The MG brand has been on life support for several years now, but it appears as though the storied sports car maker could be coming out of its coma. New pictures have surfaced on line indicating MG’s new owners – China’s Nanjing Automobile – are planning a new hatchback model.
The new MG will be based on the Rowe 550sedan, but with will be offered in a hatchback body style. According to AutoExpress, the new MG model – which could be named the ZS, despite the pictured car’s MG6 nameplate – will be close in size to the Ford Focus and should make production by 2010.
Inside the new MG will take styling clues from BMW, complete with a center-mounted LCD display.
Underhood, the MG will be powered by two 1.8L powerplants – a naturally aspirated unit and a turbocharged version – with power ranging from 120 to 160 horsepower. True to MG’s history, the new model will be built in Longbridge.
MG failed on its last attempt to return to the U.S., so don’t expect the MG ZS to show up on our shores anytime soon.
11/13, 2:25 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
Forget British racing green — we now have Chinese Mandarin red.
11/13, 2:46 PM
posted by:
Borat
The good news for limies – they got work to do building cars. Do those line guys give a crap who owns corporate paper: some Sir or Commissar?
11/13, 3:11 PM
posted by:
TomF
The MG marque hasn’t been sold in the States since 1981, and the Rover “Sterling” (an Acura Legend under the skin) was a US market failure in the late ’80s. British nameplates don’t have much of a rep here (or anywhere really).
I bet Chinese fit-and-finish and overall reliability are pretty close to Coventry quality standards, only we’ll discover the Chinese cars have black-market strychnine in the windshield washer fluid or something.
11/13, 3:27 PM
posted by:
DaSpyda
Yep, that’s what we need: another sedan/hatch
11/13, 10:43 PM
posted by:
Got Handling?
Well you might do once GM, Ford and Chrysler aren’t building them any more. Maybe next week then…
11/14, 5:11 AM
posted by:
Ramatai
God is that ugly
11/14, 5:53 AM
posted by:
Ramatai
The MG wasn’t built in coventry it was built at longbridge in Birmingham. As for fit and finish, it couldn’t be any worse really could it. The question is more about the compnent quality and the Chinese aren’t very good with their choice of material. In fact neither are the Japanese either.
11/14, 12:34 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
That’s not an MG. MGs are little convertible roadsters. That’s a skoda or a chery or something.