... with Longbridge to China switch"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-37449289
I'm surprised it's only costing 25 jobs. I wonder where they make enough savings to cover the cost of the move, and shipping cars to the UK market (and elsewhere).
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Oh from so many overheads for stuff which has to exist for such an operation, irrespective of size. Everything from management to insurance and all the stuff in between.
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and shipping cars to the UK market (and elsewhere).
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They used to ship them to the UK, with a few bits removed so they could be classed as car parts or kit cars. Most of what is left of Longbridge production line has been left abandoned since MGR went bust. I think there's even some half finished rovers still left behind. I think there's pictures on one of those urban exploration sites.
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I think the idea of assembly of MG cars in Longbridge is a little short of the truth. With only 25 employees doing the assembly, etc., there can't have been much to put together. The cars must mostly be assembled in China anyway.
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Import incomplete cars & lower duty if car is "part of a manufacturing company" in the UK
Similar to German vans exported to the USA. The vans have a 2nd row of seats (no side windows) but are proper seats with seatbelts. The vans are then re-manufactured in Baltimore where the rear seatbelts & bench seat are taken out and taken to the tip.
Imported as "a passenger vehicle" the import rates are lower than a VAN!
Apparently 40 years ago or so there was some fall out over chickens when duties were placed on US Chickens coming into the EU - in retaliation the US Govt put something like 40% tax on European (read German) vans but not cars/passenger vehicles
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Sorry to see it go. My first and second cars were MGTCs and I later had an MGTD, MGBGT and MGf.
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I doubt whether very many people even know that MG cars are "assembled" in the UK or seen an advertisement for them.
Sadly too low key to prove successful.
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I assume the 'assembly' was along the lines of what Lada used to do in Brid (lington) to the cars it imported in the 80s. Add some cheep wheel trims (alloys now I expect), a stereo and maybe a spoiler and seat covers ;)
Shame - I used to like the Rover 416 SLi hire cars I used to get in the mid nineties from British Car Rentals (I think that's right?) in 'Hounslow. Nicer than the Astra, and infinitely better than the dire Escort of the period! Trouble is it was still around 10 years later as an MG wasn't it?
Last edited by: PeterS on Sat 24 Sep 16 at 12:15
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The Ladas brought into Immingham had the interiors stripped out and superior seats and other features installed before going to the dealers.
They were built to survive Russian winters, so had much thicker steel bodies and heavy duty batteries and starter motor but the plastics used, for example, were very basic and poor quality.
I had a friend who owned Rivas and Skoda Estelles - none of them ever let him down even though he travelled over most of the UK in them. The Samara had a more up to date design and engineering, but suffered from similar interior plastics to the Riva.
The Niva 4x4 was much better than the Riva and and was quite popular in the UK.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sat 24 Sep 16 at 12:57
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I think the frames were still Russian though, they just got re-trimmed on the high spec models. Apparently some of the cars also had a full respray. My late Grandad had a 1986 Riva Special Edition, it had a radio cassette, speakers on the door cards, a sunroof and a spoiler, it was a proper Bridlington special!
The Samera looked modern the time, but suffered from awful build quality and reliability, I know most mechanics used to say to stick with the Riva. My dad had a couple of Lada Rivas between 1991-1998 they were awful but they did provide cheap family motoring.
Back to MG I think the brand will fail in the UK unless they can come up with a truly competitive product, the MG SUV looks ok but all the reviews are just saying it is average. It needs a truly good after sales package for the brand to be a success.
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>> Shame - I used to like the Rover 416 SLi hire cars I used to
>> get in the mid nineties from British Car Rentals (I think that's right?) in 'Hounslow.
>> Nicer than the Astra, and infinitely better than the dire Escort of the period! Trouble
>> is it was still around 10 years later as an MG wasn't it?
>>
Rovers 90's line up was pretty good. As you say the 200 / 400 were miles ahead of the Escort / Astra, the 600 was OK and I liked the 800's.
The K series engine was really advanced when it came out - Not sure there were many normally aspirated 1.4's putting out over 100 bhp back then, and they were very sweet units.
Always fondly remember my 214 - I remember being out with a colleague (chavy young baseball cap wearing lad) who wouldn't believe it was only a 1.4 as we cruised along at 90
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I had one of those, good cars not great on petrol but they were better than most thought. Not perfect but they were pretty well screwed together and something a bit different.
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Be interesting to see how much it goes for - The K series lump isn't the best engine in the world of course :)
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The Rover 214/216 models were Honda designed and were also produced as Honda Concertos on the Longbridge production line - I recall touring the factory at the time, whilst my daughter had one of the first 214 saloons in 1989.
The K-Series engine was quite advanced at the time and the 1.4 produced 95bhp, impressive compared to similar units and matching the output of other manufacturers' 1.6-litre units in the majority of cases.
