MG Motor UK has opened its global design headquarters today at the former Longbridge site in Birmingham.
The £5m design studio and technical centre will house 300 designers and engineers.
Cars designed there will be sold in both the UK and in China. The scheme marks the biggest investment at the former plant since the collapse of MG Rover in 2005.
MG Motor UK is a subsidiary of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), China’s largest automotive business, which owns the MG brand.
Production of the MG6 fastback will move to Longbridge later this year, while the MGTF sports car is already built there.
A spokesman for MG Motor UK said: “This centre of excellence sits at the heart of the MG Birmingham plant where a new family of MG models are currently being designed and engineered.”
MG Rover went into administration in April 2005 with the loss of 6,000 jobs. SAIC bought much of the company’s property after its collapse and Chinese rival Nanjing Automobile Group acquired what was left of the MG Rover group.
The two companies merged in 2007.
