12th June Unveiling

Seems they are unveiling the UK MG3 on 12th June - the date they invited the press to Longbridge in their Clarkson riposte:

"THE MG3 SUMMER OF FUN IS HERE! The UK unveiling of the MG3 will take place on the 12th June at MG Birmingham in front of an invite only audience.

The first public display will take place at MG Live! at Silverstone on 15th - 16th June. Book your tickets at http://bit.ly/18VmLeA to see the unveiling of the car and a special MG3 experience that is not to be missed. The MG3 will then be showcased in our home town, at the Birmingham Made Me design expo at Millennium Point from June 17th – 21st http://bit.ly/156Uq4f – no tickets required! Sign up to more MG3 news at http://mg.co.uk/mg3.

TO WIN a pair of tickets to the exclusive UK unveiling of the MG3 at MG Birmingham on the 12th, simply ‘Share’ this story on Facebook or retweet through Twitter. Winner will be announced on Monday. /Steph"

Did they bring the launch forward? Was it always 12th June, because 'late summer' to me always meant August/September, so I envisioned it dragging on until December... Did Clarkson's comments actually give them the kick up the backside they needed?

Morris Motors wrote:Did they bring the launch forward? Was it always 12th June, because 'late summer' to me always meant August/September, so I envisioned it dragging on until December... Did Clarkson's comments actually give them the kick up the backside they needed?

Rushing things if they are not ready in front of a critical press would be a recipe for disaster.

For a launch, there is:

first pictures: (Shanghai)

first appearance where people can crawl over it;

arrives at dealers for test drives;

order book opens;

first punter registrations. (I'd be surprised if a punter registers one before "63"...)

Well they seem to have a bit of a blitz planned - 12th at Longbridge, then MGLive, then a trade show (Built in Birmingham) etc so are giving it a proper push. Plus the TV ads which MUST come, plus press ads and proper web stuff.

So we wait and see, fingers crossed that it's not actually crap.

Presumably they have learned their lessons re. plastics etc that the 6 has taught them.

Hope that they launch it with the 1.5 turbo engine, as a sporty engine

is an absolute must at launch. MG need to make a big statement with this

car, then perhaps it will increase the sales of the the MG6 as well.

Speaking of MG6, now that you can buy the demo diesel model for £16,500,

why not promote these to Taxi firms to compare them to there present

models. You never know they may prefer them, and help to get more sales.

I dont think the 1.5 turbo will be available from launch. Although, I hope it comes along soon.

The 107PS engine actually has more oomph than most of the competition - e.g. the Fabia has over 30 models of which only one (the £17k 180PS halo sports nutter vRS) has more than 105! http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/skoda/skoda-fabia-guide.asp

and only one of ten models of Suzuki Swift has over 94PS!

http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/suzuki/suzuki-swift-guide.asp

(I was surprised to read that with general engine power inflation)...

As for plastics, haters gonna hate if they want. I found the MG6's dash quite good - the dials were too small, didn't notice the plastics ...

I drive an MGB. The plastics are terrible - who should I complain to?

Morris Motors wrote:I drive an MGB. The plastics are terrible - who should I complain to?

yeah, but that's not a proper MG for some reason (e.g. it wasn't made in Oxfordshire like the first ones)...

(though if it's a rubber bumper one, it may have been so we need a different excuse)

1981 GT LE - body from Cowley or Swindon?

Morris Motors wrote:1981 GT LE - body from Cowley or Swindon?

I didn't know they went on making them after Abingdon closed, but from 1974 Abingdon was "Oxfordshire"...

It was 'old' stock, Abingdon assembled. Pressed Steel stamped the panels, welded the shells, painted them trimmed them and glazed them, then stuck them on a transporter to Abingdon (pretty much the same state as MG6s arrive in the UK). All Abingdon did was offer up the axles, springs, front subframe, then drop in the engine and gearbox.

Like they do at Longbridge...

Are you saying the new MGs are made in a similar way to Abingdon ones?

Austin used to do everything but Morris outsourced a lot.

Yup - except a slightly longer distance to deliver the components...

BMC would not fund the MGB; they wanted an updated MGA and the lack of funds meant the new car wouldn't be monocoque construction. So MG went direct to Pressed Steel (which wasn't part of BMC back then) and they did the body 'structure' design as consultants. As MG had no money they agreed a royalty payment where PS got £250 per car sold I think. Then in 1965 BMC bought PS anyway (getting out of the royalties at the same time).

Morris outsourced EVERYTHING - he funded his entire empire with other people's money and a lot of confidence. He would approach component manufacturers who had a good reputation and place an order from his own blueprints. He gradually increased the orders as sales grew, until the suppliers were dependent on him. And then he bought them for a good price, sent his management team in to knock them into shape and increased production further.

Austin tried to make everything onsite at Longbridge and so had to keep making share offers to attract investment in order to do so. The result was that he was answerable to his board and didn't always get his way. Morris issued shares but held the majority as he never needed investment money to the same degree. Which is why he was in total control of Nuffield and eventually BMC as it's first Chairman in 1953 aged 75.

Of course the difference was that by the 1950s Austin had fewer plants and therefore a tighter supplychain. Nuffield controlled over 60 factories in the UK alone with components being transported everywhere.