News : MG sales heading in the right direction

MG Motor UK saw orders go into overdrive last month, selling 236 MG6 cars compared to just eight in March 2011 – a rise of nearly 3000 per cent for the Birmingham-based firm. The sales success marks a lucrative £4 million plus windfall for the Chinese-owned Longbridge firm, which has now sold more cars in the first quarter of the year than in any previous full year dating back to 2007.

MG Motor UK PR and events manager Doug Wallace said: ‘We are absolutely delighted with the figures and they are still building. Most people said it would never happen and had written the company off outright, but here we are as proof of the pudding. We are still a small company, and the numbers may be small compared to bigger companies. But they are increasing all the time. We have 38 UK dealers at the moment and are looking to have between 55 and 60 by the end of the year. We have customers from across the range, everyone from youngsters in their 20s right through to people in retirement, and we are also getting some fleet sales. The car has not even been on sale yet for a full year, so it’s a case of building slowly. But it’s a very optimistic outlook for us.’

The March sales performance marks a record month for the Longbridge firm and follows 107 sales in January and 103 in February. ‘We have now sold more cars over the last three months than for whole years,’ added Wallace.

The firm is now gearing up for production of a diesel version of the MG6 and the launch of the MG3, a new hatchback model, and has returned to the racing circuit, with two MG6 GT cars entering the British Touring Car Championship.

*New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that Land Rover sold 11,490 vehicles in the UK last month compared to 10,083 in March 2011. Jaguar sold 2907 in March 2012 compared to 2,951 the year previously.

[Source : Birmingham Post]

Keith Adams

83 Comments

  1. Slowly, slowly catchy monkey!Good news.thought i would say well done first before anyone starts with advertising/chinese shit/kia are better/no diesel yet.

  2. If Plato keeps pounding the track like last week end and MG get their finger out and capitalise on it then the sales will rise.

  3. Talk about misleading PR puff, that rate equates to 3000 a year, the sort of level you’d expect from an exotic sports car not a family saloon. A LONG way to go…

  4. There is nothing misleading about the press release, the 3000% increase is factual, from the SMMT, however, you do have to take into account that 100 extra cars were sold to AVIS in January and February and 200 in March, i believe this concludes the 500 purchase (100 in Dec.

    Good luck to them, i hope that they continue to go from strength to strength, and sales creep up every month and year for years to come.

  5. Judging by the photograph featured, MG Motor UK Ltd also seems to have found the knack of producing interesting and dynamic looking images.

    Good luck to them and let us hope they do choose to capitalise on their Touring Car Championships involvement with some additional trim-related features for the accessories and options list, possibly along the lines of what the previous custodians of the MG marque did so very well.

  6. Fantastic, we’re back at last. Once the TDI Tech goes on sales, and the 3 (Midget) arrives, MG will be a real credible alternative to other less inspiring motors. Big up to Guy Jones, he has worked wonders, and a big shout out to Jason Plato for obvious reasons.

    Now if you haven’t tried a 6, go and book a test drive now. I was a real cynic before but I am completely converted to the cause.

  7. Nice to see the usual ray of sunshine comments…. Nice to see some honesty and good news from MG.

    Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hopes high!

  8. Is the possibility that 100 of them are the balance of the rental order? If so, it still isn’t earth shattering sales. I actually did see a Magnette on the road this morning. It looked bland and dull, especially with it being deep grey, and once again ‘Moses’ was driving. Until a diesel arrives, they will not get any form of volume sales. The CO emissions are putting off private buyers in droves, along with the lack of self shifters. Unless sales pick up soon, they will not attract any more dealers, and will be lucky to keep the ones they have. Selling a couple of cars a month isn’t enough to pay the bills.

  9. Great news!!!

    After wondering just what on earth was happening I can now see things about to ‘take off’.

    If I can’t replace the 75 with another 75 my next car could well be a used MG6.

