[archedestral]

Nanjing Vs SAIC - Another British View.

It's been interesting to see how the whole MG Rover story has unfolded. It now looks as if SAIC will sell the Rover 75 in the UK (badged Rover) and as if Nanjing will sell the MG ZT.

However if the first battle is a battle for "hearts and minds" then Nanjing is thrashing SAIC in the UK at the moment. Many loyal MG/Rover owners are saying on fan forums that they will opt for the Nanjing model over the SAIC model because Nanjing is respecting MG's heritage by making the TF in the UK.

It’s a close run thing, however at the moment, the biggest employer of ex Rover staff (indirectly) is SAIC through its development project of the 75 with Ricardo.

We in Britain are going to have to get used to less and less being built here. The UK average manufacturing wage rate is $24.71 compared to $0.61 in China. We can't escape globalisation and the effects that it will have on industry; China and other lower wage countries will become increasingly the mainstays of manufacturing.

Personally, I would rather back the company that puts large investment into British R&D than small-scale kit assembly of cars. R&D in this country is where the sustainability of manufacturing lies. The British cannot compete in terms of cost any more, we have to concentrate on added value sectors such as R&D. If Nanjing put their R&D over here as well then I'd say that Nanjing have a good case to win in this country. However, in a press release in June, they said they were putting R&D in America........we'll have to wait and see!!

Great forum by the way - China to me is the most exciting and vibrant automotive sector in the world at the moment, even if most of the cars are a bit on the drab side - they won't stay like that for long......:thumb: