Autoblog

There's a new MG TF on its way to replace the current TF, which is once again rolling out the doors at its Longbridge, UK ancestral home. The new TF will be available as a roadster, natch, and as a coupe, and based on the Roewe 550. AutoExpress has worked up some renderings based on insider information about the new rear-drive MG, and the car amounts to a smorgasbord of cues from a variety of unfortunately styled vehicles. There's a lot of X80 concept, a dash of the crosseyed Qvale Mangusta, and a peppering or two of the MG SV, too. The end result looks like something Noddy assembled in a candlelit workshop, but then again, so does the existing MG TF.

The underlying platform for the new TF is one of the last vestiges of MG Rover, and would have been used for the MG ZS/Rover 45 replacement. Ricardo also played a role in the development of the chassis, which will have a turbocharged 1.8-liter four and a 2.5-liter V6 as power options. Still, more coupes in the MX5's sandbox can't be a bad thing, so we wish the new MG TF well, and hope that it comes to the United States for a proper taunting.

[Source: Auto Express]

The Swedish design firm Paulin has released images of a new concept that, although only existing in the virtual world, might spell the future of car design in the next five years.

Paulin has worked with Hyundai, Kia, MG Rover and Tata in the past, and seems to put a lot of stake in its swooping designs that the firm expects to set the standard for exterior shaping in next generation automobiles.

It's easy to be impressed by the aggressive lines, we've seen more revolutionary designs at auto shows in the past decade – and we're not convinced that Lambo-doors are going prime-time anytime soon.

[Source: Edmunds]

The iconic British auto brand TVR will almost certainly not be making any more vehicles in the U.K. Instead, as the Independent reports, future models will most likely be built in Asia. Why? Because, Nikolai Smolensky, known as the "Baby oligarch," split off an administration arm from the company late last year. Just last Friday, that arm put the TVR name and some of it's tooling up for sale. Interested parties, apparently, include low-cost
Asian companies.

This is something that has been happening to many storied motorcycle brands as of late, including Benelli, and some fabled car marques as well, such as MG. Will we be seeing any new models from TVR, and if we do, will they be Asian, Russian or British? Got us... wait and see right?

[Source: the Independent]

Ford informed BMW today that it would be exercising its right to buy the Rover name from the German automaker and also announced that it will not be putting it up for sale. The Detroit automaker purchased Land Rover from BMW in 2000 and has since had the option to buy the Rover name or at least first refusal rights if BMW tried to sell the name to a third party. Well, that's exactly what BMW tried to do and had reportedly arranged a deal already with Chinese automaker Shanghai Automotive Corp. (SAIC) for the Rover name. From the rubble of the MG Rover collapse, SAIC emerged with the design rights for a pair of Rover models, the Rover 25 and 75. Looks like they won't be calling them Rovers anymore.

Why would Ford go out and spend more money when its North American operations are operating in the red? It looks to us like Ford is planning to sit on the Rover for a while. Clearly the automaker doesn't want the brand prestige of the Land Rover threatened by Chinese-built cars bearing the Rover name, and was left the choice of either buying the name now or allowing SAIC to scoop it up. Whether Ford will do anything with the Rover name in the future remains to be seen, but for now it will likely be put in a drawer and forgot about. However, with SAIC having invested millions of dollars in its quest to revive the Rover brand, Ford now has the Chinese automaker over a barrel. Though it claims it won't, Ford could end up selling the name to SAIC and turning a tidy profit.

[Source: Reuters]

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• BMW Shainghai Automotive talks still in progress for Rover name
• Chinese automaker drops soem coin for Rover badge
• Rover brand to live on

Nanjing Automobile Corp. will celebrate its 60th birthday on March 27, 2007, and the star of the party will be a shiny new MG. Deputy chairman Lu Zhenxin announced Wednesday that Nanjing's first MG will roll off the line on the company's birthday.

The company's new factory in Nanjing is under construction, and when completed will be able to pump out 200,000 MG cars and 250,000 engines a year. Some vehicles will be sent on to the former MG Rover plant in the U.K. for final assembly, and the first MG TF roadster could drive out of the U.K. plant as early as April 8, 2007, two years to the day after the plant ceased production.

U.S. production at the company's planned Oklahoma facility is scheduled for 2008.

[Source: Reuters]

The UK's Financial Times is reporting that BMW has agreed to sell the Rover name to an eager Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), new owner of the design rights to many of the vehicles owned by MG Rover before the company dissolved due to huge debts. FT reports that the German luxury automaker will complete a deal wtih SAIC in September in which BMW will hand over the rights to the Rover name for about $1.9 million, citing sources close to the deal. BMW, however, responded to the report today, indicating that talks are still in progress and no deals have been struck.

Nanjing Auto, the Chinese automotive company who bought MG Rover from BMW, was also talking to BMW about the Rover name. Ford Motor Company reportedly has right of first refusal to the Rover name, but is not expected to buy it.

[Source: Reuters]

The collapse of MG Rover was an expensive affair for the British government and its people. A report published by the country's Public Accounts Committee says that the decline of MG Rover between 2000 and 2004 cost tax payers around £270 million. A £500 million pension deficit will also likely be met by the country's Pension Protection Fund, and the defunct company still owes £109 million to creditors, which they likely won't be getting.

The real kick in the head is a small loan of £6.5 million that was given to MG Rover by the UK's Department for Trade and Industry in a move to stave off bankruptcy. The automaker shut down a week later and that loan will now have to be written off.

Not all is lost, however, as 4,000 out of 6,000 employees of the company have found new jobs, and the new Nanjing-backed MG will be operating a plant in Longbridge, England, as well.

[Source: WhatCar?]

Project Kimber, the U.K. group that purchased the manufacturing rights to the Smart Roadster, announced this week that it will locate its production facility in Wales. After relocating the Roadster's production line from the Smart factory to Kimber's as yet unnamed site in Wales, the group plan to begin production by mid-2007.

Project Kimber was one of the original candidates to buy the assets of MG Rover, but lost the bidding war to Nanjing Automotive. 4Car reports that the group had hoped to brand the diminutive runabout as a reborn MG Midget, but is now considering licensing the Triumph name. (So, would that make it a TR9?)

[Source: 4Car]

Say what you will about Nanjing Automobile Group's ability to revive the MG brand after picking up MG Rover's assets following the British firm's 2005 implosion, but you have to admit they have they have a firm grasp of the art of leaking information to the press. Following on the heels of last week's leak/rumor/announcement that Nanjing will resume production of MGs at the dormant Longbridge plant in the U.K. comes today's word that the company plans to sell MGs in the U.S., and may even manufacture them in North America.

The MG brand disappeared from dealerships on the left side of the pond in 1980, but you can check out the MG model range, circa 2005, at the MG Rover website. The model rumored to head up the brand's relaunch is the MG TF (above).

A formal announcement of the company's plans is slated for July 17 at the British Motor Show.

[Source: AutoWeek]

The Chinese owners of defunct British carmaker MG Rover have confirmed that car production will resume at the former MG Rover factory in Longbridge. Nanjing Automotive will build cars in China and the U.K., with Autocar suggesting that the MG TF Roadster (right) is the most likely vehicle to come out of the Longbridge plant.

A formal press conference is scheduled for the British Motor Show later in July.

[Source: Autocar]

Related links:
Rover vs. Rover in Chinese cage match!
Britain coughing up £660,000 to Nanjing to help restart MG-Rover factory
Nanjing Auto signs long-term lease for MG-Rover plant