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MG cars

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This article is about the history of the MG marque and the M.G. Car Co. Ltd (1930–1972). For the current manufacturer of MG cars, seeMG Motor.

MGis an automotivemarquefounded byCecil KimberinOxford,England in the 1920s, andM.G. Car Company Limitedwas the Britishsports carmanufacturer existing between 1930 and 1972 that made the marque well known. Since 2007, the marque is controlled by Chinesestate-ownedautomakerSAIC Motor.

MG (marque)
Logo used from 1990 to 2010
Product typeAutomobile
OwnerSAIC Motor
CountryUnited Kingdom(1924–2005)
China(Since 2006)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous owners
Websitemg.co.uk

MG cars had their roots in a 1920s sales promotion sideline ofMorris Garages,a retail sales and service centre inOxfordbelonging toWilliam Morris.The business's manager,Cecil Kimber,modified standard productionMorris Oxfordsand addedMG Super Sportsto the plate at the nose of the car. A separate M.G. Car Company Limited was incorporated in July 1930. It remained Morris's personal property until 1 July 1935, when he sold it to his holding company,Morris Motors Limited.

MG underwent many changes in ownership over the years. Morris'sNuffield Organizationmerged withAustinto create theBritish Motor Corporation Limited(BMC) in 1952. Its activities were renamed MG Division of BMC in 1967, and so it was a component of the 1968 merger that createdBritish Leyland Motor Corporation(BLMC). The MG marque continued to be used by the successors of BLMC:British Leyland,theRover Groupand, by the start of 2000, theMG Rover Group,which entered receivership in 2005. The MG marque along with other assets of MG Rover were purchased byNanjing Automobile Group(which merged into SAIC Motor in 2007). Production of MG vehicles restarted in 2007 in Chinaunder Chinese ownership.The first new MG model in the UK for 16 years, theMG6,was launched on 26 June 2011.

M.G. Car Company (1930–1972)

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The M.G. Car Company Limited
IndustrySport cars
Founded21 July 1930;94 years ago(1930-07-21)
FounderCecil Kimber
Defunctc. 1972(1972)
FateMerged
HeadquartersLongbridge, Birmingham (previously Abingdon, Oxfordshire)
ProductsAutomobiles
Enamelled badge on an early MG car
1925 'Old Number One' with body byCarbodies

William Morris's Morris Garages inLongwall Street,Oxford, was the Oxford agent for his Morris cars.Cecil Kimberjoined the dealership as its sales manager in 1921 and was promoted to general manager in 1922.[2]Kimber began promoting sales by producing his own special versions of Morris cars.[3]

Debate remains as to when MG car production started, although the first cars, rebodied Morris models that used coachwork fromCarbodiesofCoventry[4]and known as "Kimber Specials",[5]bore both Morris and MG badges. Reference to MG with the octagon badge appears in an Oxford newspaper from November 1923, and the MG Octagon was registered as a trademark by Morris Garages on 1 May 1924.[2]Morris Garages assembled its cars in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. Demand soon caused a move to larger premises inBainton Roadin September 1925, sharing space with the Morris radiator works. Continuing expansion meant another move in 1927 to a separate factory in Edmund Road,Cowley,Oxford,[2]near the main Morris factory, and for the first time, it was possible to include a production line.

In 1928, the company had become large enough to warrant an identity separate from the original Morris Garages, and The M.G. Car Company was used from March of that year.[2]In October, for the first time, a stand was taken at theLondon Motor Show.Space soon ran out again, and a search for a permanent home led to the lease of part an old leather factory inAbingdon, Oxfordshire,in 1929.[2]A limited liability company named M.G. Car Company was incorporated on 21 July 1930.[6][7]

Kimber stayed with the company until 1941, when he fell out with Morris over procuring wartime work and was summarily dismissed. Kimber was tragically killed in the February 1945King's Cross railway accident.

Under the Nuffield Organization

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William Morris owned MG personally, and in a re-arrangement of his various personal holdings, he sold MG in 1935 toMorris Motors(itself the leading member of his Morris Organisation, later called theNuffield Organization).[8]

Under the British Motor Corporation (BMC)

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1955ZA Magnette

The M.G. Car Company Limited was absorbed along with Morris intoThe British Motor Corporation Limited(BMC), created in 1952 as a merger ofMorris Motors LimitedandThe Austin Motor Company Limited.[9]Long-time service manager John Thornley took over as general manager, guiding the company through its best years until his retirement in 1969. Under BMC, several MG models were no more thanbadge-engineeredversions of other marques, with the main exception being the small MG sports cars. BMC merged withJaguar Carsin September 1966, and that December, the new company was namedBritish Motor Holdings(BMH). BMH merged with theLeyland Motor Corporationin 1968 to formBritish Leyland Motor Corporation(BLMC).

