MG to end UK car production

MG to end UK car production with Longbridge to China switch

MG has announced it is to stop making cars at its Longbridge plant and will be moving production to China - ending manufacturing in the UK.
The firm said vehicle assembly was no longer "required" and cars would arrive "fully built ready for distribution".
MG said there would be 25 redundancies but sales, marketing and after-sales operations would remain at the plant.
The first new MG for 16 years rolled off the production line in the West Midlands in 2011.
More on this story and others in Birmingham
It marked the first large-scale production at the plant near Birmingham since the demise of Rover in 2005.
More than 400 design engineers and other staff at the SAIC Motor Technical Centre (SMTC) at the site and MG Motor employees are not affected.
"Centralising production demonstrates MG's commitment to the future, as well as its continued focus on attracting and developing the highly-skilled automotive engineering and design talent present in the UK," a spokesman for MG said.
Where possible, production staff would be moved into new roles, the spokesman added.
Two models are currently designed and made the site - MG3 and an SUV, the MG GS - and sales are increasing with the firm reporting a total year on year rise of 18%.
Matthew Cheyne, head of sales and marketing at MG Motor UK, said moving production abroad was "a necessary business decision".
Richard Burden, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, has criticised the decision, describing it as "hugely disappointing and premature".
"I understand the business concerns that MG have surrounding costs of assembly at Longbridge, which have undoubtedly been aggravated by problems with the strength of the pound," he said.
"However, more discussions should have taken place to explore alternatives and options before any decisions were finalised."
He said the government was willing to meet MG to discuss options and he had hoped the announcement would not be made until further talks had been held.
BBC News.

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