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[perkins]

Il y a de quoi être impatient après 3 ans passés à attendre, la BBC a justement diffusé un reportage aujourd'hui sur les futurs emplois du site de L'usine anglaise de MG, ainsi que les travaux de restructuration, la lenteur des chinois est mise à l'index...mais un optimisme mesuré semble être de mise.
 La date du premier août est encore affirmée pour la reprise réelle de la production :   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7373582.stm 

[perkins]

Peut-être du nouveau sur les projets en cours : une rencontre avec la presse est prévue pour jeudi prochain selon le Birmingham Mail.
Par ailleurs un nouveau directeur (issu de la SAIC) va être mis à la tête de l'usine de Longbridge.

Mail brings down the wall of silence
May 2 2008 By Jon Griffin

SAIC/NANJING has promised to break its silence over Longbridge - just seven days after the Birmingham Mail launched a 'No More Chinese Whispers' campaign.

The secretive Chinese car firm has taken a step towards openness by planning a series of one-to-one interviews with various UK journalists next week, it was revealed today.

Briefings will be held with the Birmingham Mail and other selected news organisations next Thursday in London and Birmingham in the first public statements of intent from the Chinese for almost a year.

The news comes after theBirmingham Mail publicly challenged Nanjing last Friday to come clean by answering 10 key questions over the historic car plant's future.

Initially the paper was met with more silence, so we took the questions to the door of Longbridge and then to the Chinese embassy in London to show the car firm that we would not accept broken promises and changing details from secondhand sources.

A direct approach to SAIC/Nanjing's headquarters in China was the next plan if the company had not responded.

Editor Steve Dyson said: "There was some fear that the Birmingham Mail's new 'No More Chinese Whispers' campaign would antagonise the company but this sudden turnaround is proof that SAIC/Nanjing has listened to the free press."

Politicians and unions today also welcomed the long-awaited decision by SAIC/Nanjing to come clean over the car plant. Its future has been at the centre of speculation since the Birmingham Mail revealed body shell assembly by West Midland firm Stadco was being scrapped before a single car had been produced for sale.

Dave Osborne, of Unite, the most senior car industry negotiator in the UK, today praised the Mail's campaign - and welcomed the prospect that SAIC/Nanjing would end the speculation over Longbridge at last.]

"The Birmingham Mail has been saying what people have been thinking and I am very pleased journalists are now going to get the chance to talk to SAIC/Nanjing on a one-to-one basis on the back of its campaign. Let's just hope that there is a new beginning and more openness about the relationship.

"We want to see tangible evidence that the original plans from 2005 - 100,000 cars a year within five years - come to fruition and offer quality employment to former MG Rover workers who have been unable to find the calibre of employment they had at Longbridge."

Mr Osborne has been pressing in vain for a meeting with SAIC/Nanjing bosses since last November - while Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart revealed she too had been unable to pin down the Chinese for talks despite requests dating back nine months.

She said: "Well done and good luck to the Mail over this.

"I have been trying to meet with them since August. This is just the first step, but it is a welcome first step."

Nanjing's UK Director of Communications Eleanor De La Haye confirmed that one to one interviews would be held with news organisations, including the Mail, next Thursday.

She said a total of 15 newspapers and broadcasting groups were to be offered 35-minute slots in London and Longbridge with senior Nanjing management. "We intend to answer a variety of questions," she said.

New man in the driving seat

May 2 2008

SAIC/NANJING is replacing its top man at Longbridge in a boardroom reshuffle, it was revealed today.

He Xiao Qing will take over as chairman of NAC MG UK later this month in an apparent new change of direction.

The new chairman takes over from Wang Hong Baio, who has been the man in charge since 2006.

It is understood that Mr Baio is to return to China.

Dave Osborne, senior UK car industry negotiator for Unite, said: "Mr Baio has said that for personal reasons he is going back to China." He revealed that the new chairman had agreed to a face-to-face meeting for talks over the plant's future.

"He says he would like to meet and update me on plans for Longbridge," added Mr Osborne.

