73-578: The MG ZT is a car which was produced by MG Rover from 2001 to 2005. It was offered in saloon and estate versions, the latter designated as the MG ZT-T . Styling is similar to the Rover 75 , upon which it was based, although various modifications, most noticeably the wheels and tyres, make for a far sportier ride. Production ceased in April 2005, amidst financial turmoil at MG Rover. In 2001, three years after
146-455: A 116PS M47R unit. Customers could purchase a Xpower software upgrade, which would increase power to 131PS. In July 2003, the 120 models were launched; these were powered by the 1.8 litre K16 unit. At around the same time, the 160 models started to use the 1.8 litre turbocharged version of the K16 unit, and the detuned V6 was dropped. In around October 2003, the much awaited V8 powered MG ZT 260 model
219-532: A UK R&D and technical facility would also be developed. But on 27 August, The Daily Telegraph reported that the balance of around £47M, due on 22 August had not been paid. Citing confidentiality, the Administrators declined to comment. Because the Rover 45 range produced at Longbridge had still had significant Honda content, originating from the companies' legacy partnership with Rover and British Leyland, Honda executives moved quickly to terminate
292-461: A combination of MG Rover's own petrol and LPG K-Series and KV6 engines as well as Ford's Modular V8 and BMW's M47 diesel engine. The latter was designated M47 R to identify the unit as an MG Rover special, having been modified by MG Rover's engineers for transverse installation, with performance and refinement characteristics unique to MG Rover. The diesel MG ZT models didn't arrive until around August 2002. The MG ZT diesel models differed from
365-539: A legal dispute with Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation , which had also acquired assets of the defunct MG Rover Group. This case was won by Nanjing in February 2010. It was reported in the press in December 2009, that no new cars had been manufactured by MG Sports and Racing Europe since its founding, and that employment tribunal proceedings had been initiated by two employees, for non payment of wages. Riley
438-433: A personal relationship between Nick Stephenson and a consultant who he paid more than £1.6m in the 15-month period up to April 2005. Meanwhile, "Evidence Eliminator" software installed by Mr Beale deleted documents which were likely to have been relevant to the investigation. The investigators further accused Mr Beale of giving "untruthful" evidence during interviews. Conservative business spokesman Kenneth Clarke said it
511-463: A production car, including all requirements, was done in just three hundred days, by the Swedish company, Caran. The goal was to get a retail price of under £100,000. The car's base model eventually cost £65,000, with the uprated model XPower SV-R, costing £83,000. The production process was complex, partly caused by the use of carbon fibre , to make the body panels. The basic body parts were made in
584-588: A racing version of the V8 MG ZT260. This car was highly modified and lightened it had more power than the standard V8 and a lightweight racing bodykit. The car is now owned by an Australian MG Enthusiast who races it competitively. It is painted dark grey in colour. Nanjing Automobile of China purchased MG Rover in July 2005, three months after the company went bankrupt. Production of the MG ZT effectively resumed in
657-516: Is fitted with a 500PS supercharged 4.6 litre Ford Modular V8, similar the engine fitted to the 260 ZT. The XPower 500 has a more aggressive wide bodykit, with larger spoiler similar to the XPower 385. The car was saved by the MG Owners Club, and rebuilt using their extensive facilities and expertise. The car was allocated VIN No 001. The last competition car built by MG Sports and Racing was
730-759: Is in storage with a private owner in the UK. Most were sold in Europe and Asia, with only one model sold in America, the supercharged model, the XP. The decision to develop a niche sports car, rather than work on replacements for its core family cars, has been described as symptomatic of the strategic mistakes, that ultimately led to MG Rover's untimely demise. By the time the company entered administration in April 2005, only nine XPower SVs had been sold. Rowan Atkinson purchased an XPower SV in February 2005. The base MG XPower SV
803-411: Is powered by a 4.6 L Ford Modular V8 which is rated at 320 hp (239 kW; 324 PS) at 6,000 rpm and 410 N⋅m (302 lb⋅ft) of torque at 4,750 rpm. The SV's advanced carbon fibre body helped it achieve a top speed of 165 mph (266 km/h) and a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of 5.3 seconds. Club Sport options, for customers who wished to use their SV on
