MG UK sell just 7 MG6′s in Britain in November

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The UK’s SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) released its monthly figures for the UK car industry yesterday where it was revealed that MG UK sold just seven units of the MG6 in November, which made its October sales of 15 units look rather good.

SAIC’s and MG UK’s decision to launch the MG6 without the choice of a diesel engine has clearly been detrimental to the brands success in the UK despite the car winning good reviews from various different automotive outlets within Britain, there have been rumors that MG UK will introduce a 1.9TDI unit into the MG6 specifically for the European markets where diesel engines are generally preferred in late 2011 or early 2012. The diesel engine destined for the MG6 is supposedly from Kunming’s Yunnei Diesel Company which SAIC were rumored to be buying but later denied. The lack of an automatic gearbox for the MG6 in the UK has also been criticized, it was thought that the Chinese market 5 speed automatic was woefully out of date for the EU markets so that particular option was left out, although with SAIC planning to introduce a dual clutch gearbox into the new Roewe 550 it is likely that the MG6 in the UK will get this option too.

The Chinese market for Roewe and MG was okay in November, the MG6 sold 1,944 units giving them total sales of 24,130 units for the year, the MG3 sold better with 2,189 being sold in November and yearly sales reaching 20,043. Over at Roewe the 750 is coming to the end of its life with 271 units sold in November and 4,052 units sold this year, the 550 sold 2,819 units and 37,431 car this year, the Roewe 350 sold 4,735 in November and 56,832 units this year. The MG7 was the biggest loser with 107 cars sold in November and 843 cars sold this year.

If SAIC are to roll out the MG brand across Europe, then some changes are going to have to be made to the product to make it truly competitive.