MG's glitzy new showroom in Sydney Australia

Morris Garages to return to Australia around Easter as Sydney dealership takes shape.

Australia is set to see the return of MG cars. The venerable British brand – now owned and built by Chinese conglomerate Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) – has confirmed exclusively to Drive that it will launch in Australia around Easter 2013.

The company's local distributors Longwell Motor would not comment when asked about when the cars will go on sale, and confirmed the brand's dealership in Sydney, at one of the former Rick Damelian showrooms on Parramatta Road, is not trading yet.

However, Xiaomin Xi, head of right-hand-drive markets for SAIC, told Drive that the brand will launch over the Easter weekend.

Xi says the distributors and the head office are working closely with existing owners and enthusiasts via the MG car club, stating the launch event will take place on the back of the club's national meeting in Toowoomba, Queensland, on the last weekend of March.

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Xi says the company is working to add dealers in Brisbane and Newcastle, and confirmed that the brand will initially only offer the MG6 sedan and hatchback.

Drive has learnt that the MG6 will be sold as a sedan and a hatchback, with power coming from a turbocharged 1.8-litre engine producing 118kW of power and 215Nm of torque. A five-speed manual transmission is standard.

According to the MG UK website, the 6 can sprint from 0-100km/h in 8.4 seconds, and Drive spotted official fuel-use stickers on the windscreens of the cars which stated a combined claimed consumption figure of 7.5L/100km and emissions of 174g/km CO2.

The MG6 is about the size of a Mazda3 sedan at just over 4.6 metres long and 1.8m wide, and has a class-competitive boot size of 498 litres.

It's not clear what safety gear the MG6 will come with as standard. Drive understands it will be offered with dual front airbags only, though the MG UK site suggests all models have six airbags (dual front, front-side and full-length curtains), as well as stability control – the latter making the car viable for sale in Victoria, which has banned all passenger cars without the potentially life-saving technology from sale.

There's no indication yet what price the MG6 will attract, but the car recently launched in New Zealand at $NZ29,990 ($24,055), undercutting rivals such as the Toyota Corolla by $NZ4500 and the VW Golf by $NZ9000. Expect the MG6 to do a similar job of undercutting local rivals such as the Corolla (which starts here at $19,990 plus on-road costs).

“MG6 is a brilliant car although it is not like the traditional two door convertible TF,” Xi says. “At the beginning we [will only] offer manual transmission and we hope the market will perceive it as a car with driving fun and enjoy the steering control.”

Xi confirmed the brand will launch the smaller MG3 later in 2013, which is described as attractive looking, and “equivalent to the size of a Ford Fiesta [but with] more space".

“The models we will launch in Australia are the models which passed EU homologation, which guarantee the quality and emission,” Xi says.

MG's glitzy showroom, with prominent MG and Morris Garages signage, is currently adorned with several examples of the brand's MG6 mid-size sedan, while an adjoining car park is full to the brim.

Drive approached a number of workers who were running checks on the cars, but none would answer our questions.

Drive's New Zealand arm has driven the new MG6, and our man based in the Land of the Long White Cloud, Dave Moore, said he was "pleasantly surprised".

patpending wrote:Interesting how MG's 25 Chilean branches share a similar corporate look!

Easter launch for re-born MG in Australia with up to 20 dealers within two years

THE famous MG brand will re-launch in Australia at the end of March, with plans to build a network of up to 20 dealerships across Australia by the end of next year.

The official Australian launch for the Chinese-owned British car brand will coincide with the MG Car Club’s national meeting in Toowoomba, Queensland, to be held over the Easter long weekend (March 29 to April 2).

The first local dealership will be a portion of the former Rick Damelian premium used car dealership on Sydney’s Parramatta Road, which has been undergoing renovation and rebranding since late December.

MG owner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation’s overseas market manager, Xiaomin Xi, told GoAuto that between six and eight more MG outlets in different states are under consideration to open this year, with the total expanding to between 15 and 20 by the end of 2014.

“Franchising is undergoing right now,” he said.

Initially, only the Chinese-built Cruze-sized MG6 sedan and hatch will be offered, with the MG3 light car joining the line-up by the end of this year. More models are in the pipeline.

Mr Xi said it was possible that sourcing for Australia-bound MG products could eventually shift from China to Thailand, where SAIC recently signed a joint-venture agreement with the Thai Charoen Pokphand Group to build MGs in the Kingdom.

