Carmaker MG has snubbed Britain by choosing Spain for a new €200m (£170m) factory, as it makes a return to manufacturing in Europe.
MG unveiled plans to open a new factory in Galicia that will employ 2,000 people and produce up to 120,000 cars a year by 2028.
It is 10 years since SAIC, the company’s Chinese owner, closed MG’s British factory and moved all production to China. The company left only a head office, design studio and engineering team behind in the UK.
Matthias Schmidt, founder of industry consultancy Schmidt Automotive Research, said it was “a shame” that MG, which first made cars in Britain more than 100 years ago, had passed over its birthplace.
He said: “Locating a plant in the UK would have fitted perfectly with the legacy. If I were MG, I would consider low-scale sports car manufacturing in the UK, leveraging that sports car heritage as a brand strength.”
MG is not expected to move its Birmingham-based research and development (R&D) team or London headquarters and design studio to northern Spain. However, the Galicia factory will also be involved in R&D, as part of what MG called “a fully connected, end-to-end industrial ecosystem”.
William Wang, MG’s UK and Europe managing director, said the Spanish plant would help localise production and supply chains, as part of an “In Europe, For Europe” strategy.
SAIC is the biggest Chinese carmaker in Europe, but also faces the highest EU tariff of 45pc. Cars made within the bloc can avoid the tariffs.
Brussels is preparing a new “Made in Europe” regime that will require electric cars and fleet vehicles to be manufactured within the bloc to qualify for EU subsidies, tax breaks and public tenders.
Leave a comment