  10. Hang on, having read further, the balance of the Avis order was 200 cars, so real sales for March were 36 cars?? Now that is something NOT to shout about. Remember the SMMT figures go on registrations, not sales.
    That so called ‘news story’ is simply a copied & pasted press release from MG themselves. Keith you are a journalist. You can do better. We will see the real news when April’s sales figures are out, as there will be no Avis order to prop them up

  11. I did wonder if 200 went to Avis this month and that has confirmed it. 36 is not even 1 from each dealer. If we are to believe Simon’s updates on FB, he’s shifted around 10 of those this month by himself as he is currently the only Sales Exec at the Sales Centre. If he can shift 10 on his own and the other 37 outlets scrape 0.68 of car each (I can play with numbers too!) then its a pretty poor showing.

    Also this bit is very misleading

    “any previous full year dating back to 2007” Bearing in mind that MGR fell in April 2005 and after that registrations trickled onto the market, with some people waiting until 55/06/56/07 etc came out to get their car on a newer plate (and who can blame them) then its not exactly a straight comparison.

    Now to the positives

    -CO2 is coming down, enough to knock the VED to under £200 a year, a crucial pricepoint in people’s minds, its still less than 60p a day road tax remember.

    -The diesel is coming and MG will sell you one if thats what you want. But if you’re pootling around doing less than 15k miles a year it will cost more to run. And they want more for the diesel models.

    -BTCC is having a positive effect on things, but MG need to lead from the front on this, simply if someone who owns an MG6 wants BTCC tat on their car, supply it to them, direct from the factory. If people want an LE then do it, don’t give out non-committal answers like ‘phone your dealer’.

    I want this car to succeed, I want to be able to buy a used one in 2013/14 and be confident that I’ll be able to get parts for it.

  12. PR is News. A story – well that needs investigation. In some cases editorial slant on a press release is appropriate, but don’t you all want to form your own opinions rather than being told what to think?

    The Citroën C6 sold in handfuls annually. More relevant, the attractive, visible and available Laguna only sells around 3,000 per year – a family hatch or saloon without a German badge will not sell in large numbers in the UK. If MG can match the sales of the Laguna with the 6, they’re doing well.

  13. @Richard – the Laguna wasn’t so successful: Renault have withdrawn it from the UK market!

  14. @(s)Marty B

    You’ll see it’s actually the Birmingham Mail’s story, so if you have any comments about the standards of journalism therein, please direct them in that direction.

  15. I think the MG sales will go mostly to fleet buyers and older couples looking a “new car to see them through” and perhaps the occasional young couple. but interesting comment(david 3500) about the photo above too, im still not over the line on the MG 6 styling..I think the Kia Magentis looks nicer….but ive not seen one in the flesh yet. alex

  16. @Richard 4 C6 models were sold last year. But that’s a bit beside the point. Besides, the MG6 is more of a rival to the Jetta than anything else. It’s too small to be a serious Mondeo/Insignia/Passat/Laguna rival.

  17. Still never seen a mg6 that’s not a demonstrator on the road, 6 per dealer per month, keep dreaming.

  18. As a foreigner watching this site I still don’t get why you are all getting worked up about a Chinese company? Despite the hype UK input is so close to nil… and any exports will come from PRC not UK. If you’re really pro-UK get behind UK built vehicles, even if they wear Nissan badges or whatever, not something far in the past!

  19. I’ve mentioned this somewhere else, but I live in a small, very small, village half an hour outside Swansea in South Wales. Someone has an MG6 here!! I think it’s a dead ringer for a Mazda 6!!

    I can think of only one dealer though and that’s in Cardiff, an hour and a half away!!

    There is also a 75 tourer, ZT tourer, a couple of 45’s, an original Range Rover from the 1980’s and it’s replacement (p45?) from the mid 1990’s…. 75 tourer looks mint too!!

  20. I am sure that all those people working on the production lines in China will share your enthusiasm. I’m not sure what these results have to do with a website whose slogan is “Made in Britain” though….

  21. I dont know why people continually bang on about fleet sales, don’t they realise more than half of most manufacturers cars are sold to fleets in any given month? Just because MG have sold quite a few to Avis that’s somehow a bad thing.

