MG TF Coupe will be built in Ooooooklahoma
It's where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain. It's where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye. And now it's where the first Chinese owned auto factory will be opened in the United States. Ooooooklahoma!
Today Nanjing Automobile Group will announce that the company will build the MG TF Coupe at a factory in Ardmore, Oklahoma by 2008 and locate its American and European headquarters 90 miles north in Oklahoma City. The new plant will create 500 new jobs for the area. The MG TF Roadster, meanwhile, will be assembled at MG's plant in Longbridge, England.
This will make Nanjing the first Chinese automaker to truly enter the U.S. market, though the fact it will be offering a revered nameplate sets it apart from other Chinese automakers intent on arriving in the U.S., like Geely and Chery, both of which plan to offer freshmen marques.
(Thanks Speed42 and Peter for the tip!)
[Source and photo: New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bob-o 1:46AM (7/12/2006)
What an odd location. I'm sure they've done all the appropriate cost analyses, but building a car that's not even going to be sold in the US, and then having to ship it (without being anywhere near a major port) makes Oklahoma seem like an odd decision.
But hey. Let the foreign takeover of the US commence!
By 2015, the United States is going to be controlled almost entirely by foreign interests. We might as well rename the country to the United Nations. :)
Reply
LOL 2:06AM (7/12/2006)
This is probably the strangest twist of automotive news in a long long time. I won't believe it untill i see it. And the why the TF? This car will be at least 10 years old by 08.
Reply
green tea fan 2:11AM (7/12/2006)
Nanjing Automobile's website www.nanqi.com.cn,a little poor stuff.i am some worry about Nanjing Automobile,althou they said they make big money on this purchase,contra i think Chery'way is more right.
Reply
Mark 2:46AM (7/12/2006)
Bob-o, the new car will be offered in the US. Chinese automakers might not be the brightest, but they aren't that dumb.
Reply
brownopher 3:27AM (7/12/2006)
[Homer voice] Woooo hooo!
We need the jobs around here. Tulsa needs them more though.
Reply
JackOfShadows 7:48AM (7/12/2006)
More Communist products in America. Barry Goldwater must be spinning in his grave.
Reply
Galley 7:56AM (7/12/2006)
Since when is MG owned by the Chinese?
Reply
Howard Kerr 8:08AM (7/12/2006)
First Nissan moves to Tennessee, now MG moves to Oklahoma. What is the automotive world coming to? Can we expect to see Rolls Royce move to Arkansas? seriously, it looks like Oklahoma City was chosen for it's lack of auto unions but even move importantly, it's a "crossroads" for several major interstate hiways linking Canada and Mexico and means that parts for the MGs could be produced outside the U.S. and/or China.
As i said in an earlier post, and to agree with LOL, these folks better have some sreious re-engineering in mind for this (now ancient) car design.
Reply
Rob Lowe 8:47AM (7/12/2006)
An English car, owned by a Chinese company and built in America. If this is not the worst most unreliable vehicle ever produced I'll be suprised.
Reply
chriseh 8:55AM (7/12/2006)
So they're going to build a Chinese Yugo with a famous nameplate? ...I'm sure they can sell at least two of them.
Reply
JayP 9:03AM (7/12/2006)
Rolls Royce has already been built in the US. In Springfield, Mass.
Ardmore is 90 miles SOUTH of Oklahoma City, halfway to DFW.
I think this is hillarious. Finally, a company has some guts and out Bricklins Bricklin!
I've waited long enough... I'll take one. Can't be any worse than the '80 'B I've survived with.
Reply
jamie 11:01AM (7/12/2006)
Blah!
Looks horrible. Nothing like the MG's of days gone by.
I do applaud their initiative of building MG's in Longbridge UK, Ardmore OK and even in China. That does appear to be an ambitious undertaking in itself. Good economics if they can make it work.
No doubt Nanjing will score a number of 'retirees' from the shuttered GM plant in OK City nearby. That will save a lot on training expenses.
