Thread: Chinese automaker plans U.S. assembly plant

Chinese automaker plans U.S. assembly plant
Oklahoma factory will build historic English MG and create 550 new jobs



China’s oldest carmaker plans to build an assembly plant in southern Oklahoma to help revive a historic English automotive brand — the MG.


Updated: 21 minutes ago
OKLAHOMA CITY - China’s oldest carmaker plans to build an assembly plant in southern Oklahoma to help revive a historic English automotive brand — the MG.
Nanjing Automobile Corp. will locate a manufacturing facility and parts distribution center at the Ardmore Air Park, said Duke T. Hale, the company’s new president and chief executive.
Oklahoma City will be the site of the company’s global headquarters for sales, marketing and distribution outside of Asia. A new research and development facility will be housed at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
The Oklahoma operations are part of a global business strategy by the newly formed MG Motors, which also plans to build vehicles in Nanjing, China, NAC’s home, as well as resume production at the Longbridge assembly plant near Birmingham, England.
“We’re positioning ourselves as a global car,” Hale said. “Our vision is to try to create a world-class car in a world-class company.”
A formal announcement was planned Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
Hale said Oklahoma was one of several locations the company considered for the plant, and called the state’s incentive package “pretty darn aggressive.” The state is offering Nanjing tax breaks for job creation and a new business development fund.
At full capacity, MG Motors is expected to create about 550 jobs in Oklahoma.
MG was Britain’s last independent auto manufacturer but had not produced a new model since 1998. In the 1960s, the company turned out 40 percent of the cars bought in Britain.
The Ardmore investment comes less than five months after General Motors Corp. closed its Oklahoma City assembly plant, the first of 12 facilities the company plans to shutter by 2008 as it struggles to bring production in line with market demand. The Oklahoma City plant produced sport utility vehicles like the Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and employed 2,200 hourly and 200 salaried workers.
The cost of the proposed 300,000-square-foot assembly plant and distribution facility is not yet known, but the total capital investment in reviving the MG exceeds $2 billion, including MG’s new operations in China, reopening the facility in England and building new facilities in Oklahoma.
Nanjing acquired MG Rover Group Ltd. last year and plans to reintroduce the cars in China and Europe before the first MG rolls off the assembly line in Ardmore in the third quarter of 2008. The company expects to start construction early next year.
MG Motors plans to offer a full range of sports cars and sedans. The Oklahoma plant will produce a newly designed TF Coupe. The rear wheel drive two-seater was designed by MG’s former owners but never built.
Three sedans will be built at Nanjing’s facilities in China and the MG TF roadster will be built at the former MG Rover factory in Longbridge.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13826030/

Will they be using illegals for labor or will they be allowed to bring Communists from China to work in the plant?

We don’t need jobs bad enough to work as slaves for the Communist Chinese

Little follow up on this...

With a business plan spanning three continents, the MG sports car revival was bound to hit a few speed bumps on the way.

That was the company line Wednesday after a report surfaced that the joint venture to bring a Chinese automaker to Oklahoma could be in jeopardy.

A day after the first new MGs rolled off an assembly line in China, National Public Radio aired an interview with a Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. manager, saying the company's Oklahoma plans had been shelved.

However, Marc Nuttle, a Norman attorney and chairman of Oklahoma Global Motors LLC, said he just returned from a weeklong series of meetings with Nanjing executives in China.

"Our business plan remains on schedule to finalize these agreements,” Nuttle said in a statement. "We are in the process now of completing all due diligence.”

Nuttle did not respond to requests for further comment.

Caught by surprise, state and local officials issued a joint statement that the Oklahoma project remained on track.

"This is a complicated project, with individuals and companies on three continents, a foreign government and a former company in bankruptcy,” the statement said. "There are many details to work through and issues to be resolved, but we are committed to the project and will continue ongoing discussions with all parties involved.”

NPR aired an interview Wednesday morning with employee Paul Stowe, identified in British media reports as the quality director for Nanjing's MG division.

"My understanding is that there is no more plans with the Oklahoma plant,” Stowe told NPR. "We are discussing possible ventures in America in the future, but I don't believe there's anything on the table at the moment with Oklahoma.”

Stowe was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company, according to the joint statement from the Oklahoma Commerce Department, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the City of Oklahoma City and the Ardmore Development Authority.

"This individual is not a senior member of the team working with Oklahoma Global Motors and is not currently involved in moving the project forward,” the statement said. "Representatives from NAC MG in the U.K. (United Kingdom) have confirmed that his statement was not an official announcement by the company and reflected his own opinion and not that of management.”

Leslie Blair, a spokeswoman with the state Commerce Department, said Oklahoma Global Motors asked state officials not to comment further while the company finalizes its agreements.

Big plans were unveiled
In an economic development victory for the state, Nanjing announced plans last summer to begin North American production of the MG at a plant to be built near Ardmore. The Chinese automaker said it would partner with Nuttle's company in a joint venture that could bring up to 500 jobs to Oklahoma. Plans include the Ardmore assembly plant, a research center in Norman and corporate offices in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma project is the third step in an ambitious plan by Nanjing to reintroduce the MG, whose assets were bought out of bankruptcy in 2005.

Nanjing shipped equipment and tooling from MG's former plant in Longbridge, England, to a new factory in China. The first cars rolled off that assembly line Tuesday. Nanjing plans limited MG production at Longbridge later this year.

Oklahoma lawmakers approved $20 million from the newly created Opportunity Fund to entice Nanjing to the state. That package included $15 million for a $35 million runway expansion at the Ardmore Airpark to accommodate large cargo planes with components and parts from Nanjing in China.

Wes Stucky, chief executive officer of the Ardmore Development Authority, said airport improvements are moving along, albeit slowly. Federal aviation officials are reviewing engineering and environmental plans. Bids for construction are expected to be circulated later this spring, he said.

http://www.newsok.com/article/3033134

Last time I checked, China was still a communist country. IMO we shouldn't be trading with them and we sure as heck shouldn't be allowing them to prosper here in America.

I still would'nt buy a Chinese car!