Longbridge back to work in 2007
The new Chinese owners of MG Rover are aiming to resume production at the Longbridge plant at the start of 2007.
Executives from Nanjing Automobile said that in order to do so, it would need to tie up a deal with a partner, and that it was in talks with several parties. One of the parties is GB Sports Car Company, with which Nanjing has been holding detailed talks for weeks.
Around 1,200 people would be recruited, the company added. The majority of them would be former Longbridge workers. Any deal would likely see GB retain a stake in the joint venture while management would be drawn from the two companies.
Although manufacturing equipment is being shipped to China, much equipment from Longbridge is remaining in place. The company plans to make 100,000 cars a year within five years. Plans are being taken on to develop an updated version of the Rover 45. It also emerged over the weekend that the Chinese company has written to former Longbridge employees inviting them to work in China for up to 10 months.