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#1732786648579876-602: The Powertrain Ltd business, for £67M. It did not acquire the Rover name, which was still owned by BMW at the time (See 'Brands' below). On 15 April 2005, it was announced that SAIC had once again rejected pleas to buy out the company. With no other rescue deal in the pipeline, the administrators were not in a position to seek further funding from the government and announced that redundancy notices to Longbridge staff (who numbered more than 6,000) would be issued. As well as
949-547: The second generation Punto , and the rear lights from the Fiat Coupé . Exterior door handles from a MG TF, Mirrors, Window switches and interior door handles from the Rover 75. In total, the production process required each vehicle to visit six different companies. According to the data at the MG XPower SV Club, approximately 82 cars were produced, excluding the four 'XP' pre production prototypes. This included
1022-461: The "MG" trademark resulted in a legal dispute with Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation , which had also acquired assets of the defunct MG Rover Group. This case was won by Nanjing in February 2010. MG SV The MG XPower SV is a sports car that was produced by British automobile manufacturer MG Rover . Manufactured in Modena , Italy and finished at Longbridge , United Kingdom, it
1095-482: The 160ps and the 190ps. The 160ps used a detuned by software, 177ps unit as found in the Rover 75. The 190ps used a unique version of the KV6 with different camshafts as well as air intake and throttle body changes. In January 2002, the next model to be launched was the 180 Auto. This model used a 177PS KV6, but with 190 cam timing and 190 throttle modifications. Then in around August 2002, the diesel models were launched with
1168-482: The 25 still used underpinnings based on the 1989 Honda Concerto and the related Series II Rover 200 , whilst the 45 was essentially a rebadged Honda Civic/Domani outfitted with a K-series engine) - a legacy from Rover's one time partnership with Honda, which necessitated paying the Japanese company significant royalties on every car sold which further dented the profitability of those models. The acclaimed Rover 75
1241-680: The Administrators announced that the principal remaining assets of the group had been sold to the Nanjing Automobile Group for around £53M, with a deposit of around $ 5M. Nanjing Automobile Group indicating that their preliminary plans involved relocating the Powertrain engine plant to China and splitting car production into Rover lines in China and MG lines in the West Midlands (though not necessarily at Longbridge), where
1314-573: The British Government had decided to withdraw its offer of a £120 million loan to keep the deal going. On 7 April 2005 the company announced that it was suspending production because of component shortages. Later in the day, it was announced by Patricia Hewitt , the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry , that the company was being placed in receivership. Her statement was based on a conversation with MG Rover chairman, John Towers . It
1387-596: The British media suggesting the Chinese company was poised to launch a takeover. Later that year, in November, news broke of an agreement between the two companies to create a joint venture company to produce up to a million cars a year, with the production shared between MG Rover's Longbridge site and locations in China. SAIC were to have a 70% stake in this company in return for a £1 billion investment, with MG Rover owning
1460-465: The European market, from Chinese-built semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits, restarted. SAIC Motor merged with Nanjing Automobile in 2007, whilst nearly three-quarters of the massive Longbridge factory had been demolished and its land sold off - the old South Works is the only part of the plant which has survived. By 2011 MG Motor UK as it is now known started production of the first all new MG in 16 years,
1533-645: The Exchequer , and Richard Burden, Labour M.P. for Birmingham Northfield visited Tony Woodley at the offices of the Transport and General Workers' Union in Birmingham and stated that there might be some hope for the future of the company, although not the original deal agreed with SAIC. In the media, any news about MG Rover was overshadowed by the Pope's funeral and the problems of the register office marriage of