  22. I think the issue is, James, that “sales” to hire companies are not normally sales at all. They usually continue to be registered to and owned by the manufacturer and simply loaned to Avis under some kind of rental agreement.

    Most company sales are purchased from the manufacturer by finance companies and then registered to the company concerned or the finance company.

    At least the second method allows the manufacturer some hope of making some money and it doesn’t mean that they effectively only have one customer (Avis) who could drop them in a heart beat and go to the next Asian manufacturer standing in line. Not only that, but the future is now mortgaged against the day that the used market is flooded with 12,000 mile old SAICs that no one else wants.

  23. The Avis order is clearly well worth having, but it is only one order. It will be interesting to see whether other fleets (hire-car or otherwise) follow suit.

  24. Finally seen my first MG6 GT this week and liked the front but the back end was just not right. Toomeys have just opened a dealership in Laindon in Essex, so I don’t know if someone had bought it or it was a demonstrator. Just hope they sell more and get more jobs at Longbridge

  25. Graeme @ 21:

    Absolutely! For a country that it is never usually found lacking when it comes to being critical, I simply can’t understand why so many people seem to fall for the hype!

    I only hope that people realise in time, while we still have a choice of manufacturers who genuinely build in the UK to choose from.

    On a positive note, lets hear it for Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ford & GM. I’ll have another Land Rover please 😉

  26. daveh @ 28.

    Please book yourself on a factory tour with someone like Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, Nissan or BMW. Then, when you’ve done that, try and do one around the “production” at Longbridge and tell me how many workers it takes to “build” an MG6.

    Then (and only then) tell me how many additional people will need to be employed to increase “production” at Longbridge!

  27. Interesting reactions to this post. I remember publicising MG’s poor sales at the end of last year, and was attacked for this as being anti-MG. And now I reproduce a story about the sales being an improvement, and being attacked for this.

    My editorial stance for MG is simple – as long as it has a production, engineering, R&D and design presence in the UK, we’ll support it. And while some readers might question the level of CKD assembly that MG actually performs here, the car is still assembled here by a handful of employees, and the R&D centre employs well over 300 staff.

    I agree it’s not an ideal situation MG finds itself in, but – hey, best of a bad job…

  28. Anyone know if they have replica’s of the track car to do the rounds at the dealers? Might help?

  29. Anyone see Andrew Marr’s “Made in the UK” series a few months back?

    I happen to travel a lot with work, and last year visted South Korea to work with a company who are a remnant of Daewoo; now a first tier supplier working on various automotive electronic controllers for all the clever bits we have come to expect in our cars these days.

    They too were puzzled by our economy. “How can it work when you no longer make things?”

    Andrew Marr’s series provided the answers to the question which puzzled me, too. You can divide the life cycle of any consumer item (including cars) into three phases – design & development, production, and marketing.

    The middle sector is very much the poor relation because it needs relatively little expertise to achieve it – hence the number of production plants in developing economies not just in China but in Eastern Europe etc. too. It is therefore essential for the middle and long term that we remain good at the remaining two elements because that is where the money is.

    Happily, in the UK we have a highly educated population which makes us especially good at the first and last phases. And that is why, despite the undoubted contribution of Honda, Nissan and Toyota, I still believe that the UK design base of MG Motor makes them potentially significant in the UK even if they actually produce nothing here.

    And why it continues to amaze me that people continue even now to come out with all the negative stuff. Have we learned nothing?

  30. 32 – They only just finished the track cars on time and there is still a bit of body work to do on them as well as on going tweaks etc but I reckon Bobby has hit the nail on the head, a showroom replica would be a good thing and if this season pans out maybe a one make series would be good. As for MG6 sales then yes I think they should focus some effort on getting the numbers up but it is as Keith says Designed and Engineered in the UK and they do employ 300 people. Stranger things have happened, not so long ago JLR were fighting to keep a factories open, now its struggling for capacity. If MG sold 12,000 MG6’s a month and Plato won every race this season this page will still be full of trolls running anything good coming out of the ashes of MGR.I bet most of the trolls have never owned a or restored a ARG/BL/MGR car and their only pleasure in life is spewing their hate filled bile for anything remotely successful. For some off us giving up isn’t an option, keep up the effort MG.