Unions believe the change at the top at Longbridge signals the shift of control to SAIC.

SAIC President Chen Hong flew to Birmingham for high-level talks with city council leader Coun Mike Whitby last week, and pledged that production lines would be rolling out MGs in the second half of 2008.

Source : The Birmingham Mail

[perkins]

Annonce officielle de la date de lancement pour la MG TF LE 500 :
-début de la production à Longbridge pour le début du mois d'août
-les premières voitures seront disponibles chez les concessionnaires MG pour le mois de septembre

LAUNCH DATE ANNOUNCED FOR MG TF LE500

MG has announced that production of the TF LE500 sportscar will commence at their Longbridge plant in Birmingham at the beginning of August, with the first cars delivered to showrooms in September.

Chairman for NAC MG UK Ltd, Mr He, Xiao Qing, said; “I am delighted to be in a position to talk about a launch date for the TF LE500 following a process of planning, re-organisation, active quality improvements and parts optimisation that we recognise resulted in frustration for our stakeholders. We are now fully focussed on bringing our hard work to fruition.”

The new car is expected to appeal to a wide range of car buyers looking for the authentic sportscar driving experience, as well as existing small sportscar owners looking to upgrade, current owners and the large band of MG enthusiasts.

Gary Hagen, Director of Sales & Marketing continued, “The open top sportscar is an iconic image of British motoring and forms the basis of the MG marque’s long pedigree. The launch of the TF LE500 signals our determination to keep this class of car at the heart of the brand as we take it forward.”

With the launch of the new TF LE500, the company knows that it is also re-launching one of the best known and best loved brands in the world. Whilst production efforts at Longbridge are focussed on the LE500, designers at their SMTC facility in Leamington, Warwickshire are already planning exciting newMG models that will capture the essential qualities of the MG brand and extend the range into additional sectors.

The commitment planned by MG and the level of investment underwritten by SAIC will persuade doubters that the MG brand is being re-launched with the support to make it successful again. The fact is that in 2008, desirable and competitive British made sportscars will once again be rolling off a production line in Longbridge. A sight that many thought they might never see again.

NOTE TO EDITORS;

SMTC UK Limited (Shanghai Motor Technical Centre, UK) is based at Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor, whose parent company is Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, China’s largest automotive manufacturing company. SMTC UK currently employees approximately 120 engineers and designers, with a further 150 contractors, and provides engineering and design skills for MG and Roewe.

SOURCE: NAC MG (UK)

[perkins]

Avec cette annonce officielle du relancement de la production, le plan est toujours de produire 4 nouveaux modèles dans les 5 ans dont une berline de haut de gamme  et un modèle remplaçant la TF.
La BBC a précisé qu'on ne savait toujours pas combien l'usine emploierait de personnels mais le plan avancé  est censé impliquer plusieurs centaines de postes à pourvoir.
Longbridge sera dans l'avenir le Centre de design et de recherche des modèles produits.

BBC News, vidéo : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7390389.stm
http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/automotive-business/2008/05/08/nanjing-confirms-mg-production-at-longbridge-from-august-65233-20880170/

"The Chinese owners of the Longbridge car factory have revealed plans to produce up to four new models at the plant over the next five years.
Now Nanjing, which bought the MG Rover assets, said the new models will include a large luxury car and a replacement for the MGTF sports car.


It is not known yet exactly how many jobs will be created with the production of the new cars.
However, it is believed to be at least several hundred new posts."

Un nouveau directeur de l'usine anglaise est confirmé mais il est originaire de la NAC et non de la SAIC : Mr He Xiao Qing

NEW CHAIRMAN APPOINTED FOR NAC MG UK

Today, 8th May, 2008, NAC MG UK Ltd has announced the appointment of a new chairman Mr He Xiao Qing. Mr He (pronounced (Hurr) takes over as head of the company from Mr Wang Hong Biao, who had led the board of the Longbridge based company since it was set up in 2005.

