News : MG records 361 per cent growth in UK registrations during 2014

The MG3 has led MG Motor UK's increase in sales during 2014
The MG3 has led MG Motor UK’s much-awaited increase in sales during 2014

MG was today confirmed as the fastest-growing automotive brand in the UK during 2014 according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The re-emerging brand grew sales by 361 per cent following a highly successful launch of its new MG3 supermini, a major expansion of the Dealer Network and the addition of a new performance diesel powertrain in the MG6.

The record sales results provided the perfect end to MG’s 90th anniversary year after claiming victory as manufacturer’s champions in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in October and winning gold at the London Design Awards for the MG Design Concept in December.

This expansion in sales has been supported by the significant growth of MG Motor UK’s Dealer Network during 2014 – an additional 24 new dealers were recruited in locations across the UK including Glasgow, Newcastle, Leicester, Coventry, Bicester, Brecon, Norwich, West London, Swindon, Maidstone, Exeter, Falmouth and Newtownabbey and Bangor in Northern Ireland. Further new dealers are already in the process of being appointed and details will be announced during the year.

Clive Goldthorp

23 Comments

  1. Nice MG press release. Not sure the MG3 launch could be called ‘highly successful’? Press reaction was considerably muted and the sales have been OK. Maybe ‘encouraging’ would be a better choice.

    • Well, AROnline’s Editorial Team operates on an entirely voluntary basis, so we hope that our readers will forgive us for running News items based on mildly-edited Press Releases when our other commitments limit the amount of time available to us…

      Anyway, for the record, I did wonder whether to edit the term “highly successful” but concluded that description was probably justified when set in the context of the MG6’s launch.

  2. All very good, and I don’t want to rain on their parade, but this level of growth is fairly easy when you start with a tiny number in the first place. Some of those registrations will have been dealer demonstrators too so not really ‘sales’.

    They may well be playing a global strategy of course, but surely the onward march of the Koreans and especially Kia shows how it should be done. They too started with a smmall number… The MG brand may mean something still in the UK, but little in mainland Europe these days. Maybe it has value in China then?

    That said, everyone has to start somewhere.

  3. MG sold 2326 cars in 2014 v. 504 in 2013. Not bad, considering. Dacia on the other hand sold 23,862 in 2014 v. 17,146 in 2013.

    I know which growth I find more impressive!

    • Interestingly, Kia Motors (UK) set a new record with 77,525 sales in 2014 – as AROnline’s resident, if only occasional punter, you will not find me placing any bets on when MG Motor UK’s sales will reach that level…

      Mind you, a more realistic target might be Mazda Motors UK – that company increased sales by nearly 21 per cent to 37,784 units in 2014.

  4. 24 new dealers is very good but I wonder how many existing ones threw in the towel in 2014, eg my local one in Shrewsbury. Has anyone got 2014 MG3 registration figures by month? When is the facelifted MG6 coming out?

    It’s interesting how Mazda is innovating/growing now they are no longer under Ford, also Suzuki who escaped from the VW JV.

  5. Sorry – afterthought – I wondered this morning what had happened to Chery who were supposed to be starting to sell cars in the UK and I think there’s been announcements from other Chinese manufacturers regarding UK sales that have gone quiet. And how are Great Wall doing? Just read a comment on Car News China suggesting that Longbridge engineers are leaving because they find SAIC management a problem – this is apprently leading to some MG model development being slow. That and a general slump in Chinese car exports with difficulties in the home market compared to western brands makes me wonder how China will pull things back in World markets.

  6. It’s interesting to see that the “Made in Britain” tag line has been dropped from the banner on the site. I imagine that publishing press releases for Chinese built cars now has its place on the site.

    Is there a prospect for keeping a section of the site dedicated to UK built cars as it’s where my interest lies?

    • Well, “Tigger” as our Editor, Craig Cheetham, has pointed out in his “Essay: Why MG Motor has more than a fighting chance…” article, “yes, we’ve used an MG press release for the basis of the news story (it’s called work/life balance – all of AROnline’s Editorial Team contribute on a pro-bono basis and have other commitments besides our love for this site, the cars and the enthusiasts that fuel it)…”

      I am sorry that you seem to have a problem with that – if you have the ability and time to contribute original News content to AROnline, then by all means volunteer to do so…

    • Tigger,

      The main reason ‘Made in Britain’ doesn’t appear on the banner is simply because a frequent focus of AROnline is to look at overseas operations where many of our cars were either built under licence, or ended up in their final generations. For example, we’ve recently featured some archive press material from the BL plant in Seneffe, Belgium, and covered the Sipani Montego, constructed in India.

      My interest, too, lies in British built cars (isn’t that why we’re all here?) but by osmosis we also cover anything that relates to that British car DNA, be it current products made overseas with famous British nameplates (MG…) or cars made in Britain by foreign makers. Sure, we don’t carry much on the likes of Toyota, Honda or Nissan, but where their operations support jobs in the British automotive and supplier industries, we will always commend and support it. Likewise MG – you’d be surprised what goes on at Longbridge…

    • Tigger, I have to say I agree with you but I understand the reasons why they have dropped the cherished “Made in Britain” badge, which, for so many of us is the reason why we come on the site. However everything is becoming far more global and I loved the article on the Mini Superleggera concept, which is unlikely to be made in the UK, if it comes to production and was designed in Italy, if I remember correctly. But I ask the editorial team and contributors who put in their own time into this site to appreciate how much the MG/SIAC game of pretending to be wholly British and waving the union Jack really irritates many of the readers and devalues British manufacturers’ such as Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan, Aston Martin, Nissan and others. Just some recognition of the main Chinese build while recognizing the really good design and engineering UK input in the editing of an article would appreciated. I just think it needs making clear. Then people like me wouldn’t moan so.
      If MG/SAIC marketed themselves as Designed and engineered in the UK. I think many would appreciate them more. However their Marketing seems so poor anyway.

  7. Well, such growth can only be good news. I’m quite reassured because my sightings of MG3s and MG6s out on the road don’t seem to have been getting any more frequent (even though I’ve worked next door to an MG dealer for the past 3 months!). I was wondering if the initial rise in sales following launch of the 3 had faded away.

    The huge percentage rise ain’t so impressive when you consider the tiny figure we’re increasing on. It is, however, still encouraging.

    I’ve been saying it for a long, long time now but I am going to buy a 3. Come on house, sell!!!!!

  8. If they could just get the Co2 figures for the MG3 down to under 130 or 120g/km then they would attract so many more buyers looking for something different!

  9. I see one of the new dealers is CarShop in Swindon, one of the largest used car supermarkets.

    Maybe MG marketing really is turning a corner as that’s a sure way of getting the cars into the public eye and building up sales figures with little risk. The old Lada, Skoda, Daewoo, etc, approach of ‘why buy a used car when you can have a new one for similar money’.

  10. I can see why Mazda sales are up by 21%, (if that figure is correct), the facelifted Mazda 6 is one hell of a good looking car.

    I pointed one out to my girlfriend recently and she commented that it looked like a Jaguar. Now for a Japanese motor, that is a big compliment in my book.

  11. Agreed – the Mazda 6 has long been a serious piece of kit in context,
    even when it was more dull looking than it is these days.

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