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MG ROVER - LATEST NEWS

Sept. 2006 Nanjing getting ready for production
BBC Midlands news stated today (06/09/06) that Nanjing Auto, the Chinese company which bought MG Rover, has moved all necessary plant and equipment from Longbridge to China. The company plan to start production of an MG-TF and Rover 75/MG-ZT cars next year. Workers are now getting used to using the robots and readying themselves for production.

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july. 2006 Rover Geared Up For New Sports Car?
(Ananova) Production is to return to the former MG Rover plant in Longbridge.
Around 250 workers are due to be employed at the factory to make the two-seater MGF sports car, new owner Nanjing Automobiles announced.
But that is a fraction of the 6,000 who lost their jobs when MG Rover went out of business last year.Around 80 people are currently working at the plant and more will be recruited when the business develops.The workers will assemble the MG TF, with production due to start early next year.The annual production capacity will be 15,000 and the cars will be sold in the UK and Europe, although they may be exported to other parts of the world.Cars will be assembled from kits of components, supplied from Nanjing's factory in China, which is currently being built.Other Rover models will be built in China and elsewhere, including the US.Chinese manufacturer Nanjing Automotive bought the collapsed British carmaker almost a year ago to the day.It indicated at the time that up to 2,000 jobs could be created at Longbridge through a design, engineering and manufacturing facility.Earlier this year Nanjing agreed a 33-year lease at the Birmingham factory with site owners St Modwen.
(Euronews) MG Rover cars are to be built not just at the Longbridge plant in central England and in China but also at a newly constructed factory in the United States. That announcement had come from Nanjing Automobile, the Chinese company that bought MG Rover after it went bankrupt.Longbridge is lined up to make convertible MG sports cars while the US operation, which is to be in Oaklahoma will produce a coupe sports car. Reportedly it is a partnership with two US investment funds holding a 51% stake in the venture. US production is set to begin in two years time. The MG name and equipment to build MG Rover vehicles were bought by the Chinese after the last independent British car manufacturer collapsed last year in the face of plummeting sales. The company had not produced a new model since 1998.British trade unions said they had not been told beforehand about the new US factory and they now want talks with Nanjing about the effect this will have on the number of jobs at Longbridge. More details are expected from the Chinese state-owned car maker at the UK Motor Show, later this month in London. Nanjing has also said it plans to make three different saloon car models at its facilities in China.

feb. 2006
Will the Rover Brand name disappear?
Nanjing Auto, the Chinese firm which bought MG Rover, has renewed its lease on the Longbridge plant in Birmingham and wants to resume car production.
It has signed a 33-year lease and has plans to restart production of the MG TF sports car in 2007, employing between 600 and 1,000 workers.
MG Rover went bust in 2005, at a cost of about 6,000 jobs, and was then bought by Nanjing for £50m ($86m).
But the lease has a six-month get out clause, allowing Nanjing to walk away.
'Optimism'
The deal was welcomed by the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G).
According to the T&G, Nanjing's business plan could lead to the production of 100,000 cars a year and create 1,200 jobs.
Nanjing's UK chairman Wang Hongbiao said he was delighted to have reached the deal with the site's owner, St Modwen Properties.
"This means that we can move forward with our business plan to build cars at Longbridge," he said.

However, it has been stated that Nanjing Auto wish to resume/start production of MG TF and later produce a 4 door sports car and sport estate, but what about Rover? No memntion has yet been made.

The End? (How it all started to go wrong).
What a difference a week made, from showing concept coupes, announcing possible racing ventures and a tie-up with a Chinese car manufacturer (SAIC), suddenly it all collapsed like a pack of cards. There was plenty of hype and speculation, media frenzy and here-say. Rover had been here before, in the year 2000 when they were dropped by BMW. This time, though; it was different. Just who does own the Rover name? Who owns the 25 & 75 production lines? Over the coming weeks - this page will hope to explain all that has and is happening. In a year when the marques were celebrating 100 years for Rover & 80 years for MG, has it really all gone?

