MG production extended

Press, 6 December 1979, Page 23

MG production extended

The famous MG sports car has been given a stay of execution by British Leyland. Production of the MGB is nto be extended next year by six months, and the introduction of another car to carry the MG badge is to be brought forward to ensure the continuity of the marque as a BL product. The new MG will be a disguised derivative of the Triumph TR7 and will be built at Solihill, alongside the TR7. The move could see another new MG later, perhaps a revived Lynx two-plus-two. BL has now heeded some of the protests of angry MG lovers and decided not to put the famous badge on the 1982

Maxi-Allegro replacement. It has also dropped plans to use the badge on the BL-Honda Bounty, due out in 1981. Pressure from American dealers has been the main reason for BL’s change of heart on the controversial MG question. Some dealers had been thinking of suing the troubled British giant, as they would have been left with nothing to sell when the MG faded away. Incidentally, Morris Garages, Ltd. the company set up by William Morris, later Viscount Nuffield, to act as Morris distributors, and whose initals gave MG its name is to close on December 14. The firm recently lost its AustinMorris franchise.