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#17327866485791606-551: The K series engine in a car for the Iranian market that was based on the old Mazda 121 and Kia Pride , were also rumoured to be potential buyers. SAIC had claimed that it had already acquired intellectual property rights in some Rover products for £67 million in the autumn of 2004, including the Rover 25 , the Rover 75 and the Rover Powertrain K-series engine, but the Administrators advised that there
1679-589: The MG6. In 2013 a new super-mini was added to the line up, the MG3. This was launched in summer 2013 and during 2014 helped in making MG Motor the fastest growing vehicle manufacturer within the UK. During the spring of 2015 a new MG6 was launched and plans for a new SUV were unveiled for the following year. The UK Government commissioned reports into the collapse of the company. The National Audit Office reported in March 2006 on
1752-620: The Mark I MG ZT with twin front lights, and the second, which resembles the Mark II Rover 75 V8. A long wheelbase version, called the MG 7L, features the deeper radiator grille of the Rover 75 V8. Also released at the same time as the MG 7, the Roewe 750 appeared from the company SAIC, of which SAIC & Nanjing later merged. The Roewe 750 showed how the two companies worked, while the MG 7 retained
1825-497: The Phoenix Consortium, including tax advice while Deloitte audited MG Rover. An independent tribunal refused to grant the right to appeal a finding that Deloitte failed to consider public interest, as of November 2013. In June 2004, it was learned that Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation had signed a joint venture partnership to develop new models and technologies with MG Rover. This led to much speculation among
1898-606: The Phoenix Four were disqualified as acting as company directors for varying lengths of time, totalling 19 years. The MG Rover range initially consisted of five cars: the Mini , Rover 25 , Rover 45 , Rover 75 and MG F along with car-derived van derivatives of the 25. The Mini was only built under temporary licence during the first five months of MG Rover's existence, and since the 1980s had only been built in limited numbers. After production finished, previous owner BMW regained
1971-509: The Prince of Wales and his bride . On 10 April 2005, MG Rover announced that they had received a £6.5M loan from the British Government. This would cover workers' wages for one week while buy-out proposals were made to SAIC. The same week, SAIC denied it had ever made an offer to buy MG Rover and threatened to sue anyone who attempted to make the 25 and 75 models. SAIC purchased the technical rights to manufacture Rover's 25 and 75 models, and for
2044-643: The Rover 75 as the lower power 116ps and the higher output 131ps models were both badged as CDTi. The MG ZT and MG ZT-T were assembled at MG Rover's Longbridge plant in Birmingham , United Kingdom . The production figures for each year are given below Also in September 2003, the MG ZT-T became the World's Fastest (non production) Estate Car , with a top speed of 225.609 mph (360.9 km/h). It achieved this at 55th annual Bonneville Speed Week Nationals, on
2117-525: The SAIC tie-up went ahead, according to the Indian press. Tata claimed the report was inaccurate two days later. In January 2005, it was revealed that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had intervened to support the alliance between MG Rover and SAIC. MG Rover could not give a date on which the agreement would be finalized. In April 2005, it was reported that the partnership deal with SAIC was in trouble because
2190-571: The Salt Flats in Utah, United States. This car used an 800+bhp Roush V8 engine, with other heavy modifications. The XPower 385 ZT, was a set of concepts created by MG Rover to show the "Ultimate" version of the 260 V8. The 385 was equipped with a 385PS 4 Valve Ford Modular V8. A similar engine that was fitted in the 385 concept car and the "ultimate" ZT was later fitted in the MG SV . The development of
2263-512: The UK in 2014. The Rover brand , which had been retained by BMW and licensed to MG Rover, was sold to Ford , which had bought Land Rover from BMW in 2000. The rights to the dormant Rover brand were sold by Ford, along with the Jaguar Cars and Land Rover businesses, to Tata Motors in 2008. MG Rover Group was formally dissolved on 28 May 2023, more than 18 years after it was originally put into administration in April 2005. MG Rover
MG ZT - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-522: The UK subsidiary was renamed MG Motor UK . The MG TF was manufactured at the former MG Rover Longbridge plant and sold within the UK from 2008 to 2010. In 2011 the first all new MG for 16 years (the MG 6 ) was launched in the UK (assembled at the Longbridge factory). During 2013 a supermini was added to the line up (the MG 3 ), this went on to help MG Motor become the fastest growing car manufacturer within
