. They are not negative, just frustrated.

  4. @Paul T
    Well, in the interests of accuracy and fairness, MG Motor UK Limited did not, to the best of my recollection, use the word “expand” in any of the three Press Releases which formed the basis of this article – I wrote the headline and so apologise if that has given readers a misleading impression.

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