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Consortium leader Dave Richards is quashing speculation that luxury sports car maker Aston Martin is for sale. “The company is not for sale,” Richards insisted during the Nurburgring 24-hour race last weekend, where Aston’s N24 Vantages finished 1-2-3 in their class.

“This speculation is only there because we are talking to people all the time about engines,” Richards said. “But we are always talking to people, and it doesn’t mean we’re for sale.”

Richard led a partnership that included two Middle East investment firms to take over Aston Martin from Ford Motor Co. last year. Since then rumors have circulated that the Prodrive boss and his investors would be happy to turn a quick dollar. But Richards’ denial is his most emphatic statement yet about Aston’s long-term future.

The company’s future engine supply is less certain, though. Aston’s V8s are built near Cologne, Germany, in an Aston-branded engine factory nestled inside a Ford compound.

While there are whispers that future Astons could be powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, Richards did not clarify the situation. “We are guaranteed engine supply by Ford until 2012 and we are talking to Mercedes, but then we are talking to Ford and we talk to everybody,” Richards said.

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In China the Chinese MGTF is to make its worldwide debut in just over a week – 6,000 miles away from Longbridge. Longbridge owners Nanjing today opened their doors to the British press to reveal that the two-seater MGTF would finally roll off the Nanjing production lines from May 20 onwards.

The Chinese launch of the sports car paves the way for the long-delayed introduction of the two-seater in the UK in early August.

Saic-Nanjing’s confirmation of the production launch came in response to the No More Chinese Whispers campaign by the Birmingham Mail, calling on the Chinese to come clean over their intentions for Longbridge.
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A new car from a British motoring legend will be available to car loans customers later this year, it has been announced. According to consumer watchdog Which?, MG will relaunch itself under its new Chinese owner in September with a sporty new car that the company is calling the TF LE500.

It is reported that the vehicle will be produced at the company’s Birmingham plant Longbridge and according to MG’s director of sales and marketing, Gary Hagen, will be reminiscent of the firm’s past glories.

“The open top sports car is an iconic image of British motoring and forms the basis of the MG marque’s long pedigree,” he said, adding that the TF LE500 would be “at the heart of the brand as we take it forward”.

Last month the Times reported that Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the group now behind MG Rover, had unveiled its first model since it acquired the legendary badge.

The newspaper stated that the company displayed its mid-sized Roewe 550 at the Beijing motor show today.

Source: Netcars

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Yes, another famous name in the manufacture of British cars has been sold – although this time on a much smaller scale. Model railway maker Hornby is continuing its expansion in the hobby market by buying up toy-car firm Corgi.

Hornby, which originally made its name with model railways, paid £7.5 million for the model car firm, which though originally a British brand was owned by a US company.

“We are pulling together the hobby elements of the British toy industry,” Hornby chief executive Frank Martin told the Guardian.

The firm also owns Scalextric, a brand that has been making a come back with Formula 1 and film tie-ins. It has also bought plastic model firm Airfix and Humbrol paints.

Martin hopes to use the formula that has worked for Scalextric for the Corgi models, hoping that not only will film-tie ins make the toys more appealing to a current generation of children, but also add value to them as collectors items.

He noted the importance of collectors to the industry.

“Toys are an enormous business these days,” he said. “There are thousands and thousands of collectors but people have also locked onto the fact that they can buy a £100 toy as a great investment. Its better than money in the bank at the moment. There are a number of people I know of who have invested tens of thousands of pounds on a portfolio of toys.”

Rapid Electronics are a leading UK supplier of electronic components, electrical products, home computing and office equipment to the Consumer Electronics sector.

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