MG to return to USA while Austin-Healey fades away
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MG to return to USA while Austin-Healey fades away
Austin-Healey won't be making a comeback as part of the revived MG sports car operation, but MG will definitely return to the U.S. in the future.
GB Sports Car Co., the company partnering with Nanjing Automobile in reviving part of the collapsed British automaker Rover's U.K. plant, originally hoped to use the Austin-Healey nameplate to build expensive sports cars, positioned above MG and pitched against Porsche.
But Fraser Welford-Winton, managing director of GB Sports and former head of Rover's engine-making subsidiary, said the idea had been dropped following discussions with Nanjing, the Chinese company that won the battle to buy MG Rover's assets. Instead, the focus will now be on the MG brand; a plan to build sports cars and large sedans on part of Rover's Longbridge factory is being drawn up.
Taking MG back to the U.S., where it has a strong following, is central to this plan, especially as GB Sports Car Co. is backed by American investors. However, the plan will be less ambitious than the one originally quoted by Nanjing, which envisioned selling 80,000 cars a year within five years. Production of the MG TF roadster is expected to restart next year.
Nanjing is still trying to resolve the intellectual property rights issue with rival Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., which claims design ownership of Rover engines and cars.
Austin-Healey has a hard-core following, but does anybody under the age of 40 remember what one looks like? The last Austin was built in the 1960s, so it makes more sense to concentrate on MG, a brand that has remained in production.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=106828