  31. @ Keith Adams:

    Thanks for updating me on this about the press photos. What an absolute disappointment as “a picture can tell a thousand words.”

    Judging by the quality of its home-grown publicity shots taken outside the factory, I am guessing that MG Motor UK Ltd does not actually hire a professional photographer. A shame, especially when you consider the excellent, creative images that used to emerge from the former MG Rover Group press office which were taken by a very good press photo company based in Abingdon.

  32. Have all the MG dealers who started out last year stuck with it? I’d have thought several would have ‘thrown in the towel’ given the level of sales. Or was MG UK, SAIC propping them up?

  33. As i understood it many of the dealers were small garages, much like Ford used to use. They didn’t have vast showrooms to pay for like large dealerships have, so many could survive on the few cars that MG have shifted. One i saw in Sittingbourne shared their site with a another brand, Mitsubishi i think, so the costs of the MG franchise were minimal.

  34. I think this is all part of the stealth launch, once the TDItech and 3 are ready they will move up a gear.

  35. Dennis, 38 That figures – my nearest MG dealer, Graham Walker of Chester, is principally a Subaru outlet.

    The thought of small dealerships takes me back to my Dad’s first Saab – an ‘L’ reg 99, 1974. The ‘dealer’ was nothing more than a village workshop. Even the ‘T’ plate 900 came from a two car only showroom.

    Thinking also of the Austin Rover garage I worked at as a young lad pumping petrol (remember petrol pump attendants?!). The ‘showroom’ could take nothing bigger than a Maestro which shared the floor with parts shelving and a couple of sweet racks!!

  36. 41 – I used to work ( Saturday Job) in a Renault dealership like that when I was at school in the late 70’s, I think the showroom held about 4 cars and those were R4′ and 5’s. Big showrooms in Birmingham would have been Bristol Street Ford, that’s still going and isn’t that big. I suppose we are all used to massive 90’s Car Supermarkets now, lots of glass, coffee machines and shiny suits, I know what I prefer.

  37. Okay, I’ve thought long and hard about this and whilst the MG6 is horrible in virtually every objective way (and is about as relevant to UK manufacturing as a Kia or Hyundai) I acknowledge that there are a lot of people who find worthwhile comfort in imagining that the MG6 represents the renaissance of manufacturing at Longbridge. There is relatively little to be gained by trying to change those people’s minds on this matter and if believing this makes them happy, then why spoil their enjoyment?

    In future, I’ll be posting only objective and (wherever it’s realistic) positive stuff about the substantial amount of much more interesting and relevant stuff that’s going on amongst the genuine UK based motor manufacturers.

  38. John, comment 44

    “… MG6 is horrible in virtually every objective way…”

    This statement is contradictory!! Whilst the MG6 may not personally ‘light your fire’ to describe it as horrible in every way is anything but objective. Sounds almost personal.

    Do you not want, or see the economic advantage of, a renaissance in manufacturing both at Longbridge and in general. What would you prefer? McDonalds? Ikea?

  39. John, you have obviously not driven a 6. It is a great car, certainly not horrible in any way, although there was funny smell in some of the earlier models.

  40. It is always a worry when companies start to use the union jack in their advertising or on products and am sorry to see it appear on MG’s latest website. Smacks of desparation as if the product is good and the advertising and pricing right then sales will happen. Just look at how Kia capitalised on the scrappage scheme. Regarding the ‘British’ thing, MG is a British brand, but like Jaguar and LR who are owned by Tata, MG is also owened by an overseas company. However unlike Ford’s, MG’s are designed and assembled in the UK so if you dont like the style, tell Tony Williams- Kenny the next time you visit the Longbridge design centre. But if you dont like the lates Astra or Focus you’ll have to go to Germany to find who was responsible

  41. Why people moan about CO2 is beyond me,if you was up in arms with as much vigour as regards the price per litre of fuel i would respect your comments more,a friend of mine pays £450 a year road tax for a 2.0T espace-because he has no choice,4 kids.Why anyone would moan about a one off six month/yearly outlay for road fund is a weak argument when price fluctuations at the pump in an upward way are screwing everyone.These cars are cheap,fairly well specced and handle like a dream.Good luck to MG/SAIC in all thier endeavours.Why a chair is a chair is a better argument.FFS.

