This week has seen the sad, yet slightly inevitable, news that MG are halting production of the recently refreshed (even that might be an overstatement!) MG TF at Longbridge due to a lack of sales. So could this finally be the end of MG? And could, or more poignantly should, this most recent embarrassment have been avoided by letting the long running brand bail out at the same time Rover went under?I suppose the question I’m asking is, when is enough enough? There have been a number of companies who have tried to resurrect both Rover and MG over the years, but as soon as one fails, another one ploughs in some money in a vain attempt to keep a good old British brand from drowning. From where I’m sitting there is only a finite amount of times that a brand can be relaunched and try to re-attract customers. If you’ve failed once, people are likely to give you a second chance. If you’ve failed four or five times….well, what’s different this time? Why should I buy your product?
The issue is, MG don’t produce cheap, FMCG goods that you can try to see if you like before making a regular purchase. MG produce cars. Cars are expensive, high-involvement purchases that people put a lot of thought into before buying. If you’re spending the best part of £15,000 on something, you want to be assured that if it breaks down in two months time your dealer will still be there and able to honour the warranty. If you can’t place this level of trust in a company, are you likely to buy their product?
In my mind, the trust has gone. I would be very surprised if MG sold any more cars. And I don’t think there is any point in trying. People cannot come back from the dead, why should brands be any different?
I don’t want to appear to be having a go at MG but their cars ended life as reworked Rovers…not as real MG cars, which is a shame given their rich heritage of cars throughout the years. The MGB, for example, is one of the greatest British sports cars ever made…sadly the same cannot be said of the MG TF, ZR or ZT.
Although it pains me to say it, I really do hope this is the end of the road for MG. In a time when consumers are becoming more fickle with their money, and there is more choice than ever, MG will undoubtedly get lost amongst newer, well respected brands, relying only on a history which is slipping further and further back in time.
