MG Rover Group was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the
British motor industry
The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including Aston Martin, Bentley, Caterham Cars, Daimler, Jaguar, Lagonda, Land Rover, Lister Cars, Lotus, McLaren, MG, Mini, Morgan and Ro ...
. The company was formed when
BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the British vehicle manufacturing conglomerate known as "BL plc" until 1986 (formerly British Leyland), which had been a state-owned company since 1975. It initially included the Austin Rover Group car business (comprisi ...
to the
Phoenix Consortium
Phoenix Venture Holdings (PVH), also known as the Phoenix Consortium, was an English company formed by four businessmen ( John Towers, Peter Beale, Nick Stephenson and John Edwards). Following BMW's break-up of the Rover Group a financially com ...
in 2000.
MG Rover went into administration in 2005 and its key assets were purchased by
Nanjing Automobile Group, with Nanjing restarting
MG sports car and sports saloon production in 2007. During that year Nanjing merged with
SAIC Motor
SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manu ...
(the largest vehicle manufacturer in China). During 2009 the UK subsidiary was renamed
MG Motor UK
MG Motor UK Limited (MG Motor) is an automotive industry, automotive company owned by SAIC Motor UK, headquartered in London, owned by the Shanghai-based Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor. MG Motor designs, develops and markets cars sol ...
. The
MG TF was manufactured at the former MG Rover Longbridge plant and sold within the UK from 2008 to 2010. In 2011 the first all new MG for 16 years (the
MG 6
The MG6 is a compact car which has been produced by Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor under the MG marque since 2010. It is slotted slightly above the compact sedan MG GT, and the compact hatchback MG 5.
First generation
The first-generation ...
) was launched in the UK (assembled at the Longbridge factory). During 2013 a supermini was added to the line up (the
MG 3
The MG3 is a small car produced by the Chinese automotive company SAIC. The first generation, marketed as the MG3 SW, is based on the British made Rover Streetwise, which itself was based on the Rover 25, while the second generation, introdu ...
), this went on to help MG Motor become the fastest growing car manufacturer within the UK in 2014.
The