Mystery surrounds the origin of the new local MG distributor, Australia Longwell Motor, which government records indicate was established in November 2011 and appears to be running operations from the Parramatta Road premises.

According to Mr Xi, Australia Longwell Motor is a private company with more than 15 years’ experience dealing with European brands including Audi, Volkswagen and Peugeot.

He said the new company was awarded sole distributorship of MG “because Longwell Motor has many years experience in car dealerships, they have got passion for MG (and) they have a strategic long-term plan for Australian market”.

“They are committed to this iconic brand (and) they are ambitious to bring the best after-sales service to the customer.”

Asked why there has been no announcement of MG’s return to Australia, Mr Xi said: “There are many things to be done (so) we’d rather take each step firmly.”

Documents viewed by GoAuto showing the MG models that have received approval for this market suggest the MG6 sedan and hatch will be limited to one variant each at launch.

Both will be powered by a 118kW/215Nm 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine driving the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission, delivering them from 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds.

In terms of standard equipment, the documents only list 17-inch alloy wheels and front fog lights.

There is no mention of an automatic transmission, suggesting that, like the right-hand-drive British market, Australia-bound MGs will be manual-only propositions.

In some markets the MG6 is offered with a five-speed auto of dated design, but a more advanced dual-clutch unit is reportedly in the works.

An all-new 110kW/350Nm 1.9-litre turbo-diesel engine with idle-stop recently became available in the UK and could eventually be offered in Australia.

MG last month returned to New Zealand, where the MG6 sedan and hatch are priced from $NZ29,990 ($A24,331) plus on-road costs, each with three specifications – S, SE and TSE.

However, Australia’s small-car segment is hotly contested, with large sales volumes and a lot of action in the low-$20,000 price range, so and MG is expected to enter with keen pricing and generous levels of standard equipment.

Because the MG6 is built in right-hand drive for the UK and subject to that market’s stringent safety and emissions standards, it stands to be one of China’s best-suited vehicles for export to other developed right-hand-drive markets.

MG on the go-slow in Australia

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Steady: The classic MG slogan “safety fast” does not seem to apply to new Australian distributor Longwell Motor.

Expansion of Aussie MG dealer network to be slower than previously indicated.

Australian MG Motors distributor Longwell Motor will not start expanding its dealership network until 2015, contrary to reports it would establish up to 20 outlets across Australia by the end of next year.

GoAuto can also reveal that Longwell Motor has no prior trading experience in the Australian car market, but is a Chinese company with strong ties to MG brand owner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

Longwell was renamed MG Motor Australia just in time for yesterday’s launch event in Sydney, where the company’s marketing manager, Zhenyu Li, confirmed plans for more outlets to join the showroom and headquarters opened on Sydney’s Parramatta Road this week.

“We have a plan but not (to expand) in the first and second year – maybe in the third year we will open others … in the third year we will open the second showroom,” he said.

Mr Li clarified that MG considered 2015 to be year three as 2012 (when the MG6 received federal government approval for sale here) was regarded as its first year.

This is in sharp contrast to comments from former SAIC overseas market manager, Xiaomin Xi, who in February this year told GoAuto that opening between six and eight more MG dealerships in different states this year was under consideration.

Mr Xi, who is no longer employed by SAIC, also said the number of Australian MG outlets would increase to as many as 20 by the end of 2014 and that “franchising is undergoing right now”.

Asked where the next Australian MG showroom was likely to open, Mr Li said it “depends on customers and also our developments with dealers”.

“We would like to see the evolution of the market, and after we will decide. We think it is possible (to open) in Melbourne or Brisbane but we do not know yet.”

Mr Li said Longwell was inexperienced in the highly competitive Australian car landscape, and had conducted a year-long study of this market, starting in 2009.

“We can see that (lack of experience) as this company was set up in 2010 in Australia, but we know the market very well.

“I don't think this will be a problem for the sale of MG cars in Australia … Amanda Han (MG Motor Australia director) has been here three years and the team is an Australian team – we have some Chinese but most of the team are Australian people.”

Mr Li said Longwell was a large group that worked with European brands such as Volkswagen, Audi and Peugeot in China, where it had more than 15 years’ experience.

“After about one years' market study they thought it was a good product and were confident of the success of the MG brand in Australia so they built a company here.

“They have a good partnership with SAIC, so SAIC have given 100 per cent confidence to the company.”

Mr Li did not know which other companies were in the running to reintroduce MG to this country but said SAIC had sent a request “to everybody in Australia”.

