MG back in business, but not via NAC MG?
We really do wonder what the combined SAIC/NAC MG legal teams will be doing about this!
New from the Birmingham Mail:
Exactly three years to the day that Longbridge went bust, MG vehicles are once again being made in the Midlands in the shape of the luxury X-Power model.
Worcestershire-based William Riley, a member of the famous Riley motoring dynasty, has launched MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd from a 2.5 acre factory site in Eardiston, near Tenbury Wells.
The £2 million venture has already created 17 jobs, including a handful of positions for former MG Rover workers, with the factory producing six high powered MG X-Power WR vehicles a month.
The supercharged MG, a direct descendant of Longbridge’s most expensive model, sells for between £75,000 and £90,000.
Seven have already been sold and the fledgling firm has 35 other advance orders in the bag.
And Mr Riley has plans to eventually launch a purpose built 100,000 sq ft factory within the M5 corridor, employing between 150 and 200 people.
Mr Riley, a lifelong car enthusiast, said: “We have bought the badge rights for the MG X-Power from the administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers – it has been a lot of hard work but it’s going well and we are keeping the MG brand alive.
“We are in production, making six cars a month. It’s very early days but we are very encouraged. We have sold seven cars, all over the UK, and we have got 35 other orders in the pipeline.
“We have exported five cars to America already, in various stages of build. The people who are buying the model are young and middle-aged executives who want an individual, British made sports car.
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This, ladies and gentlemen, is a quite beautiful example of what is commonly referred to as “karma.”
Stop stealing other people’s intellectual property.
Karma is the Chinese stealing IP for the Opium War.
It’s good that they make the MG X-Power again, because I thought with the collapse of MG-Rover that car died, because Nanjing and SAIC were never talking about relaunching that car. Now fortunately someone relaunched it.
Only it’s a bit strange, because we will get two seperate MG brands with slightly different logo’s, people will mix them up…. time will tell how it will go, for me the most important fact is that the MG X-power is still alive, I love that car !!
It will be interesting to see if SAIC act on this. Attempting to close MG X power might infuriate fans of the brand in the UK who hear very little from SAIC
‘Nanjing bought the assets of MG Rover for £53 million in July 2005 but, nearly three years on, is still to produce a single car for sale’
What riduculous reporting, NAC-MG have ‘only’ produced and sold several THOUSAND cars!
This MG SV project will probably just use up the last MG-ROVER produced SV components and fizzle out. At ease SAIC-NAC!
Vava1 not sure where you live (China or UK?) but in the UK MG may as well be dead to most people. The SAIC/ NAC takeover saga, production delays and confusion over Longbridge future has lead to negative press. Frankly this William Riley seems more in touch with MG fans than SAIC a multi billion dollar company. He is also making cars in Britain. SAIC is not. Rather than get too upset about this one Guy I suggest people ask questions of SAIC and their business competance first.
oh well as SAIC already said they can start production straight if they want but they delay it until august this year because they are concerned about the quality issue, they don’t want to disappoint the MG fans and bring a name to themselves. so we’ll wait and see what happen in August then.
One assumes that if they own the badge rights for this car then it is legal for them to produce it. I don’t believe NAC or SAIC will go after him because a) it’s not in competition with any models they are likely to produce/sell in the UK and b) it is positive for the sporting image of the brand. Good luck to him I say.
What badge will they be using? Surely they wont be slapping on an MG badge?
There was already a special MG X-power badge for the X-power SV. It looks a bit like the normal MG badge, but it has green ‘MG’ letters and if I’m correct the word ‘X-Power’ is on it, so you could see it now as a different badge from a different company I think.
William Riley does not have a work force of 17 people, it is more like 5, he is also not making 7 cars a month, he’s actually making a big fat 0. Including a handful of positions for former MG Rover workers? Not quite, just the 1 man. He is also the most dishonnest person I have ever met in my life. I realy hope Nanjing win the court case.
MG IS A LOAD OF RUBBISH IN MY OPINION THE WHOLE MG TAKE OVER REVIVAL THING SHOULD BE PUT TO BED THE CARS ARE TOTAL RUBBISH