20/09/05
GOING FORWARD - AN OFFICIAL MG ROVER PARTS DISTRIBUTOR
Subject: Rimmer Bros to the rescue of MG Rover owner
The uncertainty surrounding the unfortunate demise of MG Rover has left
many owners and the trade wondering where they will be able to buy
original parts and accessories.
Well, it is good news for owners and traders both in the UK and
overseas. Rimmer Bros have been appointed as official MG Rover Parts
Distributors.

Over-The-Counter *** Mail Order *** Local Trade Delivery Service

Rimmer Bros have been supplying parts and accessories for classic
Triumph and Rover SD1 for 25 years. More recently they have been
supplying both genuine and aftermarket parts and accessories for Land
Rovers, and are an Approved Land Rover Parts Supplier. The MG-Rover
parts franchise compliments these perfectly. Using the latest in mail
order technology and order processing they can despatch orders anywhere
in the world from the vast stock of parts in their 55,000 sq ft
warehouse complex.
This is in addition to the over-the-counter and local trade delivery
service they offer.

They can be contacted for retail or trade enquiries and orders as follows:
Telephone: 01522 563344
Fax: 01522 567600
Email: mgrover@rimmerbros.co.uk
Website: www.rimmerbros.co.uk

23/07/05
MG ROVER SAVED?
Local news reports, within the Midlands - home to MG Rover at Longbridge, have been stating that the 'new' Chinese owners (Nanjing) of MG Rover wish to restart car manufacturing at Longbridge. More news as it emerges....

......ROVER SOLD TO NANJING AUTOMOBILE.
(Taken from BBCi news website: >>).
The Rover 75 could be at the centre of a legal tussle.
Chinese carmaker Nanjing Automotive has secured ownership of MG Rover for an sum of around £50,000,000 after a three-way bidding battle spread over three months.
It was one of two Chinese companies trying to buy the assets of MG Rover, the other being Shanghai Automotive.

Although Nanjing was the smaller firm it secured a deal with administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Friday.

"Nanjing will now begin to take control of the assets and develop its plans for the future," said Tony Lomas of PwC.

Joint administrator Mr Lomas said Nanjing intended to relocate the engine plant and some car production plant to China but to "retain some car production plant in the UK".

He added that Nanjing, China's oldest carmaker, also planned to develop an R&D and technical facility in the UK.

"It is not really a surprise that one of the Chinese bidders has won as they were looking to buy the whole operation," Dr David Bailey, of the University of Birmingham's business school told the BBC.

"However some had thought that Shanghai was the front runner given the previous proposed tie-up with Rover and the fact they had bought some of the copyrights."

Nanjing had earlier said it wanted to restart car production in the West Midlands, but may look to use other sites as well as the former Rover site at Longbridge in Birmingham.

Cars will be built under the MG marque.

21/07/05
BID TO SAVE MG ROVER
David James CBE, the corporate doctor who saved the Millenium Dome, has put together a British backed bid to save MG Rover from falling into Chinese ownership.
A spokesman for the bid - called Project Kimber after Cecil Kimber, MG's founder - Barrie Willis said: "This is the last chance to save Britain's largest independent car maker from falling into overseas hands.
"It is a credible, fully funded bid with a strong management team that has varied and extensive expertise working in the motor industry".
"Of course there is a lot of passion involved, there has to be, escpecially with a marque like MG".
"But, that is balanced by a pragmatic and realistic business plan that will see the brand develop over the coming years and job developement at Longbridge".

13/07/05
ROVERS RETURN?
(Auto Express 13th -19th July 2005: SHOCK NEW ROVER 75 & 45)
They're back!
"With a new look 75, Rover may well be on it's way back" With pictures to prove the point, that was the article in this weeks Auto Express magazine.
It's not over for Rover! And with these sensational pictures, Auto Express can take the wraps off two radical new machines that are set to rise from the ashes of the collapsed manufacturer.
Click the magazine image to read more....>>

17/06/05
WHY ROVER CRASHED:
Tonight with Trevor McDonald. ITV1, 8:00pm. The second of a two part report. The programme was dedicated to delving into the truth behind the demise of MG-Rover.
Wasted opportunities and wasted money ventures were high lighted in this issue of the programme. Vast amounts of money were put into promoting the MG brand and racing in a bid to create 'the image'. High profile TV programmes such as ITV's Footballers Wives requested the use of a MG SV, which would have given the car and the company vast exposure, but they were turned down as not depicting the right image....
Towards the end, it was stated, large amounts of money was put into hospitality at racing event, even though MG were not represented themselves on the track.