“Finally they chose us, but we don't know which (companies were also approached) – we are very happy and very honoured to become the exclusive distributor of MG in Australia.”

Publicity surrounding the rebirth of the iconic MG brand in Australia has been conspicuous by its absence.

Mr Li said it was “not necessary to do publicity of a brand everyone knew”.

“The reason why we didn’t do publicity before the launch was because we want to just introduce the car – because we are launching just one car (the MG6 sedan and hatch) to consumers.”

He said digital media and Facebook would be used to publicise MG products, and print adverts were run in at least one Sydney newspaper on launch day.

“Maybe in several months we will do something with TV – now is too early we think,” said Mr Li.

Mirtininkas wrote:Zero sales on 2013 Q1?
http://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2013/04/15/australia-q1-2013-discover-the-top-282-all-models-ranking/#more-30288

Morris Motors wrote:They seem to be planning a UK-style marketing operation - i.e. none. I'm not sure that'll work!

Publicity surrounding the rebirth of the iconic MG brand in Australia has been conspicuous by its absence.

Mr Li said it was “not necessary to do publicity of a brand everyone knew”.

“The reason why we didn’t do publicity before the launch was because we want to just introduce the car – because we are launching just one car (the MG6 sedan and hatch) to consumers.”

He said digital media and Facebook would be used to publicise MG products, and print adverts were run in at least one Sydney newspaper on launch day.

“Maybe in several months we will do something with TV – now is too early we think,” said Mr Li.

The Chinese consul and representatives from MG Car Clubs around Australia were present in Sydney on Wednesday for an unveiling of the brand's new model, the MG6, and plans for a Sydney dealership.

The MG 6 launched in Britain in mid-2011, where it is now assembled in Longbridge from parts made in China. It is related to the Roewe 550 not available in Australia, and certain chassis parts trace their roots back to the 2001-2005 MG ZS. Director of MG Australia, Amanda Han, says the company – owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) – has been preparing its local introduction since 2009. “We will put our best resoureces in this project,” said Han at the MG media preview. She also thanked MG Car Club members from around Australia, who were present at the media preview, for their “never-ending love of MG”. While admitting that with almost 70 brands competing in the marketplace the Australian automotive landscape is one of the fiercest in the world, and acknowledging cut-price Chinese competitors Great Wall and Chery, Han believes the British brand still resonates with Australians. Unfortunately, the media preview cars – drives will take place from early next week – suffered from similar interior issues as Chery and Great Wall models, with sub-standard plastics quality and fit and finish. The entry-level car also felt more basic than a cheaper Mazda 3 Neo. MG Australia will start with a small band of dealers – including a flagship outlet on Parramatta Road in Sydney – and roll out automatic transmission availability and the launch of the MG 3 small car late this year. A small SUV is also confirmed to join the line-up in 2014. There was no talk of sales expectations at the media preview. The MG 6 is officially on sale today.

Morris Motors wrote:Well that's partly due to brand perception. A Mercedes owner wants to be treated *right* and expects performance and perfection. A Kia owner will likely as not be delighted to be offered a cup of coffee.

Longbridge charge visitors for coffee..

patpending wrote:In Germany, there is an element of showing off as here in buying Mercedes. Far more, however, there is a sense of "fitting in" and "not being different". Kia and particularly Hyundai have done extraordinarily well in the face of this recently. Company car sales are typically over half for each other model (more like ¾ for Audi and Passat) but punters are buying Kia and Hyundai despite not conforming.

Morris Motors wrote:SAIC aren't putting a marketing budget in any quantity in any territory for MG so they are obviously trying to sell by osmosis. But, with such low volumes, it makes the niggling errors even more unforgivable. The number of private customers they have is so small, they could be love-bombing them every week so that the experience and enthusiasm spreads by word of mouth. A lot of MG6 owners are in the owners club and, looking at their website, even they are starting to have a moan. What it'll be like in a remote territory with only one or two dealers......?

Morris Garages Chile receives award to the "Top Retail Distributor of year 2012"
Product of their outstanding business results during 2012, the representative of the brand in our country received, for the first time in its history, this recognition of the head office.

Morris Garages Chile received excellent news for the prize to the "Top Retail Distributor of year 2012" around the world. This distinction, awarded by the head office, was the product of historic and outstanding business results that MG has won during the past year in our country, where closed its management with a 249 percent growth.

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docjunior2008 wrote:Are Australian cars made in Birmingham then?  Considering theyre RHD?

docjunior2008 wrote:Whats happening with the MG5? Are the UK getting it?