2409-522: The United Kingdom by SP Systems , and then shipped to Belco Avia, near Turin , for assembly into body panels. These were then assembled into a complete body shell, and fitted onto the box frame chassis and running gear, and shipped to the factory of MG Rover, in Longbridge, to be trimmed and finished. Several of the cars’ exterior and interior parts, were sourced from current and past models of Fiat . The headlights, for example, were taken from
2482-417: The assets of both MG Rover and engine maker Rover Powertrain which, if successful, would see at least some production being restarted at Longbridge, and that talks with the other two interested parties – China's Nanjing Automobile Group and Project Kimber (a consortium of Birmingham businessmen led by David James ) – were still in progress. More than 6,000 workers at MG Rover lost their jobs when
2555-460: The away kit advertising MGs. Also, the company had sponsored the popular ITV murder drama series Midsomer Murders , in which a range of MG Rover cars were presented. All of the following brands were controlled by MG Rover, and were formerly the property of British Leyland. The Rover brand was used under licence from BMW, and was sold to Ford following the collapse of MG Rover; it was subsequently bought in 2008 by TATA. The MG XPower brand
2628-575: The base model SV, the SV-R was offered with a choice of either manual or automatic transmissions. Performance data, for the range of the MG XPower SV: In July 2008, William Riley, who claims to be a descendant of the dynasty of Riley Motor , although this has been disputed, bought XPower SV related assets from the administrators of MG Rover , PricewaterhouseCoopers . Riley formed MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd to continue production of
2701-461: The beginning of 2007, though in the form of the MG 7 . The MG 7 is a sports saloon that is built by Chinese carmaker MG Motor, derived from the MG ZT. Production started in March 2007. The MG 7 received praise from British car magazine Auto Express , who test drove it in May 2008, although it has not officially been sold in the United Kingdom. The MG 7 comes in two variants, the first which resembles
2774-518: The cars was undertaken by Prodrive, but the cars never appeared as MG Rover closed in April 2005. The cars were fitted with a wide bodykit, and featured a spoiler on the rear of the car. Before the ZT 260 was launched, MG created a special concept car: the MG XPower ZT 500. This car was intended to show off what MG can do with the ZT's chassis, and was never intended for mass production. The XPower ZT
2847-446: The chromed waistline, a new bootlid plinth, and different alloy wheels and tyres sizes. The interior featured revised seats and dashboard treatment, with new instrument faces. Engineering changes ranged, from upgraded suspension and brakes to revised engine tuning (from the Rover 75) for the petrol models. Development of the MG ZT was headed by Rob Oldaker, Product Development Director, with styling changes undertaken by Peter Stevens, who
2920-573: The classic looks of the Mark 1 ZT, SAIC opted for the Mark 2 Style Rover 75 style exterior. The cars are still actively supported by an owners club and an owners group specifically for the V8 model. MG Rover Group MG Rover Group was a British carmaker that existed between 2000 and 2005. It was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry . The company
2993-464: The company intact as a going concern, the Administrators had instructed their agents to prepare for the piecemeal sale of the very few remaining assets in the event that satisfactory negotiations for the sale of the entire business were not concluded. On 14 July 2005, it was reported that Magma Holdings, a financial group including former Ford Motor Company and General Motors executives, working in conjunction with SAIC, would be making an offer for
MG ZT - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-409: The company to proceed instead to a creditors' voluntary liquidation , setting the date for a preliminary Creditors' Meeting to be held in Birmingham on 10 June 2005. At that meeting, creditors learned that so little of value was left in the company that there would probably be negligible or even no repayment of its outstanding debt and that, although three bidders were then still negotiating to acquire