Wonder if Nanjing will do an SUV (or CUV) to compete with Porsche real soon? Nah, I'm only dreaming.
Reply
Glenn A. 11:31AM (7/12/2006)
When MG still was somewhat solvent, I wrote to the company via email and said - hey, you guys sell ZT (mid-sized 2.5 liter V6) sports sedans in Mexico, why not the states? The engine was used in the US by Land Rover in their smallest offering, and was built for Ford owned Land Rover by a company wholly owned by MG-Rover in the UK (since at one time, MG-Rover and Land Rover had been one company, of course).
I think from the response that I got, they were hopeful of selling cars in the US - but as events panned out, it was totally obvious that they didn't have two "hapneys" (half-pennies) to rub together - hence, they sold the land out from under their own Longbridge plant and leased the land back, etc!
OK you nit-pickers can now yell at me that the UK no longer has "hapneys". Their smallest currency is now the 1 pence piece (1/100th of a Pound Sterling) instead of the 1/2 pence piece (1/200th of a Pound).
Reply
Matt B. 11:45AM (7/12/2006)
Many of you wonder at why Oklahoma, much less a small town in Oklahoma, would be attractive to manufacturing. Simply put--it's cheap! Land and labor both. The cost of living is one the best in the US. It baffles me more businesses don't go there.
Also, I think this MG might be the platform bought from the Qvale/DeTomaso Mangusta.
Reply
Micah 11:57AM (7/12/2006)
JayP points out a major fact of Ardmore's location. However I'd disagree that Tulsa needs the jobs more. I'm originally from the Ardmore area and the cost of living is super cheap. I'm talking a 2000sq ft house on 2 acres for $100k. Plus the tire maker "Uniroyal" has a huge plant there.
I was surprised to see that no one called us hill billies and didn't ask if we still rode horses. We don't of course...unless gas prices keep going up.
Reply
Triese 12:09PM (7/12/2006)
Let me start off by saying that I am originally from Ardmore. Surprisingly enough, its actually not a bad location. As a poster said in an early post, it is halfway between OKC and DFW. Its not that far from Houston and it is pretty much the midpoint between the coasts. Also, expenses will be much lower than I large urban city. Another advantage is they are going to be located next to a large air park that can accomodate large cargo aircraft and there is a major railway that passes through said air park. They are right next to a major interstate, and just down the road there is a large BF Goodrich tire plant. All in all, it may be very beneficial to their cost to manufacture there.
Reply
lalaland 12:34PM (7/12/2006)
The reason MG didn't sell in the US is that the car had no prayer of meeting US crash and emissions standards. Not surprisingly, that is what is holding up the other Chinese brands from entering this market. Also, building a coupe and convertible from one plant? Those vehicles, at peak, do maybe 20,000 units a year each (for coupe and convertible) in the US market, before market fickleness drives demand into the toilet. Even if you double that amount to take into account Europe and Rest Of World demand, I've never heard of a mass-production auto plant making a return on investment building 80,000 cars a year. I'll believe an American MG when I see it.
Reply
SWWJ 12:48PM (7/12/2006)
Geographically, speaking, in looking at the map of the US on my wall, building cars in Oklahoma seems to make as much sense as building cars in AL, GA, SC or TN, since those plants are already having to ship vehicles cross-country to get them to the West Coast. Oklahoma's just as close to the mid-western population centers and Galveston isn't that far, which would probably be the means by which vehicles are shipped to the Northeast. Also, assuming tax breaks from the state for building the plant, lower wage costs and cost of living in that part of OK would probably make it a decent place to do business.
Reply
VW_MTL 2:20PM (7/12/2006)
I've just heard on the EuroNews Satellite network a news report confirming this. They also mention it will be a "new" version of the TF
Reply
Peter 2:32PM (7/12/2006)
lalaland- Only the coupe will be built in the US. The convertable will be built at the Longbridge factory in the UK.
Reply