Under British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC)

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By this point, MG was nothing more than a marque used by BLMC, and from about 1972, the name "M.G. Car Company Limited" ceased to be used.[10]

MG marque

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The marque name originated from the initials of Morris Garages, William Morris's private retail sales and service company.[11]The marque was in continuous use, except for the duration of theSecond World War,from its inception in 1924 until 2005, and then from 2007 under Chinese ownership.

In the beginning, the marque was used predominantly for two-seater sports cars made at the M.G Car Company factory inAbingdon,some 10 miles (16 km) south ofOxford.[12]

Under British Leyland (1968–1990)

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Following partial nationalisation in 1975, BLMC became British Leyland (later just BL). British Leyland's management and engineering staff were predominantly from the formerLeylandorganisation, which included MG's historical close rivalTriumph.Triumph was grouped into BL's Specialist Division, alongsideRoverandJaguar,while MG was retained with the other former BMC marques in the Austin-Morris Division, which otherwise made mass-production family cars. While new Triumph models such as theTR7and theDolomitewere launched during the 1970s, no new MG models were introduced apart from the limited-production V8 version of theMGB.While the MG operations was profitable these profits were entirely offset by the huge losses accrued by the rest of the Austin-Morris division and any funding to the Division within BL was allocated to urgently required mass market models, leaving MG with limited resources to develop and maintain its existing model range, which became increasingly outdated. Amidst a mix of economic, internal and external politics, the Abingdon factory was shut down on 24 October 1980 as part of the drastic programme of cutbacks necessary to turn BL around after the turbulent times of the 1970s. The last car built there was the MGB, and after the closure of the Abingdon plant, the MG marque was temporarily abandoned, and BL decided that there would be no immediate direct successor to the MGB or Midget.[13]

Between 1982 and 1991, the MG marque used to badge-engineer sportier versions ofAustin Rover'sMetro,Maestro,andMontegoranges. The MG marque was not revived in its own right until 1992, with theMG RV8– an updated MGB Roadster with aRover V8engine, which was previewed at the 1992 Birmingham Motor Show, with low-volume production commencing in 1993.

Under Rover Group (1992–2000)

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In 1995, theMG Fbecame the first all-new MG since theMGB

After BL became theRover Groupin 1986, ownership of the MG marque passed toBritish Aerospacein 1988 and then in 1994 toBMW.The MG name was revived for a second time in 1992 with the launch of theMG RV8,followed by the mid-enginedMG Fin 1995, which proved to be more successful than the short-lived RV8.

Under MG Rover (2000–2006)

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Main article:MG Rover Group

BMW sold the business in 2000 and the MG marque passed to theMG Rover Groupbased in Longbridge,Birmingham.The practice of selling unique MG sports cars alongside badge-engineered models (by now Rovers) continued. The Group went into receivership in 2005 and car production was suspended on 7 April 2005. As of 2003, the site of the former Abingdon factory was host toMcDonald'sand theThames Valley Policewith only the former office block still standing. The headquarters of the MG Car Club (established 1930) is situated next door.

In 2006, it was reported that an initiative calledProject Kimber,led by David James, had entered talks with Nanjing to buy the MG marque to produce a range of sports cars based on the discontinuedSmart Roadsterdesign byDaimlerChrysler.No agreement was reached, which resulted in theAC Carsmarque being adopted for the new model, instead. The project appeared dormant by 2009, and was not pursued.

Under MG Motor (2006–present)

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MG Motor stand at the 2024Geneva International Motor Show
2022MG ZS
Main article:MG Motor

On 22 July 2005, Chinese manufacturerNanjing Automobile Grouppurchased the rights to the MG marque along with other assets of the MG Rover Group, forming NAC MG UK Limited. In 2007, Nanjing Automobile was acquired by another Chinese manufacturerSAIC Motor,[14]and NAC MG UK Limited was renamed MG Motor UK Limited in 2009.[15]Since then, the MG marque has been controlled by SAIC as a division within the company's passenger vehicle branch.

