A Chinese automaker is expected to announce plans today to revive historic British sports car brand MG, creating more than 500 jobs in manufacturing, engineering and management in Oklahoma.
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In a sign of the global reach of automotive manufacturing, Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. will assemble a line of two-seater MG TF coupes in Ardmore, adding up to 325 jobs.
The company’s MG Motors subsidiary will employ about 150 people at its North America/Europe headquarters in Oklahoma City. It also will place a research and development center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, creating 35 jobs.
A news conference is planned for 9 a.m. today in Oklahoma City.
Nanjing plans to assemble MGs in China, in Oklahoma and at MG’s former home plant near Birmingham, England. Construction of the Ardmore factory is expected to begin in early 2007, with car production set for the third quarter of 2008.
“Nanjing Motors is fully committed to the restoration of the MG brand to markets around the world,” said Yu Jianwei, president of Nanjing Motors. “This will be the key component of the effort to join leading automakers in the manufacture and sale of high-quality, high-character automobiles.
“As we finalize the installation of MG assembly lines in our new Nanjing plant, we are enormously pleased to confirm that we will build the TF Roadster once again in Longbridge, U.K., and the new TF Coupe at a completely new facility we’ll build in Ardmore, Oklahoma.”
Nanjing named industry veteran Duke T. Hale as the company’s president and chief executive officer for MG Motors North America/Europe Inc. Hale, who will be based in Oklahoma City, said the opportunity to restore the MG brand was hard to turn down. He has more than 25 years of industry experience at Volvo, Mazda, Isuzu and Lotus.
“Now that we’ve finalized the important financial, manufacturing and product planning details of this new venture, I’m well along in recruiting a team of seasoned auto industry executives to join me,” Hale said. “A key ingredient in that effort has been to find the right home to build a completely new model for a global automotive enterprise. I’m confident that Oklahoma fits that description perfectly.”
Nanjing beat larger Chinese rival Shanghai Automotive in a bidding war for MG’s assets last year. Former owner Phoenix Venture Holdings’ bankruptcy caused more than 6,000 job losses at MG in Britain.
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