Press Report : Longbridge back in full flow at last

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail, 21st April, 2010

Longbridge is up and running again – with 25 MG TF sports cars rolling off the lines every week at the world-famous Birmingham car factory.

The plant, which once produced thousands of cars a week in its British Leyland days, is humming with activity once more as the new Chinese era at Longbridge enters a vital new phase.

MG Motor UK Limited has finally resumed production at the car plant following a six-month standstill – and 155 Birmingham-built sports cars will be shipped to more than 40 UK dealers to meet demand for the spring and summer.

The long-awaited resumption of manufacturing comes as Longbridge undergoes a multi-million pound Chinese makeover in advance of the launch of the MG6 model later this year.

We are building the next batch of 155 MG TF cars – we have a lot of dealer orders and are getting new dealers joining the franchise. There are between 20 and 30 guys dedicated to production. We are getting about five cars a day off the line.” Guy Jones, Sales and Marketing Director, MG Motor UK Limited

Guy Jones, MG Motor UK’s Sales and Marketing Director, said: ‘We are back in full production. Cars are rolling off and the line is full.

‘We are building the next batch of 155 MG TF cars – we have a lot of dealer orders and are getting new dealers joining the franchise. There are between 20 and 30 guys dedicated to production. We are getting about five cars a day off the line.”

The return of production at Longbridge sees the Birmingham car factory back in full flow nearly five years after Chinese firm Nanjing bought the assets of MG Rover for £53 million in July 2005.

The Birmingham Mail revealed last month that Longbridge was to be renamed MG Birmingham, with an MG Worldwide Design Studio at the heart of the new operation and millions of pounds of new investment.

[Source: Birmingham Mail]

Clive Goldthorp

3 Comments

  1. Interesting, we all thought Longbridge would never run again but, now 5 years later, it looks likely that more cars will be built. Good on them I say, but I can’t help thinking that, at least the medium MGs, should be AWD and have powerful engines. All the best to MG for 2010. Alex.

  2. How does one pronounce Roewe? Would it perhaps sound like how a Chinese person might pronounce Rover ? Alex.

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