Longbridge machinery shipped to China

Machinery from the MG Rover factory at Longbridge has started to be shipped to China, after the car maker's assets were bought by the Nanjing Automobile Group.

The first equipment left the site on 15 September. Nanjing bought the main assets of MG Rover and the engine maker Powertrain in July for around £53 million, after the companies collapsed into administration in April.

A painful sight

For former workers, the sight of machinery leaving Longbridge is hard to take. The factory has made cars for 100 years, since Herbert Austin began production there in 1905, and at its peak employed tens of thousands of people.

The collapse of MG Rover in April left more than 5,000 people out of work at Longbridge, with thousands more jobs lost at suppliers across the region. Many former workers are still looking for new jobs, and training and support schemes have been set up to help them.

What Nanjing plans

Nanjing has said it plans to move the Powertrain engine plant to China and to make Rover models there. It has also said it wants to restart production of MG sports cars in Britain, though not necessarily at Longbridge.

The company has held talks with a group of former Rover managers about reviving MG production, but no deal has been announced. Some former workers have been offered temporary jobs helping to take the equipment apart so it can be rebuilt in China.

Nanjing's rival, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which had held talks about a partnership with MG Rover before the collapse, also has an interest in some of the designs. The two Chinese firms are said to be discussing how to share the Rover models between them.

The collapse

MG Rover went into administration on 8 April, after talks over a partnership with Shanghai Automotive broke down. The company had been bought from BMW for £10 in 2000 by a group of businessmen known as the Phoenix Consortium, who promised to keep car production going at Longbridge.

Despite some success with new MG models, the company lost money and struggled to develop new cars. The government has ordered an inquiry into the collapse and the running of the company.

What next for Longbridge?

The future of the Longbridge site is now a major question for the city. The land is owned by the property firm St Modwen, which has plans for new homes, businesses and a town centre on part of the site.

Birmingham City Council and Bromsgrove District Council are drawing up a joint plan for the area, which will guide how it is redeveloped. Local people want to see new jobs brought to the area, to replace those that have been lost.

For now, many in the south of the city are hoping that some car production will return. The shipping of equipment to China suggests that, whatever happens, Longbridge will never again be the giant car factory it once was.