15/06/05
MG ROVER RACE DREAM RAN UP DEBTS OF £48m
MG Rover's attempts to break into the glamour world of racing succeeded in selling fewer than ten cars - and clocked up £48 million debts.
The Phoenix Four's bid to create a 'halo effect' to boost the image of the group proved a hugely expensive flop, selling cars at £80,000 - when they should have been sold for double that to come into profit because of the hi-tech materials used.
The full disaster of Longbridge-based MG Rover Sports & Racing venture was exposed to creditors at a meeting of creditors at Birmingham's Hilton Metropole yesterday (14/06/05).
Out of the £48.2 million owed when the subsidiary crashed in April, £41.2 million was owed to the parent company, mainly in pension payments. Virtually nothing has been left with which to pay the 200+ companies saddled with unpaid bills.
Joint administrator Steven Pearson said " We hope to preserve a few jobs and do a sale of the business, but I would not expect there to be anything but a few pence in the pound for creditors".
Sixty interested parties had inquired about the business but only three serious contenders were left in discussions, he revealed. A sale would go through in a month once checks had been carried out on finances.
Mr Pearson said the operation had been set up to 'ape' bigger car makers who had loss-making super cars in their range. But the Birmingham attempt had been beset with problems and sales were politely described as 'disappointing'. Finally launched for sale in September 2004, the powerful V8 Mustang-engined MG SV sports car was not a hit in a highly competitive market.
Elsewhere, only just over 10 per cent of redundant MG Rover workers have found alternative employment since the collapse of Longbridge around 2 months ago. (Report from B/ham Evening Mail 15/06/05).

13/06/05
DRIVEN TO DECLINE BY DECADES OF NEGLECT
Why Rover Crashed: Tonight with Trevor McDonald. ITV1, 8:00pm. The first of a two part report. The programme was dedicated to delving into the truth behind the demise of MG-Rover.
"I'm stuck for words and nearly in tears," said one worker after hearing he and his 5000+ colleagues at the company's flagship factory in Longbridge, West Midlands, were about to be made redundant following the firms financial collapse. He wasn't alone.
The event had a huge knock-on effect on people and businesses around the world but, according to observers, MG Rover's closure shouldn't have come as a surprise. Instead, a report carried out by Cambridge-MIT Institute claimed it had been in decline for four decades, with a succession of owners allegedly failing to operate the company successfully. Part 2 of the report can be seen on ITV1 at 8:00pm on Friday 17/06/2005. (Report from Express & Star 13/06/05).

31/05/05
INVESTIGATION INTO MG-ROVER AFFAIRS
The Government have today announced that a top accountant and a leading barrister are to look into MG-Rover dealings and accounts. They are amazed at the speed of decline of the company once it started. Their findings are to be made public upon completion.

19/05/05
ROVERS MAY BE MADE AGAIN
Administrators for MG-Rover group have today stated that manufacturing may resume at Longbridge. They have 'viable' offers to produce the MG-TF and all other MG-Rover cars from interested parties.

13/05/05
FINAL OFFER
Today is the last day for bids to buy MG-Rover in it's entirety. If no bids are received by midnight tonight the official receivers will look to sell of the assets of the company to the highest bidders.

06/05/05
IRANIAN DEAL?
Radio stations today stated that there may be a deal in the pipe line for Iran to purchase MG-Rover. The Company would, once again, start producing cars (around 150,000 per year) for a two year period, after which the manufacturing would be moved to Iran. The two year gap would give Iran time to develope their manufacturing skills allowing them to produce better quality vehicles in their own country, it is thought.