The first all-new MG model for 16 years, theMG6,was officially launched in June 2011, and was assembled in China and in UK at theLongbridge plant.[16][17]In September 2016, MG Motor ended car production at the Longbridge plant. The company cites "improving production scale efficiencies" as the reason of the plant closure.[18]Since then, MG vehicles had been imported from China into the UK.[19]

Since the purchase of the marque, SAIC has designated MG as its main one internationally.[20]The marque has been the largest single-marque carexporterfrom China since 2019.[21]In 2023, 88 percent of its sales was from outside China. Aside from selling cars designed by parent company SAIC Motor for the MG marque, MG Motor also marketsrebadgedvehicles from SAIC such asRoeweandMaxus,and from corporate siblingSAIC-GM-Wuling.[22]

The most popular MG Motor product in international markets is theMG ZSsubcompact SUV, with a cumulative sales of 999,612 units as of December 2023.[23][24][25]It is one of the most exported cars from China.[26]In 2023, MG Motor introduced its first newroadster,theCybersterelectric vehicle, which went on sale in 2024.[27]

Models

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Main article:List of MG vehicles
1926 14-28 open two-seater

The earliest model, the 1924MG 14/28consisted of a new sporting body on aMorris Oxfordchassis.[2]This car model continued through several versions following the updates to the Morris. The first car that can be described as a new MG, rather than a modified Morris was theMG 18/80of 1928, which had a purpose-designed chassis and the first appearance of the traditional vertical MG grille. A smaller car was launched in 1929 with the first of a long line of Midgets starting with theM-Typebased on a 1928Morris Minorchassis. MG established a name for itself in the early days of the sport of international automobile racing. Beginning before and continuing afterWorld War II,MG produced a line of cars known as the T-Series Midgets, which, post-war, were exported worldwide, achieving greater success than expected. These included theMG TC,MG TD,andMG TF,all of which were based on the pre-warMG TB,and updated with each successive model.[28]

1970 MGB

MG departed from its earlier line of Y-Type saloons and pre-war designs and released theMGAin 1955. TheMGBwas released in 1962 to satisfy demand for a more modern and comfortable sports car. In 1965 the fixed head coupé (FHC) followed: theMGB GT.With continual updates, mostly to comply with increasingly stringent United States emissions and safety standards, the MGB was produced until 1980. Between 1967 and 1969 a short-lived model called theMGCwas released. The MGC was based on the MGB body, but with a larger (and heavier) six-cylinder engine, and somewhat worse handling.[29]MG also began producing theMG Midgetin 1961. The Midget was a re-badged and slightly restyled second-generationAustin-Healey Sprite.To the dismay of many enthusiasts, the 1974 MGB was the last model made with chrome bumpers due to new United States safety regulations; the 1974½ bore thick black rubber bumpers that some claimed ruined the lines of the car. In 1973, theMGB GT V8was launched with the ex-BuickRover V8 engineand was built until 1976. As with the MGB, the Midget design was frequently modified until the Abingdon factory closed in October 1980 and the last of the range was made. The badge was also applied to versions of BMC saloons including theBMC ADO16,(as the MG 1100, 1275 and 1300) which was also available as aRiley,but with the MG pitched as slightly more "sporty".

The marque lived on after 1980 underBL,being used on a number ofAustinsaloons including theMetro,Maestro,andMontego.In New Zealand, the MG badge even appeared on the late 1980s Montego estate, called the MG 2.0 Si Wagon. There was a brief competitive history with a mid-engined, six-cylinder version of the Metro. The MG Metro finished production in 1990 on the launch of aRover-only model. The MG Maestro and MG Montego remained on sale until 1991, when Rover cut production of these models to concentrate on the more modern200 Seriesand400 Series.High performance Rover Metro, 200 and 400 GTi models had gone on sale in late 1989 and throughout 1990 as the MG version of the Metro was discontinued in 1990 and the versions of the Maestro and Montego were axed in 1991.

1994MG RV8

TheRover Grouprevived the two-seater with theMG RV8in 1992. The all-newMG Fwent on sale in 1995, becoming the first mass-produced "real" MG sports car since the MGB ceased production in 1980.

Following the May 2000 purchase of the MG andRovermarques by thePhoenix Consortiumand the forming of the newMG Rover Group,the MG range was expanded in the summer of 2001 with the introduction of three sports models based on the contemporary range of Rover cars. TheMG ZRwas based on theRover 25,theMG ZSon theRover 45,and theMG ZT/ZT-Ton theRover 75.

