Kimber remained with the company until 1941, when he fell out with Morris over the supply of war labor and was summarily fired. Kimber tragically died in the King`s Cross rail accident in February 1945. By 1928, the company had grown large enough to warrant a separate identity from the original Morris garages, and the M.G. Car Company began operating in March of the same year. [2] In October, a position is taken for the first time at the London Motor Show. Space quickly ran out and the search for a permanent home led to the rental of part of a former leather factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1929. [2] A limited liability company called M.G. Car Company was incorporated on July 21, 1930. [6] [7] MG Rover, the last mainstream British car manufacturer and the last vestige of British Leyland, went bankrupt in 2005. The parts were sold to two Chinese companies, including the MG brand, the Longbridge factories, and the MG Rover car and engine designs. Ironically, just as MG Rover and its predecessor British Leyland were created from government contracts, the two Chinese companies were forced to merge by Chinese authorities and now operate solely under the name SAIC Motor.
SAIC no longer officially stands for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which is part of the company`s goal to be more acceptable globally. In 2007, the Chinese turned on some lights at the Longbridge plant and asked workers to assemble Chinese-made kits for old MG TF roadsters. Not many people bought them. But last year, SAIC set up a much larger operation in Longbridge. From the beginning, MGs were used in competition and from the early 1930s, a number of racing cars such as the 1931 C-Type and the 1934 Q-Type were manufactured and sold to enthusiasts who received considerable support from the company. This ended in 1935 when MG officially merged with Morris Motors and the racing division was closed. A number of experimental cars were also built, allowing Captain George Eyston to break several world speed records. Despite the formal ban on racing, speed record attempts continued, with Goldie Gardner reaching over 320 km/h (200 mph) in the 1100cc EX135 in 1939. MG`s DNA is 100% British. From the 1920s to 2006, MG was wholly owned by a British company.
It is now owned by SAIC Motor, one of the largest automakers in China. A 25-foot banner on the side of one of the office buildings reads “Designed, designed and built in the UK.” At this point, you might ask, “Wait, isn`t this a Chinese company?” Yes. 300 British engineers are on site, working in Shanghai with a team of 2000 others. SAIC effectively receives a 16-hour workday from its engineers while the team from one continent transmits its progress to the other at the end of the day. Right next door, the designers work in a studio with computers and clay models — we`re not allowed in — which is probably partly due to the fact that MG`s sedan, the MG6, looks more like a Mazda than a Dongfeng. The engineers we talk to tell us how they optimised the MG6 and future models for European driving tastes. The suspension, for example, would be stiffer in the UK than in China, where drivers prefer comfort to sportiness. We take a look at what makes this British car company so unique.
MG Cars has a rich history worth preserving, from humble beginnings in a garage in Oxford to a multinational superconglomerate. Take a look as we explore the history of MG Cars. Q: I sent MG Australia a protest email using the slogan “MG Value Since 1924” in their advertisement. As a motorsport enthusiast, I am very concerned that MG Australia is misleading people by claiming that the Chinese company has been building MG cars since 1924, which is false as the original Morris Garage ceased production in 1972 in Longwall Street, Oxford, England. Slade Y MG Cars was founded in Great Britain, so it is historically a British brand. MG Cars is now owned by MG Motor UK, which is owned by SAIC Motor (China). The company`s headquarters are still located in London, UK. MG Motor was voted third in the Best Manufacturer category in the 2014 Auto Express Driver Power survey. [21] MG Motor celebrated the brand`s 90th anniversary in 2014 and continued to celebrate with a record year in which the company led the growth of the UK automotive industry in 2014. Sales of the MG brand increased by 361% in 2014, thanks in part to the introduction of the MG 3 in the product line.
