Revival of MG Rover to start in UK, Spain

Chinese company Nanjing Automobile will begin its European revival of MG Rover in Britain and Spain.

The two countries were the biggest markets for MG Rover in the past, said Alfonso Saavedra, managing director of Sino Motors, a Spanish distributor that has been appointed by Nanjing to distribute its cars in Spain.

Saavedra said the cars initially will be built by Nanjing in China. He said it is not yet clear when MG Rove'rs former factory in Longbridge, England, will produce cars again.

Nanjing bought MG Rover last July, three months after the financially struggling British carmaker collapsed.

Richard Cort, chairman of the MG Rover dealer council in Britain, said: "Nanjing's cars will be here within the next 18 months."

Saavedra said the Chinese carmaker will start sales of a face-lifted MG TF roadster and the MG 7 - a redesigned version of the Rover 75-based MG ZT - in the first quarter of 2007.

Saavedra said Nanjing also plans to launch a Rover 45-sized, lower-medium sedan that will be called the MG 5, will debut in late 2007 and will be exclusively assembled in China.

Meanwhile, BMW is reportedly negotiating with Nanjing and rival Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. to sell the Rover brand name.

BMW bought the Rover Group, MG Rover's predecessor, in 1994. It kept the rights to the Rover name when it sold the group in 2000.

- REUTERS