The Transport & General Workers Union is calling for urgent talks with Nanjing Automotive to discover the impact of the Chinese carmaker's decision to open a plant in the US on its plans to restart car manufacturing at the former MG Rover site at Longbridge.
The union expressed "surprise and concern" at the news that Nanjing is planning to assemble cars in the US by building a plant in Oklahoma. The plant would assemble MG-branded cars.
"There have been some concerns about Nanjing revising its plans downwards in respect of Longbridge. Taking these together the T&G is calling for an urgent meeting with the company to find out exactly what they are now planning for carmaking in the UK," Dave Osborne, the union's national secretary for the car industry, said.
Nanjing confirmed today it had signed a letter of intent with investors to set up the North American MG Motor Company in Oklahoma. It said it was discussing setting up a vehicle and CKD export base in China, an MG car assembly plant in the US and "the implementation of the proposed business plan in MG's home base in Longbridge". CKD cars are those in which the parts are made in one place with final assembly taking place elsewhere. Nanjing did not identify the investors to whom it is talking.
Nanjing paid £53m for many of the assets of MG Rover when the UK company collapsed last year. It has moved much of the production equipment to its home base in China but has also taken on a lease for part of the Longbridge site.
In the past it has indicated that it intends to restart production at the Midlands plant next year, initially making the MG TF sports car. Nanjing officials have estimated the restart could bring between 600 and 1,000 jobs back to Longbridge which closed last year with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs. It is due to unveil detailed proposals on Monday.
Nanjing has been negotiating with a number of potential partners and its officials have argued that its plans are feasible because it would be operating on a smaller scale than MG Rover and would be able to take advantage of low-cost components sourced from China. It has signed a 33-year lease for part of the Longbridge site but has a break clause, exerciseable next month, which would allow it to walk away.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce said yesterday the US project would create about 500 jobs. It is understood that the plant would assemble cars from parts shipped from China. According to the US magazine Automotive News the plant would build between 12,000 and 16,000 cars a year with just over half going to the US and the rest to Europe.
The leader of Birmingham city council, Mike Whitby, who has been heavily involved in efforts to retain car production at Longbridge yesterday welcomed news about US involvement in the MG brand.
Mr Whitby said: "Adding more partners to the project can only help to open up new markets for their products, which means more jobs in the long run for Birmingham people."