  42. “It is always a worry when companies start to use the union jack in their advertising or on products and am sorry to see it appear on MG’s latest website. Smacks of desparation as if the product is good and the advertising and pricing right then sales will happen.”

    So BMW offering a union jack decal kit on minis, is because they’re having a hard time selling them? Nissan did the same on some of the Micra’s too, i don’t recall them having problems shifting them.

    Perhaps if as a nation we’d had a bit more patriotism and pride in our flag, like many other nations do then it wouldn’t be seen as a negative point putting union jacks on cars and advertising. We might have more of a home grown motor industry left too.

    Although that 2004 “balance of payments” ad that MGR ran certainly did smack of desperation, but then as we now know, they were.

  43. -Richard James

    Ford’s development centre at Dunton employs 3000 people, i.e. 10 times as many as Longbridge.

    Indeed, if you add in the workforce building engines at Bridgend and Dagenham plus the other plants (e.g. the Getrag joint venture Halewood gearbox plant) their contribution to ‘UK plc’ is vastly larger than MG’s.

  44. Yes the UK/European content of the 6 is very low. But hopefully it will grow as sales do.

    I have quoted the Nissan example before, they started off with a few CKD Bluebirds in 1986 and look at their set up now.

    I am under no illusions that the link to MGR is tenuous at best, but 300/400 British jobs now is welcome. Lets hope it builds and the UK content and manning levels increase with it.

    The 6 is a competent car and yes it is a touch bland, but again lets see what evolves in time.

    The marketing remains dire however.

  45. As an old The Austin Motor Company Ltd man that moved on in many ways from Longbridge both in and out of the European automobile industry I am somewhat surprised at some of the knocking know all stupid remarks made here!

    It was the same years ago in the times of BMC when there was always the strikers and know alls and moaners that wanted the impossible for nothing but were not prepared or could not really work towards success, even in their own personal lives or jobs!

    Ths attitude killed the British car industry as it was then. I was with Alan Sheppard at BL and it got so difficult with so many ignorant know alls in politics and unions trying to run the business that the majority of us told them to stuff it and went elswhere and left the running to these bums! See where it landed!

    IE – Alan Sheppard went on to creat Grand Met that in turn became on of Britains mos successful enterprise and is now DIAGEO without ignorant know alls of course!

    The competition in Europe or even Japan is neither perfect or even often building the right products for the markets of to-morrow either! See the law suits, accidents and call backs etc!

    Stop moaning and be constructive in critiscm – MG is in Britain on the right track in very difficult times globally! It can be a great success in the spirit of William Morris and Herbert Austin – Just stop whingeing and look forward!

    Thank you MG for your efforts!

  46. I met a chap at Longbridge a couple of weeks ago who used to work for MGR and rejoined MG in 2007. He was very keen to stress they are now in it for the ‘long haul’ and that, while in the old days cars went out before development was complete, this is not the SAIC way. Things are going to take time to build up and they are very aware of rushing things out only to get ‘shot down’ by the press and others. I got a very strong impression that, as Steve Cropley said in his recent Autocar article said, great things are a foot, but they will not be rushed. They are quite aware they have a very limited and slow selling model range at the moment and that, with only 38 dealers and ‘batch production’, they are not going to blow hundreds of thousands on advertising. Be patient and remember Longbridge is the bridgehead for SAIC, the 10th largest car maker in the world, to push into the EU market. The start in the UK is a very small first step toward this goal.

  47. “i would respect your comments more,a friend of mine pays £450 a year road tax for a 2.0T espace-because he has no choice,4 kids.”

    Oh, he has had a choice there. 😉 Condoms are cheaper than MPVs, but just spend the money on a pre-2001 (pre 2006, in fact, my Voyager is under £300 despite having terrifying emissions) people carrier would avoid that tax. Nice Mercedes W124 with rear-facing seats for example.

