MG Rover back

It could be MG Rover all over again, but almost certainly without another downfall. Actually, make that MG Roewe – Ford still owns the Rover name and has been disinclined to sell it to the Chinese.

The two state-owned Chinese companies that bought the remains of MG Rover – the Rover 75 going to Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), Nanjing Automobile getting MG and the K-series engine – are poised to merge, raising the prospect of the two brands once again sharing showrooms. A memorandum of understanding to ‘collaborate’ has been signed and Shanghai insiders say it’s almost inconceivable that the two will not be joined formally.

Such a deal is in line with Beijing’s strategy of consolidating China’s fledgling car industry into a more efficient shape for its imminent global exports onslaught. It also makes a lot more sense to the dealer groups now receiving tentative independent approaches from SAIC and Nanjing – a revived MG or Roewe on its own wouldn’t have dealers falling over themselves to invest in franchises, but to be able to sell complementary sports cars, sporting saloons and hatchbacks (MG) and more mainstream executive cars (Roewe) is a different proposition.

To the surprise of many, something resembling a UK production operation for MG is already becoming reality. There are now more than 150 employees on part of MG Rover’s old Longbridge site, assembling mildly updated versions of the TF sports car from parts mainly imported from China, where larger scale production got underway earlier this year. By 2008 Longbridge’s output will have risen to 25,000 cars a year, including an updated MG ZT saloon.