3139-428: The company went into liquidation. As many as 25,000 jobs were reported to have been lost in related supply industries, meaning that the total number of job losses brought on by MG Rover's collapse was somewhere in the region of 30,000. On 18 July, Magma Holdings and SAIC formalized their bid with a reported offer of £60M, with a number of additional conditions. However, that offer was not well received, and on 22 July,
3212-416: The few pre production and show cars, which were later dismantled before production was stopped, due to lack of sales. Most were sold to private owners, with the final ones being sold to customers, at the beginning of 2008. Three vehicles, that had been produced, but not assembled, were acquired by classic car dealer Eclectic Cars Limited in March 2013, and later completed. Another partially completed chassis
3285-471: The financial support provided to the company. It commended the DTI's contingency planning in 2004, but questioned whether the loan made in April 2005 achieved value for money. The DTI commissioned accountants BDO Stoy Hayward to report on the collapse of the company; this took four years to complete at a cost of £14.8 million. The firm issued its report to business minister Peter Mandelson in July 2009, and it
3358-616: The former Rover Group (itself the remaining rump of British Leyland , which in turn had its roots in the even older British Motor Corporation , formerly Austin and Morris ), which by now consisted solely of the Longbridge plant in Birmingham . Of the Rover Group's other two major plants; Solihull had already been divested as part of the sale of Land Rover to Ford, whilst the Cowley and Swindon plants were retained by BMW for
3431-471: The job losses at Longbridge, the months which followed the collapse of MG Rover resulted in many job losses in the supply chain, as well as jobs in MG Rover dealerships, as these businesses either went bankrupt, were faced with having to make job cuts, or in the case of some dealerships switched to different brands. By the end of April 2005, Sir Richard Branson had reportedly expressed an interest in buying
3504-453: The launch of the Rover 75 , and less than a year after the demerger of MG Rover from BMW , the MG ZT and MG ZT-T were launched. During the cars' development, the models were codenamed X10 and X11 , for the saloon and estate versions, respectively. The basic shape and styling of the MG ZT remained the same as for the Rover 75 but with changes to the front bumper, now with an integrated grille, and detail alterations including colour coding of
3577-632: The launch of the smallest model, the Indian-built CityRover , built as part of a venture with Tata , and a flagship model, the MG XPower SV , based on the Qvale Mangusta . Both cars, however, failed to achieve the sales figures that MG Rover had hoped for. MG Rover made the following vehicles during its lifetime: MG Rover sponsored Aston Villa Football Club from 2002 to 2004, with Villa's home kit advertising Rovers and
3650-484: The licensing agreement and removed tooling and assembly equipment for the car from Longbridge. Nanjing Automobile started shipping equipment from Longbridge to China on 15 September and, according to a report in The Times on Saturday, 17 September, were close to a deal with SAIC under which they would manufacture the Rover 25 and Powertrain engines while SAIC would produce a stretched Rover 75. Nanjing Automobile Group
3723-579: The market in the United States. The MG X80 was originally unveiled as the concept car , in June 2001. However, the styling was considered too sedate. When the production model, now renamed MG XPower SV , was eventually launched the following year, Peter Stevens , previously the exterior designer of the McLaren F1 , had made the car's styling more aggressive. The conversion from a clay model to
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#17327866485793796-598: The model. MG Sports and Racing Europe, based in Eardiston , near Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire , announced the relaunch of the XPower SV in April 2008, under the name MG XPower WR . Priced at between £75,000 and £90,000, the new model had the supercharged engine rated at 540 bhp (403 kW; 547 PS), and seven cars were said to have already been sold. Riley's use of the "MG" trademark resulted in
3869-452: The production of the new MINI family of vehicles. As part of these changes, all remaining Rover volume production at Cowley (essentially now just the Rover 75 as the Rover 600/800 ranges had already been discontinued by this point), was moved to Longbridge, whilst MG Rover would be allowed to continue manufacturing the original Mini at Longbridge until the new MINI was launched by BMW a year later. When BMW sold off its interests, MG Rover
