8 MGE AUGUST 2019 http://www.mgenthusiast.comhe exciting MG6 XPower TCR
Trophy appeared at the Shanghai
Motor Show in April and we still
await further news. Whilst the idea of
an MG entry in the TCR racing series
is attractive for most MG marketing
teams, neither the UK nor Australia are
yet part of the equation; we checked
and Danny Lenartic of MG Motor
Australia & New Zealand confirmed
rumours of a TCR entry in China in
2020, but said he knew no more.
Meanwhile, SAIC Deputy General
Manager, Yu Jingmin, was interviewed
by local media at Shanghai and enthused
about a new ‘MG XPower High-
performance Sports Division’, suggesting
parallels with Mercedes-Benz AMG,
BMW M-Power and Audi RS sub-brands.
Yu Jingmin said that the MG
XPower function would spearhead
‘research, development, competition,
production, modification’ and would
comprise a ‘multi-dimensional force,
the launch of the new MG models as
a return to the track – with the MG
XPOWER TCR and the X-Power reward
programme.’ Most enticingly, he
MG XPOWER High-performance Sports Division
suggested that: ‘in the future, ultra-
high-performance models such assports cars and high-performance
production cars will be introduced.’T
It is not just in China, India and Thailand that MG is growing
its portfolio and production facilities. In June, SAIC signed
another joint venture deal with its Egyptian distributor, Mansour
Automotive Group. SAIC’s Chairman, Chen Hong, travelled to
Cairo accompanied by the Mayor of Shanghai for a ceremony
celebrating the announcement, which establishes Mansour as
SAIC’s exclusive local export source. The ambitious Egyptian MG
plans include a promise of locally-built cars by mid-2020, with the
ZS EV part of the Egyptian-assembly equation. Already on sale in
Egypt, albeit imported, are the MG 360, MG ZS, MG6 and MG RX5.SAIC to build MGs in Egypt
ABOVE: For China, SAIC has launched the ‘MG XPOWER Reward Programme’.
MG has established a reward fund for those racing the MG TCR in 2020. The
total prize fund amounts to over 10 million Yuan (about £1.15million).SAIC opens up a new shipping route
SAIC’s first shipping route to the west coast of
South America was launched in June, with a ship
carrying more than 3,000 vehicles manufactured
by Chinese automakers. This is SAIC’s third
international shipping route, following Southeast
Asia and Mexico, both launched in 2016.
The new route will take from 30 to 35 days
to arrive at ports in South America, the fastest
such route so far. Around 15,000 SAIC cars were
exported to Chile, Peru and a few neighbours
in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 101%.
MG became the fastest-growing passenger
vehicle type in the South American market
in sales last year. “A total of 277,000 vehicles
from SAIC Motor were sold overseas last year,
a year-on-year increase of 62.5%, making it
the nation’s leading whole-vehicle exporter
for three years in a row,” said Chen Hong,
Party Secretary and SAIC Motor Chairman.Get the MG train (in Shanghai)
From June, SAIC has sponsored the high-speed ‘bullet train’ out
of Shanghai’s Hongqiao Station, with a special MG6 livery. The
arrangement is set to last at least until the end of 2019.
ABOVE: The current MG range in Chile, which is one
of the highest performing brands in the region,
will benefit greatly from the new shipping route.