JustBritish

The last car to be manufactured at Longbridge may have already rolled off the production line, industry insiders fear.

They said the decision by main supplier Stadco to stop manufacturing body-shells for the MG TF sports car, as The Birmingham Post revealed on Saturday, could effectively sound the “death knell” for the Nanjing project.

One influential source said he doubted whether Nanjing parent SAIC would ever produce cars from Longbridge.
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Ever since MG Rover went bust in 2005 and was bought by Nanjing Automotive, rumors have flown about when the automaker’s Longbridge factory would resume production of its iconic roadster and other models. Well after a long wait, to the delight of enthusiasts MGs are once again available in the UK…just not ones made by the Chinese parent company.

A new endeavor launched by Englishman William Riley called MG Sports and Racing Europe has begun selling a supercharged coupe called the MG X-Power WR. Based on the old company’s most expensive model, the new sports car is built in Eardiston, UK, and priced between approximately $150,000 and $175,000, with seven models sold so far and 35 additional orders in the pipeline.

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With the launch of the XF sedan and the deletion of the S-Type and X-Type from its U.S. lineup, Jaguar now offers cars in America powered only by V8 engines.

The XF’s hard points come from the S-Type, which it replaces. But Jaguar is using the V8 engines, suspension, subframes, six-speed transmission, propeller shaft and differential from the upmarket XJ sedan and XK sports car.

Despite all the parts scrounging, the XF has little in common with the rest of the Jaguar lineup or its predecessor. This could be the car that carries Jaguar into the modern age and out of the wood-and-leather ghetto.

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According to MotorTrend, the economic slowdown is actually going to be a benefit for the British car industry.

Cardiff Business School car industry guru Professor Garel Rhys is predicting that the falling value of Sterling will make British built cars easier to export, despite the gloomy economic outlook.

He said that some 76 per cent of UK car production was for export, and Sterling’s value fall would make these vehicles more profitable, helping to justify inward investment in the UK car industry, notably from emerging economies such as China.

The latest UK vehicle investor is Indian industrial combine Tata, which has recently bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford. Other investors include the Russian backers of the LDV van making business.

He added that the currency value shifts would cut the profitability of imported cars, which currently account for 86 per cent of British sales, and this would make locally sourced vehicles more competitive ‘at the margins.’

Professor Rhys’s comments contrast with his recent warning that UK car retailers faced the toughest economic conditions since the early 1990s.

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