THE MG is back - with a Midland car veteran beating Nanjing in the race to relaunch the world-famous sports car. Exactly three years to the day that Longbridge went bust, MG vehicles are once again being made in the Midlands in the shape of the luxury X-Power model.
Worcestershire-based William Riley, a member of the famous Riley motoring dynasty, has launched MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd from a 2.5 acre factory site in Eardiston, near Tenbury Wells. The £2m venture has already created 17 jobs, including a handful of positions for former MG Rover workers, with the factory producing six high powered MG X-Power WR vehicles a month.
The supercharged MG, a direct descendant of Longbridge's most expensive model, sells for between £75,000 and £90,000. Seven have already been sold and the fledgling firm has 35 other advance orders in the bag. And Mr Riley has plans to eventually launch a purpose built 100,000 sq ft factory within the M5 corridor, employing between 150 and 200 people.
Mr Riley, a lifelong car enthusiast, said: "We have bought the badge rights for the MG X-Power from the administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers - it has been a lot of hard work but it's going well and we are keeping the MG brand alive. "We are in production, making six cars a month. It's very early days but we are very encouraged. We have sold seven cars, all over the UK, and we have got 35 other orders in the pipeline.
"We have exported five cars to America already, in various stages of build. The people who are buying the model are young and middle-aged executives who want an individual, British made sports car. At the moment, we have got 16,000 sq ft of works and offices but in time, I am looking to buy a piece of land or an existing building for a 100,000 sq ft factory, in the M5 corridor, between Tewkesbury and north Birmingham. When we are in full production, we would like to employ between 150 and 200 people. We are in this for the long run."
Mr Riley's launch of the MG X-Power WR comes as the motoring world continues to await the resumption of volume production at Longbridge by Chinese owners Nanjing. Nanjing bought the assets of MG Rover for £53m in July 2005 but, nearly three years on, is still to produce a single car for sale.
"I feel very proud to have launched the MG X-Power WR. So many people in this business just talk. We are up and running and producing cars," added Mr Riley.