Mr He said, “I am delighted to have been appointed at such an exciting and busy time in this young company’s history. I thank Wang Hong Biao for his hard work in preparing MG for its re-launch and look forward to building on his hard work.”

At 44 He Xiao Qing already has experience in legal, International trade and management and in international finance with Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation. He has also held directorships and secretariats in a number of other companies.

Gary Hagen, Sales and Marketing Director for NAC MG UK, said; “Although the team at Longbridge are sorry to see Wang Hong Biao return home, we are all delighted with the appointment of He Xiao Qing. He knows the company extremely well, having been part of the original acquisition team and been on the board of NAC MG since it was set up in the UK.”

Among He’s first duties as Chairman will be the announcement of a date for the start of production at Longbridge. The eagerly anticipated MGTF LE500 will be the first car he presides over with full scale production of the MGTF and a family of new cars following on shortly.

SOURCE: NAC MG (UK)

[arnaud7675]

Avec toutes ces annonces, on ne sait plus trop quoi croire : parmi les projets, on sait que c'est la TF "améliorée" qui va revenir (en angleterre) mais aussi 2 autos sur la plateforme de la "roewe 550", probablement une berline moyenne (MG 5 ou 6 ?) avec hayon et coffre et une grande berline (la MG7 ou sa remplacante ou encore plus gros en puisant dans la groupe Saic, type grosse berline Chairmann ...)
On n'en sait pas plus ...

[perkins]

Sur Skynews ils ont confirmé ce matin la reprise de la  production à Longbridge, ils ne parlent pour le moment que de la MG TF LE 500 :
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1319286,00.html

[perkins]

L'information vient de l'un des présidents de la SAIC, elle est reprise par l'agence Reuters : ils prévoient de commencer à vendre la MG TF LE 500 fin août début septembre, pour l'instant au Royaume-Uni et ils sont en train de considérer les autres marchés. Pour le moment ils se concentrent sur la marque MG en Europe et ils annoncent encore de nouveaux modèles en préparation. Ils n'excluent pas de vendre certains modèles avec le badge Roewe s'il y a de la demande. Ils espèrent cette année tripler leurs ventes de Roewe en Chine avec un objectif de 50 000 unités vendues dont la nouvelle 550.

By Fang Yan


SHANGHAI, June 17 (Reuters) - SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, China's top automaker, plans to resume making MG sports cars in Britain in August, its president said on Tuesday.

SAIC will start selling British-made MG TF sports cars in the United Kingdom, via more than 40 dealers, at the end of August or in early September, Chen Hong said at a shareholders' meeting.

"We will do it step by step," Chen said. "We will start with Britain and will consider selling to other markets eventually."

SAIC, which also runs car ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen AG , is among a growing army of Chinese automakers aiming to make a name globally.

It become the latest owner of MG Rover's 10,000-unit Longbridge plant in Birmingham, central England after a merger with its much smaller peer Nanjing Automobile Group late last year.

The facility, acquired by Nanjing Auto in 2005, will serve as a platform for tapping the European market, company executives have said.

In an effort to revive the failed British car brand, SAIC will roll out more MG variants and new models in the coming years to attract buyers.

"Capacity is not an issue for us at the UK plant. What we need to do is to continue develop new models while keeping the original flavour of the MG brand," he said.

ROEWE

In March 2007, SAIC rolled out its first self-developed car, the Roewe 750, based on acquired technology, with first-year sales coming to roughly 16,000.

Chen said his firm aims to more than triple sales of its own-brand cars to 50,000 this year as it rolls out more new models, including a Roewe 550, catering to various market segments.

The firm has been investing aggressively in its own-brand cars. Company executives said previously that they will add more assembly lines to build 30 new models by 2010.

SAIC Motor Chairman Hu Maoyuan did not rule out exporting Roewe cars to Europe or elsewhere eventually.