The MG Rover Group purchasedQvale,which had taken over development of theDe TomasoBigua. This car, renamed theQvale Mangustaand already approved for sale in the United States, formed the basis of theMG XPower SV,an "extreme" V8-engined sports car. It was revealed in 2002 and went on sale in 2004.

Motorsport

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MG / Triple Eight British Touring Cars 2015
MG / Triple Eight British Touring Cars 2012–2014

From its earliest days MGs have been used in competition and from the early 1930s a series of dedicated racing cars such as the 1931 C-Type and 1934 Q-type were made and sold to enthusiasts who received considerable company assistance. This stopped in 1935 when MG was formally merged with Morris Motors and the Competition Department closed down. A series of experimental cars had also been made allowing Captain George Eyston to take several world speed records. In spite of the formal racing ban, speed record attempts continued with Goldie Gardner exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h) in the 1100 cc EX135 in 1939.

After the Second World War record-breaking attempts restarted with 500 cc and 750 cc records being taken in the late 1940s. A decision was also taken to return to racing and a team of MGAs was entered in the tragedy-laden1955 24 Hours of Le Mansrace, the best car achieving 12th place. TheBritish Motor Corporation(BMC) competition department was also based at the Abingdon plant, producing many winning rally and race cars, until the Abingdon factory closed andMGBproduction ceased in the autumn of 1980.

Prior to the use of theToyota Tundrasilhouette in theCraftsman Truck Series,MG was reported as the last foreign marque used in NASCAR. It was driven in 1963 by Smokey Cook.[30]

In 2001 MG re-launched their motor sport campaign to cover the24 Hours of Le Mans(MG-Lola EX257),British Touring Car Championship(BTCC) (MG ZS), British andWorld Rally Championshipsand MG Independent British Rally Championship (MG ZR). The Le Mans team failed to win the endurance race in 2001 and 2002 and quit in 2003. MG Sport+Racing raced in the British Touring Car Championships with the MG ZS between 2001 and 2003 as a factory team. In 2004 WSR raced the MG ZS as a privateer team. After three years without a major sponsor, WSR teamed up with RAC in 2006 and the team was called Team RAC. In 2007 an MG ZR driven by BRC Stars Champion Luke Pinder won class N1 on Britain's round of the World Rally championship. Wales Rally GB. The MG British Rally Challenge still runs today despite the liquidation in 2005.

In 2004 plans to race in theDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters(DTM) with a heavily modified V8 powered ZT supertouring car were cancelled due to MG Rover's liquidation in April 2005.

In January 2012, MG Motor announced that it would enter the2012 British Touring Car Championshipthrough the newly establishedMG KX Momentum Racingteam.[31]In its debut season the team ran twoMG6sdriven byJason PlatoandAndy Neate.Jason ended the season in third place, with the car yet to find its foot in wet conditions.

The team returned in 2013 withSam Tordoffdriving, who performed well in his debut year having joined through the KX Academy scheme. Plato once again came third, with Tordoff sixth.

MG won the 2014 Manufacturer's Championship[32]to break Honda's four-year reign. After just three years of competition, the MG6 GT sealed the title by 95 points at the season finale at Brands Hatch. Drivers Plato and Tordoff racked up seven wins and 20 podiums in the 30-race calendar. Plato finished the Driver's Championship in second place, behind Colin Turkington, while Tordoff finished seventh. In 2014, a third MG6 GT was on the grid, driven byMarc Hynes—also maintained by Triple Eight but in a new livery that didn't resemble the other two MG cars. MG came second in the Constructors Championship in 2015,[33]withAndrew Jordanleading the MG team by finishing the season fifth.

