22/02/2006

Nanjing signs new lease for Longbridge site

Chinese car manufacturer Nanjing Automobile, the firm that bought parts of the MG Rover group, has signed a new lease with the owners of the Longbridge plant.

The deal will allow car production to resume at the Birmingham site, which closed with the loss of around 6,000 jobs last year after Rover collapsed.

Nanjing, which purchased Rover for £50 million, signed a 33-year lease with Longbridge owners St Modwen Properties on Wednesday. However, the deal includes a six-month get out clause, which will allow Nanjing to pull out of the deal if it does not prove viable in the long-term.

Under the deal, Nanjing will pay rent of around £1.8 million per year for 105 acres of the 469-acre site, which covers the South Works section of the former Rover premises. This includes two car assembly plants, a paint shop and offices.

Nanjing's chairman, Wang Hongbiao, said he was "delighted" to have reached the deal. He said: "This means that we can move forward with our business plan to build cars at Longbridge.

"The MG brand is famous and we are proud to project it into an exciting future."

Nanjing said that they would begin manufacturing MG TF sports cars at the site in 2007.

(KMcA)

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