Une délégation des dirigeants de la SAIC (avec son président Chen Hong) était à Longbridge ce vendredi en compagnie du maire de Birmingham (Mike Whitby) : ils ont réaffirmé leur engagement pour le site anglais. On parle maintenant d'un redémarrage significatif des chaînes de production pour le second semestre 2008 et une annonce officielle importante est prévue en ce qui concerne des nouveaux modèles...
Selon richard Burden, les dirigeants de la SAIC ont dit que l'usine de Longbridge était extrêmement importante pour la marque MG et qu'ils étaient pleinement engagés dans le renaissance de la marque.
25 April 2008
Birmingham News
Hope for cars in 2008
Apr 25 2008 By Jon Griffin
LONGBRIDGE'S production lines will be up and running again by the second half of 2008, Birmingham council leader Coun Mike Whitby said today.
The car factory which fell silent with the demise of MG Rover in April 2005 will finally be kick-started by Chinese giants SAIC in around four months' time, it is claimed.
In the face of widespread scepticism from unions and some automotive industry experts, Coun Whitby told the Mail following a high-level meeting with SAIC President Chen Hong: "The Chinese are committing many millions of pounds to Longbridge - they are determined to make a success of this.
"We held frank discussions at a private meeting at the Council House. There is a strong personal relationship here and I am more than confident now about the future of Longbridge.
"There has been a whole range of speculation and I have kept silent until now. They have given me a firm commitment on the resumption of MGTF production later this year.
"SAIC are no small company - they are the fourth largest automotive company in the world and I have been reassured of SAIC's commitment to invest heavily in Longbridge."
The prospect of a return of car production to the factory emerged following Coun Whitby's meeting on Wednesday night with a top delegation from SAIC Motor, including President Chen Hong, in the Leader's offices at the Council House.
"I put a whole range of questions to Mr Hong. You cannot keep Longbridge going on just a sports car - they are preparing to make an imminent announcement about new models."
Meanwhile, Northfield MP Richard Burden, a long-time supporter of Longbridge, who was at the car plant for yesterday's visit by the SAIC president, said: "Getting things ultimately right is an awful lot more important than making promises, putting timetables on things or setting production targets.
"When the merger of Nanjing with SAIC - effectively a takeover - happened, I thought that, if anything, this was probably good news for Long-bridge. SAIC are much bigger players in China, they have got much greater resources than NAC.
"I was impressed with what SAIC had to say. They said that Longbridge is uniquely important to MG, and are fully committed to reviving the brand."
But unions remain angry that the Chinese have continued to stonewall their requests for meetings, citing the absence of HR Manager Louise Lane on maternity leave as the excuse.
Gerard Coyne, regional secretary for the T&G arm of Unite the union, said this week: "This is not about HR matters. We are as much in the dark as is humanly possible."
Source : Birmingham News 25 avril 2008
http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/2008/04/25/saic-bosses-fly-in-to-assure-mg-workers-at-longbridge-65233-20817459/
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