    My point about the Laguna was that even as a recognised car, from a very well known brand, the sales have fallen to the point it’s no longer imported. The MG6’s recognition by the general public MUST be lower than the Laguna; the Renault had a generation’s head start and has been a popular car.

    It’s surely not a competition to have the greatest contribution (Ford, vs. JLR vs. MG etc.) but an overall win as every new venture expands and employs. So what if Ford employ more; MG will, eventually, employ people in addition to those employed by Ford. It’s meaningless to say they’re irrelevant because they currently employ fewer people than another manufacturer.

  48. Its great to see that things are turning around for MG, with Jason Plato driving the brand forward, also another new small car on the horizon,it be nice to see MG to do well,its a great thing that there is a design time in the UK, it be nice to see a 200bhp MG6 as part of the range. I agree that they should of have thought to have better back drops on the photo shoot.Regards Mark

  49. Quote “…the MG6 is horrible in virtually every objective way (and is about as relevant to UK manufacturing as a Kia or Hyundai…”

    I completely agree with this. When I worked for ICI many years ago we used to get the dregs of Korean products as hire cars because they were the cheapest thing that AVIS could provide under the terms of the contract. We (my colleagues & myself) used to wince when we were delivered another Daewoo Nexi for a 400 mile round trip. I see this MG as falling into the same category of “cars I don’t want to find waiting for me at the airport”.

    I can’t actually find anything to recommend this car having recently had the chance to inspect one at close quarters, never mind the naff engines and high fuel consumption. The interior is dreary and unimaginative and the exterior is oriental anodyne. IMHO the Chinese interpretation of the spirit of MG is as close to the original as homebrew whisky is to a good single malt.

    Some people may think that this is a good thing for Longbridge and indeed, all manufacturing jobs are to be welcomed, but we need to be making quality products to match BMW and Audi, not taxi rank trash like this.

    Although I’m looking to replace my daily drive in the next 12 months, an MG definitely won’t be on the list.

  50. Wonder who all these youngsters in their 20s are buying the MG6 new?! Suppose the high levels of private debt in Britain have got to come from somewhere…

  51. Tony Evans – comment 58

    The MG6 is most certainly not ‘horrible in virtually every objective way’ !!

    It may not be an Audi or a BMW. It certainly isn’t a modern interpretation of the MG of old. However, having seen the car in the metal at my local dealer I liked it. Visually, outwardly it is attractive, reasonably distinctive. The interior is fine, certainly better than remarks I’ve read.

  52. Overall, my view is changing from “Just what are you doing?” to one of “They know, are confident in what they are doing” I am starting to see big things ahead for SAIC/MG.

  53. Union Jack on a foreign car bolted together in the UK. Just wait for the next stupid labour government to bail the work force out. England needs its own proper car maker. not relying on out of date badges, that were only good in the fifty’s and sixty’s.

  54. Jimmy – “England needs its own proper car maker” And where do you suggest such a financially independent, totally British car maker is magically going to appear from? An SAIC funded MG, Longbridge is what we have, how things have ended up. There’s a big British design input, British kit assembly and by the look of it a lot more to come. In today’s global market how many companies of any kind are totally independent, totally home grown?

  55. “Morgan have managed it over many years”

    Well that’s a confusing argument. You were talking about relying on out of date badges that were only good in the fifty’s and sixty’s, how about out of date cars that were only good in the twenties? Which is about where a wood framed Morgan fits. Are you saying the Morgan badge isn’t out of date?

    The ‘current’ Morgan’s use German made BMW engines, earlier ones used Ford (Mazda) Engines, not really a ‘proper English car maker either’.

  56. I think this a really encouraging piece of news for MG, even if some people want to pour cold water on the company’s
    modest sales compared with a company like Ford.
    Actually I am all in favour of hire car companies placing bulk orders for the MG6, as more people will be conscripted in a way into driving them and seeing what they think when the keys are returned to the fleet manager. The MG6 isn’t perfect, but for the money is a decent car and once more efficient engines and a TDi come on the market sales should continue to increase.

