Communauté RoverMG-France > Les prototypes MG/Rover/Roewe
Une nouvelle MG (ou Austin-Healey ou AC) l'ex Smart Roadster
Fantomas:
cf austinrover.co.uk
--- Citer ---CONSIDERING that MG died a good six months ago it is proving to be surprisingly mobile. As the production equipment sails gracefully over the horizon and on to China, it looks like the brand could be moving to Coventry. Project Kimber, named after Cecil Kimber the founder of MG, has emerged with corporate physician David James in his new role as the white knight. This is the first time for years that a bona fide businessman has been fighting for the little sports car.
If the stories are correct then Project Kimber is more than just a name on a file. David James first tabled the idea when MG Rover collapsed back in April last year. Since then his tenacity has not diminished. It looks like he has purchased from Nanjing Automotive what he originally wanted, the MG name, but for around half the £53m the whole company fetched. While Nanjing have failed to come up with a credible plan for restarting Longbridge Project Kimber has been quietly gathering momentum. It is thought that the MG-TF might be part of the deal with Nanjing since there is not much call for sports cars in China. It is equally likely that the SV supercar was given the shortest of shrifts.
The MG-TF might have been the highest selling sports car in the UK but jump starting production would entail delicate negotiations with wounded suppliers. In any case, one sports car does not make a summer. Mercedes Benz have been trying to unload the luckless Smart division for some time, and it looks like David James has been canny enough to rescue the Roadster. Early suggestions are that he snapped up the design and production capability for a bargain £13.7 million. This is might even include some kind of dowry, rather in the fashion that BMW offered financial inducements to rid itself of Rover. The main financial backing, though, comes from Access Capital with European American Securities and a mysterious wealthy individual. The success in arranging this further underlines the lack of progress in the ambitions of Nanjing and GB Sports Car to relaunch the MG range from Longbridge.
David James has gathered a team of around 30 engineers, not enough to design a new car but well capable of sorting an existing design. This suggests that the Smart Roadster can be effectively reworked as an MG Midget. Although it was an economic failure for Mercedes Benz it was well designed and perhaps only lacked heritage. The MG badge will change that, along with tangible modifications for added authenticity. While the TF could take a year to put back into production, more if an engine supplier does not come forward, the Roadster can be more easily transferred. Mercedes Benz will do all it can to smooth the handover and crucially should guarantee supply of critical parts such as engines.
There are considerable risks attached to the programme. A factory has yet to be confirmed and the government still have not grasped the strategic importance of the car industry to Britain. There is also the destruction of the MG Rover dealer network, once 270 strong and now probably less than half that, subsisting on servicing and used car sales. Fortunately, sports cars do not require such comprehensive national coverage and what remains of the network would suffice.
On the positive side we have one of the most respected names in the business world who is resolute in his belief in the commercial logic of the proposal, one that bears an uncanny resemblance to the plan of an equally adept business operator, Jon Moulton. There is solid financial backing by a group of hard nosed capitalists, plus practical support from Mercedes Benz, the oldest and most famous car manufacturer in the world. With the shelf life of a sports car being longer than for mainstream models at around ten years there is time for MG to find its feet in the market and create its own designs for the future. It seems that all the elements are in place for a rapid revival. It might be possible to have new MG Midgets on the road within six months, or just in time for the start of the English summer.
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Donc un indépendant qui aurait le droit d'utiliser le nom :mg: (comment ?)
Le produit: l'ex SMART Roadster reccarrossé et rebaptisé MG Midget.
Les moteurs: mystère surement les 3 cylindres Turbo Mercedes, mais si ils onservent la boîte séquentielle ... :L
Bref le futur est encore flou :jap:
bricar:
traduction svp :twisted: :twisted:
Fantomas:
Victoire :) :sol:
http://www.forum-auto.com/sqlforum/section1/sujet366526.htm#bas
--- Citer ---GERMANY: UK consortium wins right to sporty Smarts
20 Feb 2006
Source: just-auto.com editorial team
DaimlerChrysler’s Smart division has given the British ‘Project Kimber’ consortium the green light to build its roadster and roadster-coupe once they are discontinued by the German-US automaker.
A contract for the licence to redesign, produce and sell the former smart models will be drawn up within the next few months, DC said in a statement on Monday.
The British consortium will sell the vehicles under a different brand, probably reviving one of the famous ‘MG Rover’ sportscar brands, according to recent press speculation.
DaimlerChrysler said smart and the British consortium signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last Friday, 17 February.
The MoU also includes the consortium's intention to purchase production equipment for both models no longer needed by smart.
Smart last year decided to axe the roadster and roadster-coupe models as part of a major restructuring.
Final, limited-production versions dubbed ‘collectors edition’ will be displayed at the Geneva motor show at the end of this month.
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Pas sûr du tout que ce soit sous la marque :mg: je verrai bien Austin-Healey pour ma part :) , en attendant les versions collector edition de la Smart Roadster vont être présentées à Genève .
Fantomas:
Avalaible in French now
--- Citer ---Protocole d'accord sur la licence de la Smart Roadster
La filiale Smart de DaimlerChrysler a annoncé lundi avoir signé un protocole d'accord avec un consortium britannique baptisé "Project Kimber" sur la vente de la licence de son défunt modèle Roadster.
"Le but du protocole d'accord est de rédiger ensemble un contrat dans les mois qui viennent qui permette aux Britanniques de reconcevoir, construire et vendre les anciens modèles Smart Roadster et Roadster coupé sous une marque différente", explique Smart dans un communiqué. La marque entend aussi vendre les équipements nécessaires à la production des deux modèles dont elle n'a plus l'utilité.
Plusieurs quotidiens britanniques ont rapporté vendredi que le consortium Kimber de l'homme d'affaires britannique David James désirait contruire des voitures à deux places en utilisant la marque MG Rover. Une source proche du dossier avait en revanche jugé improbable que le constructeur automobile chinois Nanjing, qui a racheté ce qui restait de MG Rover après la faillite du constructeur en avril dernier et qui a pour ambition de produire jusqu'à 80 000 voitures par an, revende l'activité à David James.
La marque MG de Rover, pour Morris Garages, reste célèbre pour ses petites décapotables sportives produites à partir des années 60. Le constructeur germano-américain DaimlerChrysler a pour sa part arrêté en novembre dernier la production des versions Roadster et coupé de la Smart dans le cadre d'une restructuration de grande envergure de la marque qui n'a encore jamais gagné d'argent depuis sa naissance. Daimler a également renoncé à son projet de version 4x4 compact pour se recentrer sur le modèle d'origine à deux places, la ForTwo, et sur sa version quatre places, la ForFour.
La semaine dernière, le président du directoire de Daimler et patron de la division Mercedes, Dieter Zetsche, a déclaré à des analystes que Smart avait réduit sa perte opérationnelle en 2005 après un trou de 600 millions d'euros environ en 2004. Il a également dit vouloir donner à la division le temps d'atteindre son objectif d'un résultat à l'équilibre l'an prochain, mais a déjà chargé Goldman Sachs de sonder les parties qui pourraient s'avérer intéressées par le rachat de la marque Smart.
Reuters
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http://www.autoactu.com/index.php?page=2&id_actu=2514
Rover820i:
Youpi (^^)
Merci :)
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