Like the Triumph Acclaim, the first to be based on a Honda (Ballade) the Rovers were of a generally high build quality as the Japanese company passed on its expertise to Rover. The Rover 600 was another Honda based model.
However, despite support, Honda eventually declined to take a big stake in Rover for a number of reasons.
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The K series got a lot of stick, but quite a lot of it was the result of not having a terribly high water capacity. Folk who did their weekly checks didn't usually have any problems, but by the time the car came out, a lot of folk never went near the bonnet - ugh, dirty, job for garage at 12000 mile service time.
Not unsurprisingly, some head gaskets failed. My 214 had a slight leak as a result of the pressure cap sticking. Freed up on a bit more pressure (I have a tester) but had I not sorted it, I too probably would have had head gasket failure.
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I think a lot of them went because of other items in the cooling system rather than the head gasket. Poor quality hoses, clips and water pumps were the main culprits, they let the coolant leak out then you had overheating followed by the head gasket going.
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I had an early 1.4SLi from new. It was way better to drive, with better cabin, than the 2 litre Sierra that preceded it. Only had it 45000 miles/ 2 years but no problems at all in that time.
The k-series engine was initially heralded by reviewers as excellent. It was even said that it was so good it made the company a takeover target. Ah well reviewers can't always get the long term right.
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>> I had an early 1.4SLi from new. It was way better to drive,
I had one of the same. Bought from a friend at two years old with just less than 10K on the clock. A cracking little motor which only cost me £25 in repairs (a minor fault with an electric window) and served me well for over a decade.
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>>>> I had an early 1.4SLi from new. It was way better to drive>>
My daughter had one of the first in the showrooms after I had told her at the time that I was impressed when on the model's launch. She acquired a British Racing Green version.
Even more of a clincher was that SLi represented my initials...:-)
But it served her well for three years and certainly had an above average interior to warrant the Rover badge.
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>>Sorry to see it go. My first and second cars were MGTCs and I later had an MGTD, MGBGT and MGf.<<
I don't understand what this has to do with anything that has emerged from Longbridge or China in recent years.
I always cringed at the disgraceful abuse of the name Rover, having owned real ones, let alone MG.
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Très vrai mon ami. J'ai eu 2 P6 de et un Roadster MGB, mais aucun des modèles ultérieurs.
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>>Très vrai mon ami. J'ai eu 2 P6 de et un Roadster MGB, mais aucun des modèles ultérieurs.<<
Formidable! I had a P4, a P6 V8 and two SD1s. Just out of interest I looked up the 1960 Rover 80 I once had and it's still around, although SORN'd. My pal and I bought it sight unseen because we thought we'd get rich from the number plate. Turned out no-one on earth has the initials HX! It was a surprisingly good motor to drive though - appearances can be deceptive when there's genuine quality there.
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Good old proper British car the Rover P4, I tuned and road tested a fair few of those back in the day.
I wouldn't mind something like that now, to use as a 2nd car for tinkering with and mimsing around Bodmin Moor etc.
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Well it took them 3 goes to get the head gasket design 'right'...and the thermostat was the 'wrong' end of the cooling system (from a longevity point of view). then there's the plastic dowel pins.
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The 1989 200 series was a mildly restyled Honda Concerto with simplified front suspension and mainly Rover engines- though the 216 used a Honda engine for a while until the larger K-series was ready.
The Concerto for the European market was built by Rover at Longbridge and used the same suspension as the Rover. Honda engines (1.5i and 1.6i) were used rather than the K-series, apart from a diesel version that was introduced for Europe.
The Concertos were built at Longbridge and transported down to Honda at Swindon to undergo Honda quality control. If cars required rectification, they were shipped back to Longbridge and, once rectified, resubmitted to Swindon.
We had a 94 Honda Concerto 1.5i for 3.5 years. Only issue we had was a faulty door switch that armed the alarm. There was a hiatus in the supply of the part - Honda had none in Europe - and Honda wouldn't allow the Rover part to fitted as it hadn't been QC'd by Honda. The dealer cannibalised another new Concerto for the switch - the donor car stood for several weeks in the dealers waiting for the Honda part.
Only drawback was the Honda was more expensive to service, though it was worth more and we got the difference back on trade in
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I had a 1991 216 GTi (a 2 door Hatchback). Very nice little motor. Quick and very well made, we replaced it with a Honda Civic which wasn't a patch on it as regards driving dynamics.
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I would think the MG badge has lost any of the allure it once had, particularly among the newer generation of drivers.
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>> I would think the MG badge has lost any of the allure it once had,
>> particularly among the newer generation of drivers.
Saw one yesterday on the car park at Doctors/Pharmacy in village, an MG3. Unremarkable small hatch, looked to have drum brakes at rear.
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MGs are a fairly common sight around here. I've not looked very closely but there's the small hatch which I imagine is the one Bromp mentioned and at least one model of larger saloon.
Neither looks anything special - good or bad.