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^"Case details for Trade Mark 490090"(PDF).Intellectual Property Office.Crown (UK Government).Retrieved24 January2018.
  2. ^abcdefGreen, Malcolm (1997).MG Sports Cars.Godalming, UK: CLB.ISBN1-85833-606-6.
  3. ^Adams, Keith."MG: A potted history".AROnline.Archived fromthe originalon 19 July 2010.Retrieved9 May2011.
  4. ^Northey, p.1333.
  5. ^Northey, Tom. "MG: A Great Sporting Name", in Ward, Ian, Executive Editor.World of Automobiles(London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 12, p.1333.
  6. ^Company No. 00249645,Companies Houseaccessed 27 August 2019
  7. ^Warwick University: Modern Records Centre MSS.226 – British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Collection
  8. ^Wolseley And M.G. Companies.The Times,Friday, 14 June 1935; pg. 20; Issue 47090.
  9. ^Bristow, Grahame (2002).Restoring Sprites and Midgets.Brooklands Books. p. 5.
  10. ^Georgano, Nick; Baldwin, Nick; Clausager, Anders; Wood, Jonathan (1995). Georgano, Nick (ed.).Britain's Motor Industry: The First Hundred Years.Foulis. p. 98.ISBN0-85429-923-8.
  11. ^What does the name “M.G.” mean?mgnuts,accessed 11 April 2019
  12. ^Motor Sport,February 1932, pp. 168, 171.
  13. ^"Leyland builds the last MG".Retrieved8 November2011.[dead link‍]
  14. ^"SAIC merges with Nanjing".CAR Magazine.Bauer Media. 28 December 2007.Retrieved26 July2009.
  15. ^"Longbridge workers laid off".Birmingham Post.21 January 2009.Retrieved26 July2009.
  16. ^"China's £1bn business deal with UK".The Telegraph. 26 June 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2022.Retrieved16 April2019.
  17. ^"China's premier promotes Sino-UK trade synergies".Reuters. 26 June 2011.Retrieved16 April2019.
  18. ^Naylor, Sam (23 September 2016)."MG to stop all UK production at Longbridge plant".Auto Express.Retrieved4 March2024.
  19. ^"MG to end UK car production at Longbridge with switch to China".BBC. 23 September 2016.Retrieved15 October2016.
  20. ^"MG Motor Affirms its Non-Presence in the Russian Market".winner.ua.Retrieved2 April2024.
  21. ^"Toàn cầu nhiệt tiêu siêu 84 vạn chiếc thượng hơi MG liên tục 5 năm liên tục" chỉ một nhãn hiệu xuất khẩu quán quân ""[Globally selling over 840,000 units, SAIC MG has been the “Single Brand Export Champion” for five consecutive years.].Tân hoa kinh tế tài chính - Trung Quốc tài chính tin tức võng.19 January 2024.Retrieved2 April2024.
  22. ^Hammerton, Ron."Exclusive: MG Australia eyes rebadged Roewe".GoAuto.Retrieved23 December2023.
  23. ^"MG ZS China auto sales figures".carsalesbase.14 April 2017.Retrieved20 December2019.
  24. ^"【 dễ xe doanh số bảng 】 cả nước 2022 năm danh tước bán sỉ lượng doanh số bảng - dễ xe bảng - dễ xe".car.yiche.Retrieved21 January2024.
  25. ^"【 dễ xe doanh số bảng 】 cả nước 2023 năm danh tước bán sỉ lượng doanh số bảng - dễ xe bảng - dễ xe".car.yiche.Retrieved21 January2024.
  26. ^"Australian newcomer beats Tesla in new car exports".CarExpert.18 August 2023.Retrieved18 August2023.
  27. ^"New MG Cyberster on sale in summer next year: all-new electric roadster is Carwow's Most Anticipated car of 2024".carwow.co.uk.Retrieved23 December2023.
  28. ^Culshaw, David; Horrobin, Peter (2013) [1974]."MG".The complete catalogue of British Cars 1895 – 1975(Paperback ed.). Poundbury, Dorchester, UK: Veloce Publishing. pp. 212–213.ISBN978-1-874105-93-0.Retrieved6 December2013.The TC Midget was... announced in 1945, and its successor, the TD of 1950, though at first received with horror by enthusiasts on account of its specification, which actually included independent front suspension and even bumpers, is now... revered and sought after.... The last of the traditionally-styled MGs, the TF, came in 1953 and was built in both 11⁄4- and 11⁄2-litre form.
  29. ^Road testaccessed 9 August 2020
  30. ^"Smokey Cook Career Statistics".Racing-Reference.info.Retrieved6 January2011.
  31. ^"MG makes a return to racing".The Telegraph.25 January 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2022.Retrieved25 January2012.
  32. ^"MG WINS FIRST BRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP MANUFACTURER TITLE".MG Motor UK. 14 October 2014.Retrieved14 October2014.
  33. ^"MANUFACTURER – CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS".BTCC.Archived fromthe originalon 22 March 2015.Retrieved30 October2015.

General sources

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  • Northey, Tom. "MG: A Great Sporting Name", in Ward, Ian, Executive Editor.World of Automobiles,Volume 12, pp. 1333–41. London: Orbis, 1974.
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