3942-561: The remaining 30%. However, this agreement had to be ratified by the Chinese government, specifically its National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The Commission held the opinion that if BMW could not make a success of Rover, then it would be hard for SAIC to do so. On 8 December 2004, Tata of India, which had cooperated over the export of the Tata Indica as the CityRover , threatened to cease its agreement with MG Rover if
4015-402: The remaining assets of the company for the purpose of reviving the marque in order to enter the hybrid automobile market, and several other parties were also rumoured as wishing to buy the remnants. These included two Russian businessmen, although one of them denied any interest in buying the company's assets. The Iranian state-owned car manufacturer, SAIPA who had worked with MG Rover installing
4088-437: The rights to use the brand, and did so on an all-new car that was launched in 2001: MINI . The Rover 25 and Rover 45 were recently facelifted versions of visibly ageing mid-1990s designs, but production figures had been slightly decreased due to a fall in demand, even though the Rover 25 had been Britain's best-selling car of the month in April 2000. Both cars still had significant Honda content within their design (for example,
4161-433: The same time, as its high-power version could be purchased as a standard spec. The top power MG ZR 160 and MG ZS 180 were spec'ed to "plus" spec as standard. This only changed with the facelift of 2004 when 190 models were 190+ or 190+ SE. Many options were available from the standard list. MG Rover’s monogram programme allowed customers to almost tailor-make their ZT. The first models launched were both V6 engined versions,
4234-498: The track, were planned but never produced. The XPower SV-R, released the following year, features a Roush tuned, "cammer" 5.0 L 32 valve Modular V8. MG claimed the SV-R's engine was rated at 385 hp (287 kW; 390 PS), however some sources claim this figure is actually closer to 410 hp (306 kW; 416 PS). The top speed was estimated to be around 175 mph (282 km/h), and its 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time to be close to 4.9 seconds. Unlike
4307-429: Was also reported to have begun negotiations with at least two other potential partners, including "a wealthy San Francisco family", and, in early November, Nanjing committed to making every effort "to resume production [at Longbridge] at the beginning of 2007". In August 2008, more than three years after the facility had closed due to MG Rover's bankruptcy, assembly at Longbridge of a lightly revised MG TF roadster for
4380-684: Was based on the platform of the Qvale Mangusta , formerly the De Tomaso Biguà, itself using parts from the Ford Mustang . After acquiring Italian automobile manufacturer Qvale , MG Rover allocated the project code X80 , and set up the subsidiary company, MG X80 Ltd., to produce a new model based on the Qvale Mangusta. One attraction was the potential sales in the United States, as the Mangusta had already been homologated, for
4453-421: Was bought for a nominal £10 in May 2000 by a specially assembled group of businessmen known as the Phoenix Consortium. The consortium was headed by ex-Rover Chief Executive John Towers . When Phoenix took over, their first loss for the last eight months of 2000 were reported to be around £400m. By 2004, the company had reduced the losses to around £80m but never made a profit. MG Rover's best year for car sales
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#17327866485794526-429: Was created by MG Rover for their motorsport subsidiary, MG Sport and Racing Ltd. in 2001. It was subsequently used for the MG XPower SV sportscar , a higher powered version of the Qvale Mangusta, in 2005. After the demise of MG Rover, assets of MG Sport and Racing relating to the XPower SV were acquired from PWC , the Administrators, by the newly formed MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd. However this company's use of
4599-527: Was formed from the parts of the former Rover Group volume car production business which BMW sold off in 2000 due to constant losses and a declining market share. BMW had acquired the Rover Group from British Aerospace in 1994 and had since sold the Land Rover business to Ford , and split off the MINI business as a new BMW subsidiary based in Cowley . MG Rover took control of the volume component of