"We are currently focused on reviving and improving the image of MG globally. But we will not rule out selling Roewe overseas in the future if there is a demand," Hu told Reuters. (Editing by Quentin Bryar)

Source : REUTERS 17/06/2008

[yallah5]

Merci, ça sent bon

[perkins]

Le Birmingham Post vient de visiter le site de production de  l'usine de Longbridge: actuellement  l'usine produit 45 voitures par semaine soit 180 par mois avec comme objectif plus de 2000 unités par an, sachant que seulement 18 personnes travaillent effectivement sur la chaîne de production de la MG TF, les autres s'occupent de la logistique ou sont dans les bureaux...
La capacité de la chaîne de production est de 100 voitures en même temps. 

Car-making is back at Longbridge, but with only 18 on the production line

Aug 18 2008 By Duncan Tift
Longbridge MG TF

In 1905 Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge. Now, 103 years later, car production has once again resumed at the famous factory. Duncan Tift was the first journalist to see the production line moving again at the plant, now owned by China’s Nanjing Automobile.

Herbert Austin would no doubt approve of the fact that motor cars are once again being built at his beloved Longbridge and even though he may find the surroundings different, the vehicle numbers are far more 1908 than 2008.

Walking into Longbridge’s massive assembly plant is an eerie experience. Huge assembly lines that produced hundreds of thousands of cars a year stand silent and still.

The only operation is the production of small numbers of MG TF sports cars – small the operative word.

Despite the surroundings, this is a cottage industry, more akin to Malvern’s iconic Morgan than anything British Leyland conceived.

Trying to convey the scale of the operation when confronted with such a massive backdrop is difficult.

These figures may help put the operation into perspective.

Nanjing Automobile (NAC), which owns the plant and everything in it, is producing 45 cars a week – 180 a month and slightly more than 2,000 a year.

It employs 180 people at the 110-acre site, of which just 55 are employed in the logistics, paintshop and assembly operation.

Touring the facility yesterday there were just 18 people – 17 men – on the assembly line, which to say it moved at snail’s pace would be doing an injustice to gastropods.

However, to revisit all the pessimistic stories about the demise of the British car industry and the emergence of the new economies of India and the Far East serves no purpose.

This is what car production at Longbridge is – and what it will be for the foreseeable future. That final point is important, because for the first since perhaps the demise of MG Rover, the plant does have a future.
Longbridge MG TF

There is a 500 special edition limited run of the MG TF LE500, of which almost 80 per cent is already pre-sold – showing there is still a market for the model despite it being 15 years old.

The cars are expected to be in showrooms from next month after which production will revert to the standard model.

The company is marketing them in the UK and Ireland and plans to expand to the rest of the EU at some point in the future. No word yet however, on when – or if – the car will go on sale in the United States.

Our guide yesterday, NAC spokeswoman Eleanor de la Haye was only too keen to explain about what is happening at the plant now and what the future holds.

“The workers are splitting their time between the assembly and the trim operations – one day they will work on assembly and then revert to trim the following day.

“All the models are hand-built and of the components used, 40 per cent of the parts are sourced from the EU and 60 per cent from China and the rest of the world,” she said.

The production line can take up to 100 cars at a time – approximately a fortnight’s production.

“This will ensure that every dealer can have one at the same time,” said Ms de la Haye.

So far 44 cars have been produced and are ready to transfer on to the MG dealer network, which has about 50 outlets around the country.

“We are looking at producing around 2,500 to 3,000 cars a year depending on demand,” she said.

“At the moment, we are looking at producing around 45 a week, which could rise.”

The cars themselves in their vivid orange create a striking contrast against the rather sombre background. However, the mood of the workers appears in keeping with the colour scheme – sunny.

Guy Hunter was a fitter with 15 years’ experience at Rover.

He is now working on the new assembly line and is delighted to be back doing what he enjoys most, making cars.

“These are hi-spec cars and it’s great to be back here making them again,” he said.

Mr Hunter, of Selly Oak, has worked for NAC for the best part of two years.

So what does he make of them as an employer?

“The company’s good and we’re enjoying ourselves here.