  57. Daveh – comment 27

    Nope, I like the whole of the MG6. Don’t think there are any ‘no, that’s not quite right’ elements to the styling. Overall, I like its lower stance, sit in as opposed to on style. Also, unusual these days, its front lights, grille etc are in proportion to the rest of the car.

  58. In defence of the Laguna.

    The mk1 was reasonably reliable, with at the time good diesel engines. (A good BTCC run with Williams didn’t do any harm either…)
    The mk2 and last mk3 got bad rep for reliability issues.
    Also, fleets are moving from big mainstream cars to the lower end of the “premium” brands. Someone on a company car scheme explained this to me once, forget the details, but basically end-to-end ownership and resale, the residuals of a 316i are greater than say a Mondeo, so the lease contract works out cheaper.

    The last of the mk3 Lagunas, post facelift, were attractive cars. And I’ve seen quite a lot of the coupe model about, from certain angles they look very Aston Martinish.

    A shame though that we are starting to see the end of the big French car.

  59. @58 how can a car starting at £16k compete with a BMW? I’m sure a lot of the private buyers of this car consider it a keeper and on a budget as well,we would all love a beemer,but they are out of reach for a lot of people.I would also guess a lot of these private buyers think ill do my bit and give this company a hand when i buy its car,i would consider it good value given the spec and is a drivers car as well,its not pretending to be anything other than a decent value car.@62 next stupid labour government?only if stupid voters put them there-what did spineless stephen byers do when MGR was going to the wall?the last labour government didnt want to know,they met a months wages and that was it.
    And lets face it,you buy a car for status-oh look at me ive got a 3 series,work and back and on the drive,thats the relationship we have with cars and we all do it,but we really need nothing more than micra really for our daily commute.Disclaimer-does not include people driving up and down the country as part of thier work!

  60. I for one wouldn’t want a beemer.
    And they’re not that out of reach. Rusty (!) E46s and big engined E38s are available for banger money, while the lower end of the 3 series are available on contract hire at reasonable rates.
    The labour gov were bad, but the current bunch aren’t much better. I get the feeling that they wouldn’t give 2 hoots about the workers, so long as their mates in the banks got their money back from their risky investment.
    True that most people don’t need more than a Micra for commuting, or even the bus. And even driving up and down the country can be done adequately with an Octavia/Insignia/508 etc.

  61. I’m 27. Seriously considered an MG6 but have just purchased a Focus instead (and willingly gave Ford a couple of grand more than MG were asking for I suppose!). [local] MG dealer didn’t really give me time of day.

    Anyway, I’d implore MG not to refer to potential MG customers in their 20s as ‘youngsters’. We’ve got good credit and could do a lot for your company. Continue this attitude after the launch of the MG3 and you could be alienating a large part of your potential market. I was a fiesta owner before I got this focus.

    Will

  62. @71 how unfortunate,i would have wrote the same to the dealer as well,15 years ago a snotty BMW dealer did the same to me,there i was in jeans and trainers with 28k to spend and he looked at me like i was a scumbag,another helpful dealer gave me all the time in the world,suffice to say,i went back to the snotty one just to buy some mats,his face was a picture!

  63. @72 – Anecdote from the good old days…

    My ex wife owned a succession of Metros and we were shopping around for the best deal on a Tahiti special edition. We visited the main Rover dealer in Nottingham, and asked for their best price.

    Answer? “I’m not telling you. If I do, you will just go elsewhere and try to beat it”.

    So we did go elsewhere – and still have no idea whether we beat it or not!

  64. Eh, car dealers are all surprisingly rubbish at times. Our local Ford dealer could probably have sold me an XR2i if they’d got me to drive it, or a secondhand XR4x4, but when I went in to look at a car they showed me the new Ka. I pointed out politely that I really needed a bigger car (I was driving an XM!) and they very sarcastically showed me the Scorpio Ultima!

    Ended up with a Punto and then a Marea. They saw those cars weekly.