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looked to have drum brakes at rear.
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Interesting why did you pick up on that?
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>> Never seen one yet.
Probably have but not noticed. Not stand out in any way, shape or form. Suspect I only clocked the badge because MG was being discussed on here.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 27 Sep 16 at 11:59
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I'm pretty sure I would notice...!!
But agree about the anonymous character of the various models.
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>> Interesting why did you pick up on that?
The drum was clearly visible through alloy wheel spokes while waiting for it to manoeuvre so I could follow it out. Struck me as 'off key' for a brand that once aspired to sportiness and/or luxury.
Berlingo and Roomy are both discs all round.
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Struck me as 'off key' for a brand that
>> once aspired to sportiness and/or luxury.
Ford did/do it all the time on their small fast ford range, i remember NC on here about it, said on small cars a waste of money. Drums were perfectly acceptable, i think generally its a marketing thing.
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>> >> Interesting why did you pick up on that?
>>
>> The drum was clearly visible through alloy wheel spokes while waiting for it to manoeuvre
>> so I could follow it out. Struck me as 'off key' for a brand that
>> once aspired to sportiness and/or luxury.
>>
>> Berlingo and Roomy are both discs all round.
>>
I would've picked up on that as well. Both Spamettes' Fiestas (09 and 13 plate) have rear drums I think, yet my Astra and SWMBO's Meriva have disks all round. I'm sure drums are perfectly fine but it does look a bit odd to me; I suppose it's coming from an age where 'disks all round' was a sporty thing.
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>> small hatch, looked to have drum brakes at rear.
Lots of cars still have rear drum brakes. Considering most of the braking is done via the front wheels, drums are perfectly adequate on the rear.
>> Berlingo discs all round.
Our Berlingo van at work has rear drums. I suspect when fully laden it's a lot heavier than your Berlingo car. Brakes work absolutely fine on it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 27 Sep 16 at 13:03
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>>. Considering most of the braking is done via the front wheels, drums are perfectly adequate on the rear.
I'm sure I read somewhere that the lesser use meant that in many circumstances drums were better suited to the rear than discs.
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>> I'm sure I read somewhere that the lesser use meant that in many circumstances drums
>> were better suited to the rear than discs.
Rear discs on hydro-pneumatic Citroens were prone to sticking. The link to the suspension meant they only did anything when car was laden. Some folks suggested a bit of ballast in the boot to ensure calipers stayed fit on vehicles manly driven lightly loaded.
Since the discs stay shiny I guess those on current 'lingo and the Skoda are getting regular use.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 27 Sep 16 at 13:15
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>> Our Berlingo van at work has rear drums. I suspect when fully laden it's a
>> lot heavier than your Berlingo car. Brakes work absolutely fine on it.
I don't know what max payload/all up weight is for van. Han't got it or it's handbook at home but IIRC its 450kg/2040kg for the car. I've had enough people/clobber in make me think about the load limit.
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Some cars have rear disc/drum combinations so that they have a handbrake that actually holds the car when stationary. Not sure on current models, but the old 240 estate had this.
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>> Some cars have rear disc/drum combinations so that they have a handbrake that actually holds
>> the car when stationary. Not sure on current models, but the old 240 estate had
>> this.
The Outlander has those.
I had an Audi 100 in 1991/92 that just clamped the rear disc. It ran away once when I forgot to leave it in gear.
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Gobsmacked. It hasn't even got an MOT. It'll need a new cambelt. Wonder if the oil is 12 yrs old too?
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I thought it would make about 8000, so that's a pretty good price.
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>> Gobsmacked. It hasn't even got an MOT. It'll need a new cambelt. Wonder if the
>> oil is 12 yrs old too?
>>
I'm wondering what the hell you'd do with this thing. Seems bonkers to pay 12K for a 12+ year old daily driver when that'd buy you a whole lot of bangernomics luxobarges. Then there's spare parts availability. Sort of makes sense if it's going to a museum.
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Probably going in someone's collection.
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>> Probably going in someone's collection.
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Very likely, this sort of purchase is a real choice
keep it unused it might gain in value, it's nice to look at
Use it and within a year it's worth buttons t's just another old car, albeit in quite good condition.
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>>Use it and within a year it's worth buttons t's just another old car, albeit in quite good condition.
Indeed. Many years ago when I was into MGs a company in Richmond was selling brand new ones. Essentially they had bought sufficient stuff from the factory some years before that they could assemble a number of new cars.
It was touch and go as to whether I could have afforded one anyway, but it was then pointed out to me that if I ever used the thing then it would go from a significantly valuable, collectible and desirable new MG to just another secondhand MG in about a month - albeit a low mileage, good condition one..
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Apparently it's got fewer miles on the clock than the first Production 75 which is held at Gaydon motor museum.
www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=2360726&postcount=16
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"MG to end UK car production ... - No FM2R