“It’s not too different from Rover,” he added.
Longbridge MG TF

Lisa Ponter, of Bromsgrove, is the sole woman on the line. A Rover veteran with 13 years’ experience in the sewing shop and five years on the production line, she is also delighted to be back making cars.

“It was a bit strange coming back at first but now it’s very enjoyable.

“And I’m working again with a lot of the people who were with me when I was at Rover.”

Indeed, the company has had no difficulty in getting people to come and work for it.

Some have even turned their backs on the likes of Bentley in order to get their hands dirty at Longbridge again.

Something of which Mr Austin would no doubt approve.

Source : The Birmingham Post, 18/08/2008

[arnaud7675]

Bonne nouvelle, mais après + d'un an de retard, il faudrait que Nac ou Saic détaille son plan pour les prochaines années
Autoexpress, qui est le 1er a essayer l' auto est positif mais attend la suite : http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/226398/mg_tf_le500.html
A quand de nouvelles MG ?

[perkins]

Bonne nouvelle, mais après + d'un an de retard, il faudrait que Nac ou Saic détaille son plan pour les prochaines années
Autoexpress, qui est le 1er a essayer l' auto est positif mais attend la suite : http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/226398/mg_tf_le500.html
A quand de nouvelles MG ?

Selon Stephan Cox (MG UK), de nouvelles MG sont en préparation à Longbridge, elles seront produites en 2010 (vraisemblablement en milieu d'année).  

[perkins]

On parle maintenant d'une production de 3700 MG TF à l'usine de Longbridge en 2009, presque le double de ce qui avait été annoncé.
Un nouveau modèle de la dimension de la Vauxhall Vectra serait plannifié, ce serait donc une seconde chaîne de production prévue pour 2010 à l'usine anglaise, et ce modèle (dérivé de la remplaçante de la ROVER 45, le projet RDX60 devenu la ROEWE 550 en Chine) serait produit à partir de corps de carrosserie élaborés à Longbridge même.


La chaïne de production de la MG TF LE 500 (18/08/2008)

Longbridge factory on a roll with the new MG

Aug 19 2008 By Edward Stephens
The new MG Production Line at Longbridge.

TWICE as many MG sports cars could be rolling off the Longbridge production line next year as had originally been planned, it was revealed today.

With the company expecting to ramp up to 43 cars per week within the next seven days, bosses have become even more optimistic about annual sales.

A target of 2,000 MG TF sports cars had been set for 2009 but this has now almost doubled to 3,700.

Advanced orders for 300 of the new cars have already been taken by the 50-strong dealer network.

Just 18 workers are currently employed on the line, 15 of whom had worked for MG Rover building the original MGF and MG TF.

And while the factory, now owned by MG UK part of the Chinese Nanjing Group is a shadow of its former self, employees are glad to be back.

Gary Hunter, from Selly Oak, has been with MG UK for two years but worked for MG Rover for more than 15 years.

“It’s great to be back,” he said.

“We have been waiting a long time to see the MG TF being built again and now it’s really happening, and this car is more high tech than the old one.”

Lisa Ponter, from Bromsgrove, spent 18 years in the sewing room at the old Longbridge factory and five years on the production line. She is the only woman now building the latest generation of MG TF and says she is loving every minute of it.

“It’s a strange feeling to be back here especially as a lot of people I worked with are missing but the ones who are here are a good crowd and we all work well together,” she said.

Eleanor De La Haye, the company’s corporate communications manager, said the MG brand had been well received in China and 2,500 of the MG TF models which had been built there had been sold.

“The Chinese love all things British and really love this car. The Chinese people have taken to the MG brand very well.”

She confirmed that the first British buyers would be getting their new Longbridge-built cars in September, just as the new registration plate comes in.

A second production line is expected to go into operation at Longbridge by 2010 building a Vauxhall Vectra sized saloon based on the Roewe 550, a popular saloon which is on sale in China.

The bodies for this model will be built on site, unlike those of the MG TF which are shipped in from China for assembly at the Birmingham plant.

Source : The Birmingham mail

[perkins]

La porte-parole de MG UK (Eleanor De La Haye) a affirmé que la MG TF sera produite en 2009 avec volant à gauche, pour le marché européen.

