MG Production Moves to Oklahoma?

Wonderful news, especially for Longbridge workers. If a German car company can inherit the MINI brand, why can’t a Chinese company inherit the MG brand?

Nanjing A.G. is actually China’s oldest car manufacturer. The company was founded a couple years before the Communists took control. China is now the second largest automobile market in the world (after the United States). Most of the cars are built right in China, some by local companies and others through joint ventures with GM, Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen, etc.

But if it’s made in the US I guess it would no longer be a british car. :)

The chinese are the biggest force in the world economy, not USa.

As far as build quality … couldn’t be any worse than what came out of the MG plant. Seems Toyotas built here are fine!

I recall driving my first chinese made vehicle, a BJC, those were the days my friends, a shell of a vehicle that somehow made it through the toughest of terrains, don’t quite know how but it made it. Check out the A/C in the window.

http://i1.tinypic.com/1zvu03o.jpg

That is actually a smart move for the first Chinese foray into the US automotive market. Many more people will line up to buy Chinese cars with a beloved name like MG than they will for a Chinese car called a Chery.

I’m curious how this venture will be structured. Is it much of the old crew from MG relocated with some new leadership and financial backing, or did Nanjing A.G. simply nab the name and are now trying to pick up where the previous organization left off? I’m not terribly excited about the chinese influence, and wonder about quality control and so forth.

Seems Toyotas built here are fine!

True. But Toyota has ridiculously high quality-control standards. It’s a corporate value they set for themselves decades ago. I’ve never been a big fan of Toyota’s design in general (though we’ve owned several), but one can fully expect to drive a Toyota for 300,000 miles if they decide to. Honda is pretty much the same story, and more recently Hyundai and Kia have really jumped in their engineering and build quality. Can China build a great car? Sure. Will they decide to? We’ll see.

I do enjoy the irony of something Chinese being built here for once. I’m really happy to see new manufacturing work come to the USA. That’s pretty much good for everybody (here anyway). However, at a gut level, I hate the idea of a very classic british car being built in sodding Oklahoma – by a Chinese company no less. Kind of like how I feel when I remember that Ford owns Lamborghini, Jaguar, and Aston Martin. Blek! On the flip, I LOVE that the MINI is still at least built in England.

That said, I’m excited to see what gets offered here in the US. I love dad’s ’69 MGb GT! It’d be great to see MG succeed, regardless of who owns it.

A Chinese company…..building MGs…..in Oklahoma City……what odds might I have gotten on that proposition ten years ago??? I’d be a zillionaire.

KELLY…

As far as that “CRACK” goes… look inside your clothing, TV, Radio, shoes. hats, jacket and on and on! Don’t see much USA, England, France, Germany etceteras on those now do you? Even if you do it’s probably from somewhere in asia.

$, £, €, Yen… world economy is all controlled by……China & India. Doesn’t matter what Sikopedia says.

Let’s not even get into OIL!

Also… wasn’t commenting politically just on shear amount of commerce they do!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Now back to the MG. Hum… I wonder if they will build the MGA to fall apart in 6-12 months as a friends did, way back when? Chinese build cars, not good, so far, chinese built anything else.. spot on.

Did anybody else notice how much the car pictured in the drawing looks an awfully lot like one of the newer(crappy) camaros?

Would anyone buy one of these based on it’s looks alone?

Ahem. A ditty for the occaision, ;-) with apologies to Merle:

We don’t drive them Kias in Muskogee,

and we don’t take long trips in them Hyundees

We don’t burn out, driftin’ touges down Main Street,

‘cause we like living right & makin’ MGs

Chorus:

And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee

A place where makin’ MGs is a ball

We still wave Ol’ Glory down at the courthouse

But workin’ for Nanjing’s the biggest thrill of all.

We don’t make a party out of drivin’,

but we might take a club run in, or two;

Now we’re wearin’ racin’ jackets and stringbacks,

like the yuppies in San Francisco do.

Chorus:

And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee

A place where wearin’ Ivy hat’s for fools.

We still drive our pick-ups to the factory,

But them new TF’s are lookin’ pretty cool.

Puma Speed Cats are the style for footwear,

Dickies and Cat stompers won’t be seen;

Football’s just a mem’ry at the high-school,

and all the kids are learnin’ Mandareen.