4672-489: Was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to Phoenix Venture Holdings in 2000. MG Rover went into administration in 2005 and its key assets were purchased by Nanjing Automobile Group , with Nanjing restarting MG sports car and sports saloon production in 2007. During that year Nanjing merged with SAIC Motor (the largest vehicle manufacturer in China). During 2009
4745-463: Was later denied by MG Rover Group, although the company admitted that it had engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers , the accountancy firm, to advise on its current financial situation. In the event, MG Rover placed itself in administration on 8 April 2005, a different status from receivership under British law. On 8 April 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gordon Brown , the Chancellor of
4818-473: Was launched. During the first few months of 2004, MG Rover facelifted the design of the ZT and ZT-T to a less retro look, at the same time as the Rover 75 received a facelift. The facelift didn't feature much in the way mechanical differences to the ZT, most changes were merely aesthetic and the main changes to the facelift, included the replacement of the twin headlamps, with a new, clear single headlamp unit. The MG ZT (and Rover 75 derivative) were powered by
4891-697: Was little over a year old, and after a slow start sales were rising. An estate version was launched following the shift of production from Cowley to Longbridge . The replacement for the MG F, the MG TF sports car was, inevitably, a relatively low-volume product, but it had consistently been the most popular car in its sector since its 1995 launch. The Rover 25 and Rover 45 endured disappointing sales throughout MG Rover's existence, though their MG ZR and MG ZS sports variants proved popular from their launch in 2001. The Rover 75 and its MG ZT sports variant enjoyed more popularity. The range further expanded in 2003 with
4964-482: Was previously responsible for the styling of the McLaren F1 and X180 version of the Lotus Esprit . The MG ZT only had one trim level, though the standard car could be ordered with a "Plus" pack. MG ZT models were named after engine unit power output ie a 160ps V6 model was a MG ZT 160, and a 190ps V6 model with a "Plus" pack was a MG ZT 190+. The MG ZT differed in this way to the other new MG models launched at
5037-590: Was published on 11 September 2009. The report revealed that five executives took £42m in pay and pensions from the troubled firm as it collapsed. This was possible as Techtronic, the company that held the 427 million pound loan from BMW and was owned by the Phoenix Four, charged MG Rover interest and therefore made a profit. The report focused its criticism on the Phoenix Four and chief executive Kevin Howe who oversaw its collapse. Other findings included evidence of
5110-488: Was reported to be in exclusive negotiations with GB Sports Cars, a venture by former Rover managers, to re-establish MG production at Longbridge. In late October, key ex-workers received letters from Nanjing Automobile Corp offering 10 months' work dismantling plant at Longbridge for reassembly in China while talks with GB Sports Cars continued. However, after announcing that the UK government had not offered any substantial assistance in either grants or loans, Nanjing Automobile
5183-472: Was right the report criticised the Phoenix Four, whose behaviour was "disgraceful". Lord Mandelson said the Phoenix group had not shown an "ounce of humility" about the firm's demise and they owed an apology to the firm's employees and creditors. The Serious Fraud Office declined to mount an investigation into the matter, but Mandelson instructed lawyers to prepare a case to disqualify the key figures at Phoenix from future company directorships. In May 2011,
5256-462: Was still interest in saving some other parts of the company, including MG, and 13 May 2005 was set as the deadline for bids from potential investors. On 20 May 2005, the Administrators announced that, after considering numerous proposals, they had entered talks with two unnamed "overseas companies" with a view to restarting one or more of the Longbridge production lines. Nevertheless, the following week they informed creditors that they by then expected
5329-499: Was their first full year of business, in 2001 – when they sold over 170,000 cars. In 2004 their sales had declined to around 120,000. The company ceased trading on 8 April 2005, with debts of over £1.4 billion, after a proposed alliance with SAIC collapsed. In relation to this, accounting firm Deloitte was fined £14 million (US$ 22 million) in September 2013 for failing to manage conflicts of interest. Deloitte had acted as corporate finance advisers to firms involved with MG Rover and
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