    Then the Citroën dealer that barely gave me the time of day – every time I wanted to fill my C6 in the Borders, guess where I chose 😉

  65. I agree, all manufacturers have good and bad dealers. Just like every dealership as good and bad staff.

    My local Caffyns (Vauxhall) have a couple of people with an atrocious attitude, the Perry’s (Vauxhall) in the next town have always bent over backwards for the smallest of requests.

  66. The thing that never ceases to amaze me is they nibble thier own cheese when they treat people like that-no customers=no job are they mad?if i do only an oil change i will wash the car and put white spray grease on door hinges,it shows you care,never mind the salesmen!i have only met a very select,genuine few dealers with honesty,integrity and shown palpable concern,the rest are horrible,even doing work for them is cut throat i wont entertain them.

  67. thats really good news ,but they aint built nothing since january ,so they must have all been in stock ,and no -plans to start up production for a while yet mmmmmmmmmm ? im sure its correct dont think me old man works there with his eyes shut

  68. ““i would respect your comments more,a friend of mine pays £450 a year road tax for a 2.0T espace-because he has no choice,4 kids.”

    Oh, he has had a choice there. 😉 Condoms are cheaper than MPVs, but just spend the money on a pre-2001 (pre 2006, in fact, my Voyager is under £300 despite having terrifying emissions) people carrier would avoid that tax. ”

    I have a 7 seat MPV, it’s a 2.0 turbo, it may be a diesel but my road tax costs me £195 a year, I had a choice not to buy a 2.0 petrol 7 seater and took it. Obviously I don’t have the choice to buy an MG as I’ve yet to see 7 seats fitted to one (the Rexton with a stuck on grille doesn’t count!)

    As for dealers the one that was local to here got rid of the MG franchise about a year ago, and are only listed on the site for servicing, mind probably not any good for that seeing as the receivers were called in last month! They also had the local Vauxhall, Chevrolet, Saab and Hyundai franchises. Nearest sales place is 40 miles and about an hours drive away, probably why I still haven’t seen one anywhere round here.

    @7, really? Guy Jones wants a rocket up his backside, as do the rest of sales and marketing! I’ve not even seen an advert for one anywhere since the brief moments the TV ad was run. A few to Avis and an entry into the BTCC doesn’t mean they’ve done a good job, if 200 of those registrations are the final Avis cars then 36 is still poor, there’s much more they could be doing to sell the brand.

    Pull your finger out MG, the UK won’t wait forever.

  69. @79 the petrol espace he bought was very cheap,46k 2007 MY and fitted his budget,his A4 had no room,so apart from riding the life out of his wife and her spitting kids out everywhere,this car fitted the bill,though he is miffed at the tax,the 2.2 diesels blow inlet manifolds every two minutes and are far less reliable,all i am saying is why mither about the tax on a MG6 when its a cheap car new anyway?he could have bought a 7 seat zafira or galaxy but all they will carry is people,the grand espace he bought will carry thier clobber too,its fit for purpose,he is pissed it does 25mpg,but so did his audi. He dont like transits either!

  70. The more I hear about Espaces – and I have had one of the original ones and liked it – the more I like my Voyager. 3.3 Petrol, smooth as silk even if the sound is a bit cammy, loads of space, and cheaper than taxing a 2007 Espace for three years 😀

    Handles well, too. Surprisingly easy to do vomit-inducing speeds, which might explain the occasionally unique odours it produces when the rear heating is on…

  71. The future for Britain will rest with Research and Development and we do seem to be quite good at it, so my view is that MG are doing the right things in Birmingham.

    MG are employing 300 to 400 people which is a great start. The next time a company makes 300 – 400 redundant the country will be devastated.

    I wish people would not put MGs efforts down and MG gradually go from strength to strength.

    Keep up the good work MG.

  72. There is a successful English motorbike manufacturer in
    Triumph, and Norton are trying hard too

    However while public service procurement workers, Ambulance, Police etc., continue to buy foreign bikes which are not superior in any way to Triumph, you can start to see how many barriers to UK production exist.

    MG deserves to succeed, but it needs public support. If it goes on to employ 1500 staff that will be important to many people and reduce the reader’s tax liabilities

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