Is it All Over for MG Rover?

Production at the Longbridge MG Rover plant has ground to a halt again due to continuing economic problems. The West Midlands factory has been stopped by MG Motor UK’s Chinese owners Nanjing Automobile because they can’t guarantee stability, and up to 20 employees face redundancy.

This is the second time the troubled British motor manufacturer has seen production halted, with the first round of problems surfacing back in 2005 when MG Rover went bankrupt. The resulting collapse has led to recent news reports on a war of words developing between the UK Government and ex-MG Rover owners, the so called “Phoenix Four”. Speculation is rife about the blame for Rover’s failure and for taking tens of millions of pounds in pay and perks after paying just £10 for the whole company, all this despite being hailed as saviours at the time of the takeover.

Production at Longbridge was started again last year following the sale to Nanjing, with the new version of the MG TF, the LE 500, and hopes were high that new models would also be built there and local jobs secured. However, the future of the plant is being re-evaluated and the Chinese firm is looking at keeping Longbridge closed until March 2010.

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