MG has pulled the plug on its Longbridge assembly operation.
Production of the MG3 and GS suv will end and 25 line workers will be made redundant as the only other jobs in the West Midlands centre are 400 technical, reasearch and development, which will continue.
Longbridge opened over 100 years ago and in its heyday covered 400 acres straddling two counties but it saw manufacturing suspended in 2005 and MG was restarted in 2011 with final assembly of models imported from China and made UK legal.
It was said at the time of the reintroduction that Longbridge would give MG a doorway into Europe and favourable import terms but the decision to leave the EU has meant this advantage is lost.
Now any UK models will be directly shipped from China and no finishing will be done in the UK.
It is too early to say if this decision will impact on the re-emergence of MG brand among loyal British owners who have boosted business over the last few years with a small network of mostly family owned dealerships, who will be seeking reassurance of continuing and uninterrupted supplies of orders.