[13] However, whether MG is in a good position to become a major player is irrelevant. This is the first step of a Chinese company that sells vehicles designed, designed and manufactured at least partially in China in the Western world. (We exclude a handful of sales of a Chinese pickup in Western Australia because Perth is not part of the Western world.) Over the next 25 years, we can expect many more Chinese companies to sell their cars in Europe and the United States. Apple has figured out how to sell products designed in California and made in China to the United States and with huge profit margins. It won`t be long before Chinese automakers crack this code. MG Cars would fall into many hands during its existence, and between 1935 and 1952 the company was known as Morris Motors Limited. Meanwhile, Morris Motors Limited became the Morris Nuffield Organization, but that was just the beginning. Morris Garages` small branch line had grown into a full-fledged British brand. In 1952, the Nuffield Organization merged with Austin Motor Company Limited to form British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC). However, this partnership was not to last long, as another merger was in the future of the company. The official founding date has been debated, although MG`s website states that the company was founded in 1924. The brand began when Cecil Kimber designed and manufactured several modified bodies for Morris cars.
Kimber was a commercial manager who began modernising Morris Oxfords. These Oxfords wore a Super Sport badge, and Morris sold the modified versions from his garage in Oxford. On 22 July 2005, Nanjing Automobile Group acquired the rights to the MG brand as well as other assets of MG Rover Group (excluding the ZS model production line) for £53 million and formed a new company called NAC MG UK. It was later renamed MG Motor after Nanjing Automobile merged with Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation (SAIC). In 2011, MG Motor launched a new model, the MG 6 in GT (saloon) and Magnette (saloon), which were the first new generation machine guns in the UK since the MG TF. The MG Motor MG range is now sold in India, Australia, Brunei, China, Philippines, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Thailand, South Africa and the UK – model availability by market. [ref. needed] MG Cars is a British automobile brand founded in the 1920s by Cecile Kimber. Cecile Kimber worked for William Morris, owner of Morris Garages, and after tinkering with Oxfords, she began designing new models for the all-new M.G. Cars. MG Car Corporation has produced a number of sports cars, but now produces mainly SUVs and a few small sedans. MG Motor UK Limited (MG Motor) is a British automotive company owned by SAIC Motor UK, headquartered in London, United Kingdom, itself owned by the Chinese car manufacturer SAIC Motor, based in Shanghai.
[2] MG Motor designs, develops and markets vehicles sold under the MG brand, while vehicle manufacturing takes place at its plants in China, Thailand and India. The design of the cars was originally developed by MG Motors in Longbridge, Birmingham, UK. Nationalization hit the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in 1975, and the company became known as British Leyland (BL). The restructuring resulted in a split into models, with Rover, Jaguar and Triumph combined into a dedicated BL division focused on luxury and performance. Morris sold these cars under the MG brand until 1930. In 1930, M.G. Car Company Limited was formed, which remained Morris`s company until 1935, when he transferred it to a holding company. Kimber then worked in a greater capacity for Morris and led the company as general manager until this sale in 1935. M.G. Car Company Limited merged with Morris to form British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC), which was formed in 1952 by the merger of Morris Motors Limited and The Austin Motor Company Limited.
[9] John Thornley, a long-time service manager, assumed the position of general manager and led the company through his best years until his retirement in 1969. Under BMC, some MG models were nothing more than badge versions of other brands, with the main exception of small MG sports cars. BMC merged with Jaguar Cars in September 1966, and in December the new company was renamed British Motor Holdings (BMH). BMH merged with Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968 to form British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). The brand name apparently comes from the initials of Morris Garages, William Morris` privately held retail and services company. [11] The trademark was used continuously from its inception in 1924 until 2005, and then from 2007 in Chinese ownership, with the exception of the duration of the Second World War. MG Motor continued to assemble cars at the historic Longbridge plant until production ended in 2016, but retained a large technical center known as the SAIC Motor Technical Center, which employed about 500 people at peak times, as well as a design studio. [1] [20] SAIC further reduced its presence in Longbridge in 2019 by reducing the large technical centre to 20 employees and moving it to London. [21] Success has never been easy for MG Cars, and times of darkness and hardship have fallen on the brand.