 

Longbridge in driving seat with MG

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/0...-seat-with-mg/





It is a sight not seen at Longbridge for more than three years – the rolling production track carrying a line of MG sports cars under construction.
It is a small start for MG’s Chinese owners: a production team of just 55 workers are currently producing 47 cars a week.

Within the cavernous Longbridge factory just two lines are currently operating, but the Chinese companies behind MG – NAC and its bigger parent SAIC – have plans that will see all the production lines in operation by 2010.
At the moment a small 18-strong team is working on the production line, switching from trim to assembly on alternate days, working from 7.30am to 4pm.

They are making the first, bright orange, batch of MG TF LE500 special editions which will relaunch the famous motoring brand in more than 50 dealerships nationwide next month.

After the first 500 cars are made – and more than 400 have already been snapped up in advance by MG enthusiasts before the cars even hit the showrooms – the Longbridge factory will start making a standard MG TF sportster.

MG UK spokeswoman Eleanor de la Haye said the company was hoping to sell between 2,500 and 3,500 of the sports cars next year. “But I think that is conservative given the enthusiastic response we have seen so far,” she continued. We are launching in the UK and Ireland next week, with a left-hand drive variant launching in Europe next year.

“I think sales of 4,000 cars would be a possibility by the end of 2009.”

Nearly all the team now working on the cars are former MG Rover employees who lost their jobs, along with 6,000 colleagues, when the last major British-owned carmaker collapsed in April 2005.

Guy Hunter, from Selly Oak, was a 15-year Rover veteran. He has been back working for MG for the past two years as the new Chinese owners geared up for production. “The new cars have a much higher spec than the old ones,” he said. “It’s great to be back here making them again. We’ve been waiting a long time to get to this point.”

The only woman on the production line, Lisa Ponter from Bromsgrove, is another Rover veteran. She worked 13 years in the sewing room, making the MG’s canvas soft-tops, and then five years on the line.

“It was a bit strange coming back,” she said. “It was a bit empty with so many people missing. But I am working with a lot of the people who were with me when I was at Rover. They are a great bunch to work with – we have a laugh.”

Ms de la Haye said some of the 180 people now working at MG UK had even given up jobs at Rolls Royce and Bentley to come back to Longbridge. “They said there was just something about working here, and they couldn’t wait to get back,” she said.

The new cars come with top-of-the-line specification including leather seats, high quality stereo systems, rear parking sensors and hard tops. The trim line is where much of this equipment is installed. The cars then roll down the line and are automatically raised and transferred across the factory to the assembly line on the other side. When full there are around 100 cars on the two lines at any one time.

Although the initial batch of cars will be orange, the other LE 500s will come in red, white, blue, grey and black. Around 40 per cent of the car is made up of parts from the UK and Europe. Most of the rest comes from China, including the body shell known in the industry as “body-in-white”.

This is produced at NAC’s Pukou factory in Nanjing, but the company is currently looking for a partner business to run a body-in-white manufacturing unit on the 110 acre MG operation at Longbridge. The engines too are made at Pukou but, although modernised for new EU emissions regulations.

But much will depend on the success of the new MG TF. Roger Parker, from the MG Owner’s Club, has had a chance to drive one.

Mr Parker, a former motorway policeman from Tamworth, said: “In terms of the quality it is way ahead of the old car. I’ve had a chance to drive three of the cars as the new one has been developed and each one has got better and better.”

[clemar64]

ça, c'est de la bonne nouvelle, mais au fait les TF seront toutes oranges?

[perkins]

ça, c'est de la bonne nouvelle, mais au fait les TF seront toutes oranges?

Seules  les premières MG TF seront oranges, après pour les couleurs disponibles il faut se reporter à la brochure ici (pp.14-15):http://www.mg-rover.com/mmlib/tf_brochure.pdf
Au total : 13 couleurs possibles..., sauf l'édition limitée à 500 (6 couleurs possibles)