The return of MG!

MG needs Success

I like the idea of a small MG sports-hybrid and I hope that success comes to the Chinese - Anglo relationship for the future...

Just hope that a nice, sweet little petrol-hybid combination goes into this car... 8500rpm target please! ( + 6speed manual box )

The world of the car needs variety and players, its a good sign of a progressive industry... When the car manufacturers are doing well, generally the world economies are doing well and vice versa.

By LegioIXHispana on 14 April, 2010, 1:59pm

What about the other cars like the 75 ,mildem & small cars.

By deviras on 15 April, 2010, 10:08am

is it me,or does this look as ugly as the old MG?
You can stick a Pig in a Sheep pen but it doesn't make it a Sheep!

By toycollector on 15 April, 2010, 1:13pm

It's you.....

If you stuck a honda badge on it you'd say it was amazing... give MG a chance to make a comeback it deserves the opportunity... And the old MGTF was hardly ugly.....

By PaulVFR800 on 15 April, 2010, 2:02pm

This is Really Good

I like this!
Engine where it should be and much better than the TF
If Longbridge get the design similar to this - it will put MG back where it should be! selling good sports cars in quantity!
But why should it take 3yrs, we want it now!
Hum! Wonder what they will call it!
MGTF'F? - MGTG?- MGG?

By SUCARBS on 15 April, 2010, 2:11pm

This is Really Good

I like this!
Engine where it should be and much better than the TF
If Longbridge get the design similar to this - it will put MG back where it should be! selling good sports cars in quantity!
But why should it take 3yrs, we want it now!
Hum! Wonder what they will call it!
MGTF'F? - MGTG?- MGG?

By SUCARBS on 15 April, 2010, 2:15pm

Diane

The thoroughbred image of MG over the years means this new model must be a total success - Clarkson must drool over it when the ugly chap finally gets his hands on it. I think they have a winner in the making, but best to wait 3 years for everything to be just right rather than rush things.

By Classic0904 on 15 April, 2010, 3:41pm

how to lose money buy an MG

Lets hope this car is better built than the last one was and the work force doesnt go on strike at every opportunity and works as hard as they do at the sunderland nissan plant.The car has some british influence but at the end of the day the chinese are writing the cheques,so will it be made cheaply or will it be made well time will tell.There is not much competition now except maybe the excellent MX5 so its a chance they must sieze on.

By nickbsmooth on 15 April, 2010, 3:55pm

Whats the difference between this and the old MG TF?

If thats all they can come up with after working day and night at Longbridge they had better ask MAZDA for some help!

Any new MG has to have dramatic stylish design if it is to impress and succeed! Otherwise it is a joke and a financial disaster for the Chinese owners!

As a start they should try something between an MX5 and a Mark I Sprite but with all the modern headlights and power units etc. But not this - not with cars like the Nissan Juke and new Alfas coming soon!

By vandenplas4litre on 15 April, 2010, 5:15pm

Sigh!

When I first saw the pictures of this car my first reaction was it's a rehashed TF. From the two illustrations printed on this page I can't find anything to change that opinion. Don't get me wrong, the TF is a nice looking car and this new model also looks nice, but to me it looks like a TF. Ok, that may not be a bad thing but if they're plugging this as *GASP* a NEW model, I can't see much to distinguish the two. The only real difference would appear to be the front mounted engine instead of being mounted in the middle.

Frankly, unless in the ensuing 3 years until it's due to make its debut it changes its appearance, I can't see this being the grand offering it's being tipped to be. Sorry Longbridge, nice try but no cigar.

By nick7 on 15 April, 2010, 10:08pm

Get real!

This so called MGTF replacement is nothing more than a quick hash up by Auto Express, no more than that. Nothing to do with MG designers so no point slagging off MG, again. It doesn't even used the latest TF front end design, can you see that? This article and its images are pure fantasy so get real people!

By alexanderw on 16 April, 2010, 8:19am

What a bore!

I agree with Alexanderw, what a design, exactly the same as the old previous model! Change, all change please!

By lucasworld on 16 April, 2010, 9:55am

Hairdressers and balding men in baseball caps

will find this exciting. Still whatever they come up with there is no way it could possibly be as unreliable as the MGTF.

By oliver144 on 16 April, 2010, 12:25pm

Looks nice but...

Looks nice but, do we still have to buy two? One to drive, the other for the mechanics.

By miguel117 on 16 April, 2010, 8:17pm

- This is a hash-up by Auto Express, so quite possibly looks nothing like what will be on the market in a few years time. By all means tell MG not to make it look like this if you don't like the style but don't criticise MG for this design, it ain't theirs.

- When was the last time Longbridge workers went on strike? Don't tar them with that old BL stereotype - all the way back to the late 80's the factory, its working methods and its staff have been nothing like that. The workers suffered from MGR's mismanagement and downfall.

- Yes, the old one was unreliable, but again that's a management issue of trying to gloss over rather than correct a design fault in the engines. I'm uneasy at the notion of Chinese 'standards' being used when designing and building this thing but there's no need to assume the same problems as the old car will exist.

By cakewalker90 on 16 April, 2010, 9:44pm

nonsense

made in china rubbish

By julianlee4 on 17 April, 2010, 5:53am

WE DON'T EVEN MAKE OUR OWN CHOCOLATE, LET ALONE CARS, IS IT ONLY ME THAT FINDS THAT A LITTLE WORRYING? SO MAYBE GIVE THEM A CHANCE IF IT SECURES JOBS HERE

Erm this is clearly a photoshop done by Auto Express, they always do this to get a 'scoop' - when you see the car months later, they look nothing like each other. The next TF will be wider lower and total different looking to the last one. Rather than judge on a mocked up photo wait and see what the British design team and the British engineers come up. You know this Chinese rubbish is to be built here in Longbridge!

