8:18 am, August 2, 2012
MG’s parent company, SAIC Motor, is half way through a £4.5bn investment in research and development, it has been announced.
The investment, spread over five years, will further establish SAIC as the leading automotive R&D company in China – the world’s largest car market.
SAIC’s European Technical Centre and European Design Centre based at the MG Birmingham site are ‘likely’ to be involved with ‘parts of the programme’, the company said.
The huge investment started last year and will continue until 2015. So far almost £2.3bn has been invested, including joint venture projects which SAIC Motor has with both GM and VW.
The news comes as new records have been set for the sale of MG and Roewe (the China-only brand) cars. In June sales of both brands in China rocketed by 44 per cent to 17,301. Sales of MG and Roewe models totalled 90,035 in the first six months of 2012, setting another new record.
Sales of MG3 cars in China have been particularly strong and the car is one of the biggest sellers in its class. Production of the MG3 for Europe will begin next year at the MG Birmingham site.
