MG is back, all the way from China

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wayne472, Sep 27, 6:01pm
The Chinese MG6 kicks off with with the 1.8-litre turbo petrol engine and transmission (manual, five-speed) in hatch and sedan, but reinforcements are coming. A 1.9-litre diesel is a month away and a sorely needed auto - actually, an automated manual six-speed - will land next year. By 2014, the family will have grown to include an MG5 hatchback and MG3 city car.
The worst of British now being made in China!
http://www.drivesouth.co.nz/news/reviews/mg/90765/mg-is-back-all-the-way-from-china
attitudedesignz, Sep 27, 6:03pm
So the build quality will be better at least.
pebbles61, Sep 27, 6:16pm
"sorely needed auto"

Why would you want an auto MG!

Not that it's really an MG anymore.
eagles9999, Sep 27, 6:18pm
pebbles61 wrote:
"sorely needed auto"

Why would you want an auto MG!
quote]

You have my agreement on that.
franc123, Sep 27, 6:35pm
Looks like the next big flop, styling isn't distinctive enough and you can bet the chassis engineering will be rubbish. And who the hell is going to be brave enough to want a chinese copy of a Rover K series under their bonnet! It all adds up to a highly undesirable combo.
morrisjvan, Sep 27, 6:36pm
Hmmm ,4 doors and fwd everything a real MG isn't!
pebbles61, Sep 27, 6:45pm
Just like the 1100 and Metro! lol
mgmad, Sep 27, 6:47pm
Wanna bet! Chassis engineering (and all the engineering) was done by the original team at Longbridge, and from every review I've found the car handles excellently.

There have always been MG saloons, and plenty of FWD ones as well.

EVERY new MG model since the TA in 1936 has been labelled as "not a proper MG" by some.
pebbles61, Sep 27, 6:51pm
So in otherwords they've made a MG landcrab!

And agreed also, nearly all MGs are called 'not real MGs' by someone else!
franc123, Sep 27, 7:04pm
So does this mean you are going to buy one!I can only see it appealing to poms with a warped sense of patriotism who will gloss over the fact its no longer domestically produced.I'd predict everyone else will give it a wide berth.
mgmad, Sep 27, 7:15pm
You base this on having driven the car, or at least seen one or done a bit of research to ascertain how good, or otherwise, the car is, I presume!

I won't buy a new one (much like I won't buy any new car purely because I'm not a fan of depreciation) but I will seriously consider buying one in two or three years (particularly if the rumoured 200+ hp variant materialises).

Going by the prospective pricing I think they have the potential to find a pretty good market here, depending on how they're marketed.
pebbles61, Sep 27, 7:16pm
That'd be me, I have owned a BGT in the past, but won't be going near this new car. Nothing special about it, take the badges off and it'll just blend in with every other boring modern car.
mgmad, Sep 27, 7:28pm
Which, unfortunately, is necessary. I'd have much preferred to see a new MG sports car but unfortunately that just doesn't make sense - get the volumes up with family cars that appeal to a far wider audience and then hopefully we will see a new sports car.
socram, Sep 27, 7:28pm
And therein lies the problem with just about every modern car.
Hark back to the 1959 British Motorshow (OK, before most of you were born).New for the show was the Ford Anglia, Triumph Herald and the MIni. Regardless of build or design quality 50 years ago, at least every manufacturer produced cars with their own character.
Nowadays, very few mass produced saloons have character.
yellowsubmarine, Sep 27, 7:56pm
i thought they were still using the remains of the longbridge plant to assemble cars (ckd)
maddog007, Sep 27, 8:10pm
ive driven the new mg's plenty, they are quite stylish compared to hondas & toyotas, & the chassis is good, handling quite good for segment, engine isnt that good, not very grunty for a turbo 4, gearbox isnt too bad, but clutchis annoying, its long travel make it way to easy to stall. Auto will be better to drive, but will rob a lot of power.

But over all its a ok car, very good ride & good spec & if priced right will sell. the build quality is not all that bad, about on par with kia about 4 years ago.
franc123, Sep 27, 10:09pm
More like its completely unneccessary, MG has always been a niche market product, its been proven before that attaching MG badges to mainstream BMC/BL product didn't really make them appeal to a wider audience, and certainly didn't boost sales volumes to any meaningful degree. A sports car should have come first, apply styling cues from the MGB and get THAT into the marketplace. This new venture might then have a chance of levering the clientele they should be targeting out of their MX5's.Someone who was seeking a midsize car with a bit of a sporting flavour wouldn't look twice at that thing, its as invisible as the Montego was in the 1980's.And a five speed manual gearbox in a brand new model, wow, didn't the Austin Maxi have one of those in about 1969! It's a joke.
socram, Sep 28, 6:26am
Good post, other than doing a sports car first would never create volume = $.I have no idea what proportion of Mazda's total output is the MX5, but I imagine it to be tiny.
MG was initially about slightly warmed existing models (Morris) and the sports car side came a bit later as they also made sporting saloons right through to the late 1950's.The 1959 ZB Magnette was probably the last genuine MG saloon as it was unique to MG.
Under BMC/BL, they reverted to the badge engineered saloons plus the MGA/MGB.The MG Metro and Montego were warmed over Austins but the turbo versions were unique to MG and although never sold in high numbers, have a certain appeal.
I remember well a car salesman telling me that people were never attracted to the MG Montego, but if they could be persuaded to actually try one, more often that not, they gave it serious consideration.
We owned two MG Montegos then a high mileage Montego Turbo and I have a lot of respect for them, as comfortable well handling and surprisingly economical cars, but unfortunately, I don't think longevity was ever going to be a strong point.Our 2 litre MG Montegos were more economical than our very early 1500cc Toyota MR2.
gsimpson, Sep 28, 6:30am
The proposed auto is an automated manual. This is common on euro cars now and doesn't rob power as still uses dry plate clutch not torque converter.
yellowsubmarine, Sep 28, 10:49am
Well they did restart production of the MG TF in 2007, they only ever made like 900 though.
jerichord, Sep 28, 1:33pm
sounds to me that it will have far to much torque for your average cloth hat wearingmorris garage driver.
trogedon, Sep 29, 12:01pm
Me too. They're just 'nothing' cars. Might as well have Japanese with a proven record.
trogedon, Sep 29, 12:02pm
MG does NOT stand for Morris Garages. It stands for itself.
edangus, Sep 29, 12:23pm
I saw, I puked
morrisjvan, Sep 29, 1:15pm
Still I supposebeing chinese it will suffer from build quality issues just like a british one, and should break down regularly just like a british one, now if they could just perfect the oil leak, it would be like a real M.G.after all.