By Focus_your_mind on 18 April, 2010, 11:08am

You must be joking

This will be for buyers looking for a piece of nostalgia - not for buyers who want a fine roadster. Lets face it - it will be badly built, unreliable, poor to drive, and depreciate heavily. Wouldn't want one in a million years. Best buy the MX5.

By cousins11 on 18 April, 2010, 12:20pm

Choice is a good thing!

Well I doubt that very much, but wait til you see it. If it looks good, drive it and compare it to the MX5 then you'll know for sure the MX5 is the best. Or maybe not the old TF to be fair handled better on a twisty road and felt more sure footed in the wet. either way it's good that we will have a choice of the two best again!

By Focus_your_mind on 18 April, 2010, 12:34pm

PHOTOSHOP!

Autoexpress doing what they do best and PHOTOSHOPPING !

By _v_andy_v_ on 20 April, 2010, 12:39pm

Whatever anyone says the MG TF for it's entire life outsold any of it's competitors by about 5:1. No two seater sells as many in the UK today as the MG TF did. In it's market, it was the one to aim for. I for one can't wait to see this car.

By JamesRiley on 20 April, 2010, 9:21pm

Why do people criticise Longbridge?

They made the 75, a very reliable and very praised car, they made the Rover 200 of 1989 to 1995 - one of the best family hatches on the market in it's day and far superior to anything Ford of Vauxhall offered. The Rover 45 was voted the most reliable used car according to companies who pay out for warranties and this was after MG Rover had shut it's doors. I have absolute respect for those guy who lost their jobs. They suffered a lack of investment that meant in the end their cars were never going to compete well. My Rover 45 was faultless, my 28 year old Metro is pristine. There is an article today about why the Enhlish don't celebrate St. Georges day? perhaps because they care so little about their own country they were happy to see other countries take out manufacturing jobs whilst enthusiastically sticking the knife into their own workforce, such as the devoted guys at Rover.

By JamesRiley on 20 April, 2010, 9:35pm

no need to wait 3 years

I have seen the prototype in the flesh, it sported a twin exhaust outlet (a la MGF) and was almost certainly a folding hardtop. It also looked extremely well screwed together.

By sekretskwirril on 21 April, 2010, 7:36pm

Thank god we are not at war, that true grit spirit of the blitz is long since dead!

Well said James Riley, this country's fine engineering and manufacturing base has been consigned to the history books by a succession of useless governments. These guys that lambast our industrial companies, also bitch and whine about their pensions, cost of fuel and their hedge funds and ISA's should looks themselves to blame; If you do not buy British products our exports drop, you then have to import more than you produce so our GDP also drops, this makes our pound weaker, which in turn means the cost of the things we buy increases, which in turn effects inflation - which means again we pay more. So when you are sitting in your Citroen, Fiat, Kia et al and whining about it's depreciation and services costs, paying more at the pumps, watching your savings flatline and your council tax rising... just remember who's fault that is! I'm not saying don't buy foreign, especially if it's better made, just don't whine about the state of our ecconomy and your bank balance at the same time when YOU have assisted that situation.

20'000 British families on the scrap heap is nothing to laugh about with more companies being sold off or jobs shipped overseas, who knows who's next? Maybe even you!

By Focus_your_mind on 26 April, 2010, 3:24pm

Thank god we are not at war, that true grit spirit of the blitz is long since dead!

Well said James Riley, this country's fine engineering and manufacturing base has been consigned to the history books by a succession of useless governments. These guys that lambast our industrial companies, also bitch and whine about their pensions, cost of fuel and their hedge funds and ISA's should looks themselves to blame; If you do not buy British products our exports drop, you then have to import more than you produce so our GDP also drops, this makes our pound weaker, which in turn means the cost of the things we buy increases, which in turn effects inflation - which means again we pay more. So when you are sitting in your Citroen, Fiat, Kia et al and whining about it's depreciation and services costs, paying more at the pumps, watching your savings flatline and your council tax rising... just remember who's fault that is! I'm not saying don't buy foreign, especially if it's better made, just don't whine about the state of our ecconomy and your bank balance at the same time when YOU have assisted that situation.

20'000 British families on the scrap heap is nothing to laugh about with more companies being sold off or jobs shipped overseas, who knows who's next? Maybe even you!

By Focus_your_mind on 26 April, 2010, 3:30pm

MGF and TF - are they really that bad?

I have owned a 2001 MGF for 18 months and have only had to have it serviced and it sailed through it's MOT so far and thats with 85K on the clock.

The K-Series engine has had it's problems, but it's free revving with a good power to weight ratio, ideal for a sports car. If the garages actually read the service manuals and used the correct Antifreeze/water ratio a lot of the head gasket issues would not have happened.

The MGF is great car to own and even greater to drive - yes the interior trim could be better and is dated, but then it's cheap to buy and cheap to run. Much better value all round than the far east models.

Like Focus_your_mind says - don't knock whats left of the British car industry, particularly before the model even sees the light of day. Let's give MG chance and see this great marque live again.

By RichardMG on 27 April, 2010, 1:14pm

Nice to see a nice looking car back on the maket compared with those bland japanese efforts

By brucy on 10 July, 2010, 7:19pm

Looks like a Boxer will be built like an VCR.

And drive like a Fridge... Only not as cool.

Leave it to the halo of History.

Or get a German Co to design and build it....

RIP

By the2beard on 5 August, 2010, 9:04am

why keep knocking MG

For the price MG sports car has always been good value, fun to drive and true 2 door,2 seater sports cars They lead the way for the rest of the world, The MX5 was always a cheap copy the MGB. BMW and MERCEDES have always been over priced for what the are. The Honda is also dear, with high servicing costs.

By batterseaben on 15 September, 2010, 3:37pm