Chinese MGs are for real

Nanjing Automobile presented their Chinese made MG cars today, built at their huge $450 million plant in Nanjing city. Expectations have been mounting for some time.

Nanjing has built three models:

   
• MG TF roadster
   
• MG 7295 sedan
   
• MG 7275 sedans

Bloomberg reports that the brand, renamed `Ming Jue' or `Modern Gentleman', will go on sale in China in the second half of the year.

Nanjing's future plans?

   
• Invest $2 billion in the brand; open U.K. and U.S. plants.
   
• Build MG TF roadster convertibles at a former MG plant in Longbridge, England, plus open a research center there. They will also name a handful of UK dealers in May 2007.
   
• Start production of the MG TF Coupe at their Oklahoma plant in mid-2008. The roadster, a coupe and a sedan will go on sale in the U.S. in 2008, says Duke T. Hale, CEO of MG Motors North America Inc.
   
• Use the MG brand as a springboard for international expansion. If Chinese automakers have one flaw, it is that they have no recognizable brand names. (What is China's biggest brand?)

Nanjing Auto bought the MG brand and other assets for $97 million in 2005. At the same time, Shanghai Auto bought the design rights for two MG Rover models for $130 million. Shanghai has already launched the 2.5- liter Roewe 750 (based on the Rover 75);  they've sold 4,000 of them in China in the last five months.

Chinese automakers need to start creating strong brands if they want any chance of successfully reaching the major automotive markets (USA, Europe) with their own-brand cars. This in addition to improving quality and safety, and then improving public perception of these qualities.

Many Chinese companies with money to spend have been buying languishing or troubled big-name companies for quick access to world-class brands, technology, distribution networks and smooth entry to major markets. Notable examples are Lenovo, who bought IBM's PC business in 2004, Qianjiang, the Chinese motorcycle manufacturer who bought Italy's Benelli, and Shanghai Automotive, who took over South Korea's SsangYong.

Tags: MG, Nanjing Auto, Nanjing Automobile, Shanghai Automotive, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp, SAIC, SAIC Motor, Rover, Roewe, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry

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