MG, now owned by China’s SAIC Group, will stop making cars in the UK this year after the parent company decided to move full production back to China.
The company said the move will result in a more efficient production cycle, as all production will be done in China.
The company has outright denied the decision to cut production has anything to do with the “Brexit” vote over the summer, ANE reported.
“[Ending production] will ensure global market competitiveness and support long-term investment into new product lines,” MG said in a statement on September 23.
The company said the job losses at the UK plant will not be huge, with only 25 jobs lost on the small assembly line.
Production restarted in the former MG Rover plant in 2011 with the MG6 midsize car as part of a drive to assure customers that MG was still British in character. SAIC acquired MG in 2007 after taking over Nanjing Automobile, which bought MG Rover following the UK automaker’s collapse in 2005.
At the time, Iranian automakers were also vying to buy the car company, but were pipped at the post by the Chinese auto giant.
MG has struggled to gain traction after it reentered the British market with only 3,152 cars sold in the UK since that date.
The Chinese produced vehicles are readily available inside Iran through local distributors.
