JustBritish

For the average car connoisseur, the only thing that will be familiar in this picture will be the grille design, and even that shouldn’t be familiar if you’re not at least 20, because the MG brand is…. well, let’s say a bit under-marketed.

The MG SV-R was supposed to be a sort of halo car to fill the bedroom walls of kids and empty the pockets of the gentlemen wanting a bit of ‘ugly but brutish’ in their driveway. With the chassis from another car you’ve never heard of, the Qvale Mangusta, and the 4.6-liter and 5-liter V8 engines from a Ford Mustang, this cocktail of all world was good for either 320 hp or 385 hp.

With strange looks and lack-luster performance figures, it’s no wonder that only 82 were ever sold, of which 42 were the SV-R version with 385 hp, like the one in the picture. However, that doesn’t mean that this particular one, which will go under the hammer early next month, isn’t worth your time.

Expected to fetch somewhere in the region of $55,000 (about €44,000), this example is a left-hand drive model that should make some lucky owner happy if he decided to buy it at the upcoming Silverstone Auctions on November 4, 2011.

It’s got lots of quills on the side, a badge few people will know outside Britain and track car looks, so there’s plenty of reasons to like it.

MG has exclusively revealed to Car Dealer Magazine the 10 most important towns and cities it wants to find new dealers for.

The UK car manufacturer, which was relaunched in 2008 with the backing of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, wants to establish showrooms in the following eight locations in England: Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Northampton, Swindon and South London.

The firm, which has recently launched a new range of models that have been designed and engineered at its 69-acre site in Longbridge, Birmingham, also wants to establish outlets in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

MG’s list of potential dealership locations also includes more than 20 medium-priority locations, including Brighton, Exeter and Guildford in the south of England, and Blackpool, Burnley and Carlisle further north.

And at the bottom of the list are six low-priority spots, including in England, Barnstaple; in Wales, Swansea; and in Scotland, Inverness.

MG recently opened a new sales centre onsite at the famous ‘Elephant House’ at Longbridge. Customers are able to test-drive vehicles from the new MG6 range there and can also buy vehicle from the home of MG.

China Knowledge reported that SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, China’s number one car maker and owner of the MG Motors brand, saw its net profit for the third quarter of this year increase 27%YoY from CNY 3.71 billion to CNY 4.72 billion.

In a statement, the Shanghai-listed firm said its revenue reached CNY 97.41 billion up by 19.4%YoY from CNY 81.61 billion. Earnings per share were CNY 0.51. In the first three quarters of 2011, the vehicle maker reaped CNY 13.29 billion in net profit reflecting increase of 38.69%YoY and its revenue grew 22.71%YoY to CNY 281.28 billion.

Total vehicle sales for the nine-month period increased 11.77%YoY to 2.98 million units including 722,000 units sold in the third quarter of 2011 up by 6.1%QoQ.

Of the total sales, 65,000 units were SAIC Motor self-branded models, which comprise the MG and the Roewe reflecting a YoY jump of 186%.

MG Motor UK Ltd has selected GMAC UK plc, a subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc., to be its preferred retail financing provider in the UK for manufacturer programmes and standard rate finance. GMAC UK will provide financing to MG customers under the MG Financial Services brand.

Guy Jones, sales and marketing director of MG Motor UK, said: “GMAC is a trusted financing source in the industry. As a company with extensive experience, resources and capabilities in the UK market, GMAC will support our brand and help us grow our business. This important development allows us to offer a competitive range of retail finance products for the new MG6 GT, Magnette and following models.”

“We are extremely pleased to enter this new retail relationship with MG in the UK,” commented Ed Paulat, GMAC UK managing director.  “We look forward to working with MG and supporting its dealers to maximise vehicle sales with competitive financing.”

GMAC and MG have entered into a multi-year agreement to finance new and used vehicle sales for customers through MG dealers.

GMAC is also the preferred financier for Vauxhall, Chevrolet and Saab dealers and their customers in the UK. This new relationship with MG represents another step in GMAC expanding its customer base and further leverages GMAC UK’s core competency in auto financing.

Exciting new material about the filming of ‘The Persuaders’ TV series has been uncovered in the Archives of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (based at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, near Warwick) during a major re-cataloguing project.

‘The Persuaders’ celebrates its 40th Anniversary having debuted on British TV in September 1971. The stars of the show were Sir Roger Moore and the late Tony Curtis, who drove an Aston Martin DBS and a Ferrari Dino 246 GT respectively. Sir Roger Moore was re-united with the actual Aston Martin DBS used at a recent event, to commemorate the anniversary and the release of the series on Blu-ray DVD.

Photographs, film production records and correspondence relating to this classic Seventies TV series have come to light in the personal collection of the late Roger Stowers. Roger Stowers worked at Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1966 until 2000 and was for many years the company’s historian. The Archive team at the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust are beginning to catalogue and conserve this significant collection.

Read more at the BMIHT site.

The first Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) MG 350 family sedans will arrive in Israel in early 2012. These cars are expected to significantly change the Israeli automotive market in terms of the unprecedented dimensions/accessories/price ratio.

The new car, which is produced partly in Europe and partly in China, is 4.52 meters long, 1.79 meters wide, and has a wheelbase of 2.64 meters. The SAIC car will come equipped with a 1.5-liter, gas-powered, 110 horsepower engine, with a Japanese-made automatic gearbox. The car will have high standard accessories, including electronically controlled seats, leather upholstery, and a premium stereo system.

The final price has not yet been determined, but the initial target price will be about NIS 110,000, which is the average price for the category of smaller cars, such as Mazda 2.

SAIC importer, David Lubinski Ltd., estimates that the accessory/price ratio will greatly help him enter the leasing market, because of the relatively low cost to the user, which is a percentage of the car’s price.

Lubinski is a private leasing company. In contrast to the original SAIC cars that have been marketed in Israel until now (only 300 have been imported since the car did not have full approval), the new Chinese sedan will be imported with all the proper authorizations. Full European standardization has recently been received, including Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA), which will enable SAIC to receive Israeli import approval. Israel will be one of the first countries to market the new SAIC car.