05/05/05
DEMONSTRATION AND A OFFER (allegedly).
Around 1000 ex-MG-Rover workers and family/friends staged a meeting outside Longbridge today. It was a way of keeping MG-Rover fresh in the news on a day when elections were dominating news headlines. At the meeting it was announced that an American business had put forward an 'offer' to purchase MG-Rover but no other details were provided.

29/04/05
SELL OFF TOUR
Foreign companies will be invited to tour Longbridge factory to buy parts of tthe MG Rover carmaking business, it was revealled today. Meanwhile, Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) the company that toppled MG Rover by pulling out of a deal, have expresssed an interst in buying parts of the MG-Rover plant and the Powertrain engine manufacturing operation. Even though they previously stated that they were not interested in buying 'either the whole or parts of MG-Rover', industry exprts said that they expected this u-turn decision.
Else where, in the UK, Dealerships have spoken of their confidence for the future. Many state that the demand for MG & Rover has been very strong and spares and maintenance are not an issue.

28/04/05
RUSSISAN ROVER?
Russia's youngest billionaire has been looking at the MG production line at Longbridge. Nikolai Smolanski, 24, bought TVR sports car firm, based in Blackpool,last summer. Industry insiders believe that the acquisition of MG would be a good addition to Mr Smolenski's portfolio.

25/04/05
NATIONALISE ROVER?
Nationalise Rover - as the BBC explained last week the Socialist Party is the only party calling for Rover to be taken into public ownership to secure workers' jobs. You may or may not agree with their views but can read about their vision for Rover here:>

22/04/05
FOREIGN ROVERS?
Interest over the closed MG-Rover company and its assets have been expressed by various countries, including Iran, South East Asia, India, Russia & China as well as business within the UK.

20/04/05
CHINA ROVERS?
TV news reports today stated that SAIC of China were considering building Rover 25 and Rover 75 models. It is not known at this stage what name they would be produced under if they were manufactured.

17/04/2005 17:52
To: <info@new.labour.org.uk>
Subject: MG-Rover warranties
Steve Wright from RoverTorque (The Rover owners' & Performance Club. www.rovertorque.co.uk, www.mg-xtra.co.uk, www.rovermart.co.uk.)
With the closure of MG-Rover, and the aid package which is being put forward, is there any help being proposed for people who have a new/nearly new MG or Rover and now have no official dealer warranty.
Thanks for any reply you can give.
regards
Steve Wright

Reply:
Dear Mr Wright
Thank you for your email. The news from MG Rover has been devastating blow to all those involved - the workers and their families, the company's suppliers and the wider community. Everyone involved in the company recognised that a partnership with China's SAIC was critical to MG Rover's future. That is why MG Rover, the government and the trade unions have been working tirelessly round the clock to secure a deal. In the end, SAIC made it clear that they were not confident about the future solvency of MG Rover, and therefore there was no reasonable prospect of a deal.

The Government stood ready to issue bridging finance of over £100m to help, but without a deal there was no possibility of a bridging loan. SAIC, for their part, indicated that bridging loan finance would not have allayed their concerns. A £6.4m loan was then offered to cover Longbridge-based MG Rover's overheads for a week, preventing thousands of immediate redundancies whilst the administrator explored ways to dispose of the business as a going concern.

When it became clear that there would be 5,000 redundancies the Labour government allocated a package of support totalling more than £150 million for MG Rover workers, their families and the community affected by the collapse of the company. This comprised:

* up to £50 million for training for workers made redundant at MG Rover and suppliers (£25 million of new money from the DTI, DWP and European Social Fund and priority access to £25 million from the Employer Training Pilots for companies affected by MG Rover in the West Midlands and nationally; and support for people wanting to start businesses);
* over £40 million to cover statuary redundancy payments and protective awards for Longbridge workers;

* £24 million to establish a loan fund to help otherwise viable businesses affected by MG Rover's collapse and for other purposes agreed by the MG Rover Task Force

*The £41.6 million made available for MG Rover suppliers, which we announced on 8 April.

