Longbridge’s only female factory worker, Lisa Ponter, drove the first MG off the line yesterday amid the requisite dry ice clouds.
The first MG 6 car rolled off the production line on Wednesday at MG Motor’s Longbridge factory in the United Kingdom. The MG 6 is the first all-new MG to be assembled at the site in 16 years. The MG 6 is produced from parts made in Shanghai, China. MG was Britain’s most popular sports car brand with a storied history that goes back to 1924, and successive failed ownerships as the British auto industry declined that saw MG – named for Morris Garage – ultimately enter into bankruptcy in 2005 as 6000 workers lost their jobs.
The new four-door hatchback, priced from £15,495 – £18,995, is a far cry from the two-seat TC, TD and TF models that were loved – and bought – by repatriated U.S. soldiers in the post WW2 years.
The assets of what was then MG Rover were bought by Chinese automaker Nanjing Automobile in July 2005, and Nanjing itself was bought by SAIC in December 2007.
The MG6 is a derivative of the Roewe 55 (derived from the Rover 75 underway when MG went bankrupt), which has been in production in Shanghai for three years.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
