SAIC,the parent company behind MG Motor is considering opening a new factory dedicated to building the MG4 electric car somewhere in Europe. The company hasn’t revealed any concrete information about where the location will be yet. However, we can expect SAIC to make the decision in the next few years.
William Wang, the head of MG Europe gave some insight into the decision process. While the company hasn’t yet decided on a location, the production cost will be significantly more expensive than it is in China.
“We need to check the energy costs, the labour costs, just everything, to find out which country is best. We need a very detailed calculation.”
William Wang – Head of MG Motor Europe
A candidate for the factory is the original MG Rover plant in Longbridge, near Birmingham in the UK. The plant hasn’t been used since 2016 and is currently used as a research and development centre. While SAIC owns the location, it would need significant investment to get the place ready to make cars again.
The UK would make a lot of sense for a new MG factory, as currently the UK is the largest European market for MG.