Chorus:

And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee

A cars is a car is a car, ‘cept an MGB.

We ain’t a clue where Longbridge or Shanghai is,

But it beats bein’ outta work at GMC.

   BCNU,
 Rob in Dago

lTZMTOR:

GDP: The total market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of a nation during a specified period.

That means the USA produces 6 times more goods and services than China. I am no economist but I would think that since the US produces that much more than China and there is currently a huge trade deficit the US not only produces signifigantly more than China and any other country they also consume signifigantly more. Hence the fact that a chinese company wants to buy a bankrupt British carmaker just to try and sell cars in the US and Europe.

I don’t know where you got your information about the power of China’s economy but if you look at the facts it is apparently untrue. This is not to say that they do not have the potential to one day overtake the the US or EU, but for the moment that’s crack you be smokin’.

sorry but we don’t need anymore miss information about the state of international affairs.

It kinda looks like a re-skinned MR2

If I go out and buy a car that isn’t a MINI, and is a throwback to legendary ’60s roadster, it won’t be a MG (in name) made in Oklahoma—it’s going to be an Alfa Romeo Spider. Alfa’s still made in Italy, in Milan, where have been since the begining—and they’ll be back in the US in 2009. For now I’m more than happy with my Cooper S.

Nanjing boss Zhang Xin said: “We want Chinese consumers to know this brand as Modern Gentleman.”

William Morris is rolling in his grave

Kelly…

Well I’m not an economist, as you can tell, I only know what is on my label or inside about everything I own! Have you looked inside or on what you have around you?

As far as miss info goes.. get a grip.

As much as I’d love to see it happen, I can’t imagine this or any other classic British marque being revived with the same outstanding success as MINI. BMW did such an extraordinary job in developing the MINI, which is why I was so excited about the (dispelled) rumours they might do the same with Triumph.

It’s hard to see how Nanjing Automobile Corp could come anywhere close to packaging an appealing successor to MG’s roots in affordable, fun sports cars.

I always thought the MGF was a cool MG, and would have loved to have been able to purchase one in the US.

I’d be interested to know if other MotoringFile readers think the MG badge still appeals? That is, would anyone else buy an MG built in the past 30 years?

I agree with Teresa – if they don’t do a “Modern/Retro” like BMW did with the MINI, sticking with the design of the current (2005) MG models, which I don’t see happening in their short 2 yr ramp up timeline – they will fail. They will have to bottom out their prices to sell anything and then their competition won’t be MINI it will be Kia.

lTZMTOR:

Just because your shirt, which costs $20, was made in China doesn’t mean that China got $20. They got $2. The other $18 likely went to the United States. Either in the cotton, or the design, or the shipping, or the marketing, or the distribution, or the retailing.

Most US companies have abandoned production of small, cheap items, and have instead focused on expensive, high-tech items, or moved out of “items” altogether and produce services and intellectual property.

So while China may be making a lot of shirts, they import a lot of software, medicines, oil, chemicals, metals, airplanes, etc.

You might say “this shirt is made in China” but some Chinese man or woman is saying “this confocal microscope is made in Germany” or “this wide body passenger jet is made in USA” or “this CT scanner is made in France”. China needs to export a LOT of shirts to be able to afford even one of the items they import.

The GDP of the USA has increased, just since 2003, by more than the ENTIRE GDP of China. That means that just in GROWTH, we’ve swallowed the equivalent of China. China may be growing quickly as a percentage, but they are growing at a signifigantly slower rate than the United States is. China does have a proportionally higher amount of exports as a percentage of GDP, but the USA still exports more than China does.

This whole thing strikes me as very strange. Is it possible the Chinese are just saying they will be doing this so as to gain political points in the U.S. for now?

I happen to own two MG cars one a Midget1974 and One is a MGB 77. The parts have always been easy to get , and pretty simple car to work on . The midget is very samll and zippy to drive , anyone that I have let drive it comes back with a huge smile on there face like a child comming off a roller coster ride. Sometimes having a fun car just needs to be fun is all . After all America is the place it is acceptiable to have extra ! I am sure Ill sell the cars some day but for now they are fun. I hope anyone who gets a new one enjoys the tremendious MPG and the shear fun of driving. Rebeckah Maganaenzi , Nixa Missouri .