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According to Nanjing Automobile, it bought the rights to the MG trademarks and logos when it bought the assets of the firm from administrators.

It told High Court judge Sir William Blackburne that MG Sports and Racing Europe, based in Tenbury Wells, was using the famous octagonal logo and name on its MG X POWER supercar. Nanjing is now seeking an order to stop the company.

Iain Purvis QC, who is representing the company, told the judge that Nanjing “have made great strides” in reviving the MG brand in the UK, with the Longbridge plant manufacturing again and a major new car launch planned for next year.

He added that the British company admitted this was likely to cause confusion but claimed they are entitled to use the mark because they had bought the rights to it from liquidators of the MG Rover Group in 2007.

Around a fifth of the workforce at the MG plant in Birmingham could lose their jobs, the car manufacturer has said. MG Motor UK Ltd said 30 employees were at risk of redundancy following a review and restructure of business operations at the Longbridge site.

The company, previously Nanjing, said it could not make assurances of long-term employment stability for staff due to the current economic climate. Production of the MGTF sports car restarted at the factory last year.

A statement from MG Motor UK said: “The unique trading conditions we are currently operating in make any assurances of long-term employment stability difficult to predict. Following a review and restructure of its business operations the company has abided by the statutory consultation process and placed a number of employees ‘at risk’ of redundancy.

“MG UK has always maintained that its workforce would be preserved in line with the ongoing needs of the business and sustainability has and will continue to be a priority as the economy experiences unique trading conditions.”

The company added that by taking early action it hoped further redundancies could be avoided. Nanjing bought MG Rover’s assets following the collapse of the company nearly four years ago. The Chinese firm recently re-branded itself as MG Motor UK Ltd.

The second phase of the MG facility, located in Pukou, Nanjing, has started construction after Chinese auto giant SAIC invested 2.566 billion yuan ($376.24 million), Beijing Youth said today.

Construction of the facility, which is to develop an all-new A-class car platform and the matched small engines, will be completed in 2009, according to Gao Yunhang, assistant general manager of MG sales company. When its construction is completed, the project will get an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and 250,000 engines, said Gao.

The small engines are all turbocharged engines ranging from 1.3L to 1.5L, Gao said.

The A-class car platform will build both MG5 and Roewe 350 models and will also develop MPV, hatchback and sedan models later, a source said. The MG6 is actually the hatchback model of Roewe 550, not just a common hatchback, the source disclosed.

MG, which went on sale in last August, couldn’t enlarge its market share by an MT edition as 90% middle- and high-class car market is occupied by AT models.

Data show that MG posted a good sales growth after the MG7 is mated with an AT/MT co-developed with Japanese manufacturer of automatic transmissions, AISIN Co. Nanjing Auto’s MG sales in October increased by 22% year on year. The MG3-series MT editions posted significantly better sales than the AT editions, taking 60% of the total sales.

The Birmingham Mail reports that the new MGTF is selling quickly. MG enthusiasts keen to get their hands on one of the limited edition MGTF models will have to move fast – as the last few are now coming off the Longbridge production line.

The first 500 MGTF models made at Longbridge have been the special LE500 versions and Chinese owned MG UK is now getting ready to make the more regular, cheaper version of the car in the New Year.

To date 400 of the 500 have been sold and there are some still some available through dealers, although a lot of those are demonstrators.

Eleanor De La Haye, MG UK’s corporate communications manager, said the reduction in VAT had given a last minute boost to the sale of the last few LE500s. “Sales have gone well and the VAT reduction has given a welcome boost to inspire people to buy,” she said.

“But anyone who wants one of the limited edition models really will have to move quickly.” She said sales of the two-seater sports car had not been affected by they credit crunch as dramatically as more mainstream vehicles.

“People don’t buy this car because they need one. They buy it because they want one and these people usually have money in the bank to spend despite the current financial climate.”

The 1.8-litre, 135 bhp LE500 is priced at £16,399 while the more basic model which goes into production next year is likely to be priced below £14,000. That’s £1,000 less than the original predicted price for the car.

For that buyers will get the same handling, power and performance as the LE500 but will get less of the frills like the hard top, wind deflector and air conditioning.

Ms De La Haye would not confirm the 2009 price but said it would be lower than expected when announced in the New Year. “MG has always been the affordable sports car and we bear that in mind when setting the price,” she said.

A new MG saloon has been launched, the first all-new product to wear the famous octagonal badge since MG Rover collapsed into administration in 2005. But for now, the MG 550 has only been introduced in the Chilean market.

Behind the MG badge this is a Roewe 550, a car developed by Shanghai Automotive and based on a heavily modified Rover 75 platform. It has an all-new interior and is powered by an updated version of the familiar Rover K-series engine in 1.8-litre turbo form.

The MG branding has come about as a result of last year’s merger between SAIC and fellow Chinese manufacturer Nanjing, which acquired rights to the MG brand. One of the reasons Chinese authorities encouraged the two car makers to join up was because SAIC lacked a globally recognised brand for exports – something confirmed by the less-than-subtle application of MG logos to the 550.

It’s likely that both the MG 550 and the 75-based MG 750 will be introduced to the European market, and may even be produced at Longbridge. The MG550 costs from 10.5 million Chilean Pesos – £9760 at current exchange rates.

London Taxis are as British as bowler hats and Big Ben. But the latest models coming off a new assembly line in China are unlikely to ever touch an English road. At a sprawling factory in the lush green suburbs of Shanghai, young Chinese workers are gearing up for full-scale production of one of Britain’s most iconic vehicles. It’s part of an alliance that awants to give the distinctive black cab a greater presence outside its namesake city.

London Taxi International, which will continue to build nine out of 10 cabs used in Britain at a factory in Coventry, England, couldn’t increase production at its small-scale, high-cost plant. So it turned to a partner — and to China — as a way to drive overseas expansion.

“To say the writing was on the wall would be pushing it a bit too far. But you do need to make progress within the automotive industry,” said Paul Stowe, a British auto executive who is overseeing the joint venture between Britain’s Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC, owner of London Taxi International, and Geely Group Holdings, one of China’s largest independent automakers.
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