In addition, Advantage West Midlands is making an investment of £42 million for the redevelopment of the Longbridge site and the establishment of a technology park there together with a grant of £19.3 million to Warwick Manufacturing Group's International Automotive Research Centre. This extra investment of £60 million will further support the development of high technology manufacturing and businesses in the West Midlands.

The government will also be asking for EU funds this week to match funds provided for supply chain support and training.

You can find more information at the Department of Trade and Industry: http://www.dti.gov.uk/

Advantage West Midlands: http://www.advantagewm.co.uk/

A dedicated telephone line has also been established to provide business support and advice to companies in the Rover supply chain on 0121 6070121. Initial information about the support on offer to suppliers at a central website which is now live at: http://www.rover-response.info

Regards,
Jacqueline Nally
Communications Unit
The Labour Part

17/04/05
SUPPORT RALLY
Rover Owners and ex-workers gathered outside Longbridge in a rally of support. It was estimated that 600 privately owned Rover cars had gathered at Gaydon and then were driving in convoy to Longbridge.
Ex-Rover employees moods have changed from disbelief to anger at the four top Rover management, T.V news channels reported today.

16/04/05
OFFICIAL ENQUIRY
The Labour government have announced an official inquiry into MG-Rover accounts.
Approximately 1000 MG-Rover staff have a temporary reprise from redundancy, they will be retained to finish off part built cars and to eventually mothball Longbridge. Unless some sort of deal can be found in the meantime. Industry experts are 'suggesting' that maybe the MG sports car (MG-TF) can continue to be built. This has yet to be confirmed.

15/04/05
IT'S OVER FOR ROVER
5000+ staff at Longbridge are to be made redundant immediately, following confirmation that SAIC of China will not be doing any sort of deal with MG-Rover. They cited the fact that MG-Rover are in administration as the final stumbling block.
Local MP's are hoping that some manufacturing (probably only MG) can continue at the site. That has yet to be confirmed.
The DTI have been asked to look into the whereabouts of £470 million+ loaned to Rover by BMW when they purchased the company for £10.
The closure of Rover at Longbridge will devestate the area and the Labour government have pledged £150 million in aid.

14/04/05
WARRANTY COMPANIES STEP IN TO HELP OWNERS
Don't panic if your MG or Rover is not now covered by a warranty.
Warranty Direct are offering Special deals for Rover / MG owners with cars under 5 years old. To find out more call 0800 731 7001.

The spare parts situation
MG Rover parts are supplied by American company Cat Logistics which has said that it has £40million worth of parts in stock so the supply of parts should be safe.
In addition there a many smaller parts suppliers and Rover breakers who will be an invaluable source of parts in the weeks and months to come.

The Rover Owners Club is currently compiling a list of all know MG Rover specialists, which we hope will provide invaluable to owners. The directory will cover new and secondhand parts, warranty providers, insurance, breakdown cover and the like.

13/04/05
Warranties
MG Rover will not honour its warranty obligations for new car owners because of "insufficient funds".
This means that about 150,000 Rover owners who have bought cars in the past two years will have to pay for any problems with their vehicles or look for another warranty provider.
Rob Hunt, of the MG Rover administrator team, said all dealers had been contacted to explain the situation.
Mr Hunt said: "A review of the company's warranty arrangements has been undertaken and has concluded that warranties continue in the first instance to be a matter between individual dealers and their customers.
"We're aware that historically MG Rover have reimbursed repairers and authorised dealers the cost of valid warranty claims. However, following our appointment as joint administrators on April 8, the company no longer has sufficient funds to reimburse warranties.
"Should customers wish to purchase warranty cover in the marketplace, a number of alternative providers are available. Most dealers will be able to advise customers on how they could obtain this cover."
Richard Cort, the chairman of the MG Rover dealer council which represents 264 dealerships, said he was disappointed at the news but added that on average every dealer was owed A£100,000 in unpaid warranty payments and sales allowances.