MG Lives Again

[bostonmj]

Just announced on the news that MG are to release a new carl! Who owns MG these days?

 

[developer]

The Chinese.

The most recent MG comes in kit form and is assembled at Longbridge by a small workforce. It's a very non MG saloon car with Korean type styling

 

[SimonD]

SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) own "MG Motor UK Ltd"

 

[Adam230K]

The Chinese.

The most recent MG comes in kit form and is assembled at Longbridge by a small workforce. It's a very non MG saloon car with Korean type styling

Will be better than MG ever was then...

 

[verytalldave]

I think its incredibly sad that a once respected and revered marque like MG should be reduced to being "owned" by a foreign country and making nondescript bland hatchbacks.
The MG badge on a car once meant something.

 

[developer]

Ditto Rolls Royce (BMW) and Bentley (VW) - ownership at least.

 

[verytalldave]

Yes, but at least the latest R-R and Bentleys are GOOD and worthy of the badge.

 

[E CLASS]

There is an awful lot of choice in the budget sector already - and better cars.

Depreciation will be horrid.

Looks like the mutant love child of an Astra VXR, Seat Leon and BMW X5 GT.

That should make it a half decent car but I can't see it....

 

[developer]

Yes, but at least the latest R-R and Bentleys are GOOD and worthy of the badge.

I agree about the engineering acumen - it's the foreign ownership that galls me.

 

[Dryce]

I think its incredibly sad that a once respected and revered marque like MG should be reduced to being "owned" by a foreign country and making nondescript bland hatchbacks.

Ah yes. Before foreign ownership it's not as if we didn't have a MG badged
non-descript bland hatchback (or saloon).

..... or did we?

The MG badge on a car once meant something.

Back in the 60s. But after?

The 70s models were 60s throwbacks. They ended up being up heinously disfigured by being disfigured with plastic bumpers and raised.

And then in the 80s it was ..... rebadged hatches and saloons.

Thereafter the only ray of light was the MG F which by the 2000s was left with nowhere to go except with a crude (IMO) facelift as the MG TF.

When the MG F came out I genuinely thought that it was a fresh start and 10 years on we'd see MG resuscitated. But no.

 

[verytalldave]

The last REAL proper MG in my opinion was the MGB/C. Everything that came after was unworthy at best and downright cr@p at worst.
I suppose the RV8 was OK - but even that was launched nearly 20 years ago.
Never really liked the F or the TF. Quite poor efforts.

 

[moonloops]

MG or MSG ?

 

[Dieselman]

The last REAL proper MG in my opinion was the MGB/C. Everything that came after was unworthy at best and downright cr@p at worst.

They were crap as well which is why they were so efficiently killed off by the Datsun 240z, so where does that leave us?

 

[verytalldave]

Morgan ?

Caterham ?

Ariel ?

and if you have deep pockets, Noble.

 

[verytalldave]

They were crap as well which is why they were so efficiently killed off by the Datsun 240z, so where does that leave us?

I must admit, there is an element of truth there.

When I had my Lotus Elan S4SE, a friend had an MGB and we swapped for about an hour one day.
I was never so glad to get back in the Elan.

The B in comparison was like a wheezy old man with about as much getup and go as a sloth. The Elan was nimble, quick and a joy to drive.

But the MGB still had good looks and lovely proportions.

 

[grober]

Surely in this case the UK is merely acting as giant delivery barge moored off Europe? The Chinese----when will they stop? Next thing you know they will be buying Australia---- hold on a mo. Australia leases out mineral-rich land as China's hunger for resources grows | World news | The Guardian

 

[Dryce]

Never really liked the F or the TF. Quite poor efforts.

F was a neat little package.

Kudos for them going for the mid engine layout. Hydragas was a bit of a mistake strategically IMO (It was quite a comfy car for its class though) and they never put a really beefy engine in it (cooling might be a problem I guess).

The only real problem was the perennial one of lack of development - the F was fresh for a while but then when it needed replacing it got a late facelift as opposed to a new model.

The TF looked like they added a bit of extra body moulding at each end - which made the rear look a bit cheap IMO - and they removed the hydragas. But too little too late.

In an ideal world over 10 years or so we'd have had the F with a hard core version added a few years into its life with a minor facelift. Then another model in the range - maybe a coupe or 2+2, and then a successor to the F. And by now we'd be looking at the range being extended further by a small GT or a sports 4WD of some sort.

 

[Scott_F]

I suppose the RV8 was OK - but even that was launched nearly 20 years ago

The RV8 was a hopelessly out-dated dinosaur the day it was launched.

 

[Dieselman]

Morris Garages cars were traditionally sporty saloons and were decent cars. The roadsters were horribly out of date even when launched.

As long as the new ones are actually decent sporty cars, they will do well.

 

[Frankie]

MG has been dead for years, it was all re badged Honda technology.