MG Dealer Launch: feedback from the frontline
Clive Goldthorp
NAC MG UK Limited’s 44 new MG Dealers held an Open Weekend
to launch the TF LE500 last weekend. AROnline therefore took the opportunity
to visit several MG Dealers prior to and during the weekend in order to obtain
some feedback about both the TF LE500 and the re-birth of the MG marque from
both the Dealers and their potential customers.
A.E.Wilcox and Son Limited of Wickwar in Gloucestershire (above)
are now probably the oldest BMC>MG dealership in the country and, prior to
the event, Director Tim Wilcox was cautiously optimistic about the prospects
for the Open Weekend. Tim now reports that he was particularly pleased with
the initial response on the Saturday when a Graphite Grey TF LE500 was sold
and says that the Open Weekend also generated at least two other good prospects.
Interestingly, Tim does not reckon that MG’s September re-launch of the
TF will have had too much of an adverse impact on sales because of this summer’s
poor weather and remains pretty excited about MG’s prospects given what
has already been disclosed about NAC MG UK’s Future Product Programme.
Martin Bentley, Dealer Principal of Advantage MG, the MG Dealership
owned by the MG Owners’ Club Limited and based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire,
said that the publication of a Press Release in last Friday evening’s
Cambridge Evening News had resulted in a constant stream of prospective customers
who ranged from twenty-somethings with disposable incomes to fifty-something
empty-nesters who had always wanted an MG but had never owned one. Forty or
so members of the MG F Register visited Advantage MG on the Saturday which was,
as a result, busier than the Sunday. One potential purchaser had commented that
he had no need for the TF LE500’s air-conditioning and hardtop and was,
therefore, very keen to know the price of the standard TF 135…
Andy Woodall, Senior Sales Executive at Royles Group PLC’s
new MG Dealership in Prestbury, Cheshire, was also delighted with the response
to the Open Weekend. Ten potential customers had taken Test Drives on the Sunday,
a deposit had been taken on the company’s Vibrant Orange Demonstrator,
one other order has also been confirmed and two other potential leads generated.
Graham Walker of Cheshire’s other MG Dealer, Graham Walker
Limited in Chester, reported that the Open Weekend had resulted in one confirmed
order and generated two good enquiries. Graham’s company had only completed
the MG Franchise Agreement a matter of days before the event and, in those circumstances,
he was quite pleased with the response but, in common with most of the other
MG Dealers contacted by AROnline, Saturday had been busier than Sunday.
The Dealer Principals at the two Cheshire-based MG Dealers which
AROnline visited last Saturday kindly gave permission for some of those
attending their respective Open Weekends to be interviewed and the comments
made by the interviewees were generally pretty positive:
– Gregory Jackson, an MG ZT 260 owner from Heald Green
in Greater Manchester, reckoned that the TF LE500’s build quality was
visibly improved over that of the older MGR-built versions of the TF and added
that, at £16,399, the car was “a bargain when compared to a Mazda
MX5 1.8i with the same specification.” However, Mr. Jackson also remarked
that many members of the British public still did not realise that MGs were
back in production at Longbridge – NAC MG UK still had more work to do
if awareness levels were to be raised.
– Graham Jackson, who also hails from Heald Green and drives
an MG ZT 190+, endorsed his brother’s comments while adding that MG really
needed to return to Motor Racing in order to re-establish the brand. Graham
also thought that NAC MG UK should do more to emphasise the modifications made
to the N-Series engine in the TF LE500 and subsequent TF 135s.
– Barry Brownleader, from Bowdon in Greater Manchester,
owns an immaculate 1961 MG A 1600 MkII and was “very impressed”
by the TF LE500 which was “beautifully put together.” He believes
that MG’s re-launch marks “the start of China as a serious car manufacturing
nation. Other OEMs should not underestimate the Chinese.”
– Gilly Wood, from Pott Shrigley in Cheshire, and her husband
were thinking about buying a TF LE500 for their daughter. Gilly has been a lifelong
MG enthusiast but has never had the chance to own one. She described the TF
LE500 as “stylish” but would have liked the car to have had a 5
Star NCAP rating. However, she reckoned that, given the high specification,
the TF LE500 was “very good value” and was “more affordable
than in the past.” Gilly also thought that “re-launching MG with
a revised version of a well-established product is a good idea.”
– MG Owners’ Club and MG Car Club member Joe Gordon
Brown from Gately in Greater Manchester has always owned MGs – his first
was a 1931 F Type and he currently has a 1998 MG F Abingdon (which has done
just 3000m), a 1981 MGB LE Roadster and a re-shelled 1968 MG B Roadster which
was awarded as a prize when the MGOC’s credit card was launched. Joe reckoned
that NAC MG UK had been right to re-launch the brand with a well-established
and recognisable model but had reservations about the choice of Vibrant Orange
as the launch colour whilst understanding the marketing rationale behind that
decision. Joe had serious regrets about the MG brand now being in foreign ownership
but "was very pleased that NAC had acquired the marque when no one else
had any interest.” He was “very appreciative of SAIC Motor/NAC’s
enthusiasm and optimistic that they would be good custodians” of the marque.
Joe added that “new MGs should sell themselves if quality and pricing
are spot on” but thought that “the retention of Longbridge as a
production base will be vital in order to maintain the historic link with the
past.”
– Heather Woolley from Winsford in Cheshire said that “an
MG Roadster has always been my dream car” and had, in fact, been intending
to buy an MG TF in April, 2005 when MG Rover Group Limited went into administration.
She replaced her existing Rover 75 1.8 Club with a 75 1.8 Connoisseur in June,
2005 and had since been waiting patiently for the opportunity to buy a new MG
TF. Heather has decided to buy a TF LE500 because of the enhanced specification
and intends to keep her current Rover 75 as well.
All the existing MG owners and potential customers interviewed
by AROnline welcomed the re-birth of MG and the launch of the TF LE500
– if that warm welcome has been repeated at the other new MG Dealers up
and down the UK and can, more importantly, be translated into sales, then MG’s
new journey will, indeed, have begun in an encouraging and positive manner.