Birmingham Produces The First New MG For 16 Years

Yesterday, for the first time in 16 years, an all-new MG rolled off the Birmingham production line. The new model is a result of an Anglo-Chinese collaboration and was designed and engineered in Britain, but some of the production has taken place in China.



The new 1.8 litre MG6 is set to receive stiff competition from the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus models and the price will range from £15,500 to £19,000.



The majority of the testing and engineering process has happened at the MG Birmingham factory. The site was built on the former Longbridge site which had to be closed down six years ago which resulted in the loss of 6,500 jobs.



Nowadays, the site includes 400 workers which is a shadow of the former workforce at Rover at its peak.



The news is a big milestone for the company and the area but Richard Burden; Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield insists that it isn’t likely that we will ever see a complete return for Rover of 20,000 people involved in mass car production.



He went on to say: "Longbridge has been through dark days. But the greatest tribute we can pay to the heritage that made the name Longbridge synonymous with motor manufacturing throughout the 20th century is to build a future in the 21st century."



MG Rover has seen some serious changes in the last few years. The company was bought by the Chinese car manufacturer NAC which merged with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) some four years ago.



The car industry is just another one of the industries that was hit hard by the recession at the end of the last decade. The beginning of 2009 saw production and sales drop dramatically which had a knock-on effect on car manufacturers around the country.



The British car industry did manage to improve slightly however, due to Labour’s government’s car-scrappage scheme.



Although the latest recorded car sales have failed to match the period of 2009/10 which was boosted by the scrappage scheme, the motor industry firmly believes that sales will pick up in the last half of this year.



The launch of the new MG6 was marked by driving the car off the production line through clouds of dry ice. The reveal was made extra special as the car was driven by Longbridge’s only female factory worker, Lisa Ponter.



The excitement could be felt all around the Longbridge plant. The manufacturing manager Craig Osman said: "This has been a very exciting time. This is the first all-new product out of this plant for 16 years.



"Everybody has been involved in this project from start to finish so to get the first customer car off the line is very exciting."



He also recognised how tough the economic climate has been in the West Midlands in general over the last couple of years and hoped that this new product will inspire the public to back the plant again.



Mr Osman said: "So hopefully this is a new start for the Longbridge plant and hopefully the West Midlands."



References:



The home of MG motors



First MG rolls off Birmingham production line