SAIC MG6 Five-Door

SAIC MG6 Five-Door

It is no secret that MG has been owned by a Chinese business group, Shanghai Auto, for a while now. It is also no secret that Shanghai Auto has been a partner of General Motors and Volkswagen, which is only fitting considering the Rover V8 of the ‘60s were a GM design. Old habits do tend to die hard, but in this instance that is probably a breath of fresh air for MG enthusiasts since the announcement that the MG6 five-door hatchback will be manufactured in the U.K for their European customers.

In fact, the new MG6 has even been primarily developed in the U.K. and will be produced at the former MG Rover plant in Longbridge, England. The final production version of the MG6 was revealed yesterday at the 2009 Guangzhou Auto Show and is really the first glimpse we have seen of it since the prototype debut at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. The production model is supposed to roll our initially to Chinese automotive market initially with those cars being manufactured in China. Then in late 2010 the U.K. plant is supposed to ramp up to supply Europe.

No plans have been announced for the U.S. market, which isn’t really a surprise since they don’t really have a point of entry at the moment. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes in the future and we start to see MGs on U.S. streets again.