名爵MG

Who owns MG? The ownership chain, SAIC Motor's stake and the 2007 deal

Facts checked Chinese holding 100%

MG is Chinese-owned. The Birmingham marque's assets were bought out of MG Rover's 2005 collapse by Nanjing Automobile, which SAIC Motor absorbed in 2007; SAIC is the Shanghai municipal state-owned carmaker and has run MG ever since. Design work continues at Marylebone in London, but every MG sold today is engineered and, apart from locally assembled cars in Thailand, India and a few other markets, built by SAIC.

SAIC has owned MG since it merged with Nanjing Automobile on 26 December 2007. It did not buy the brand directly: Nanjing had bought MG Rover's assets in 2005, while SAIC had separately bought the Rover 75 and 25 designs and the K-series engine in 2004.

The short answer

Controlled by SAIC Motor
Stake100%
Since26 December 2007
Kindbrand
OriginGB
Name in Chinese 名爵 Míngjué “MING-jweh”
Top of the chainShanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
Is it Chinese? Yes

The chain, step by step

  1. Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission controls SAIC Motor since 1995.

    The Shanghai municipal state-assets commission is SAIC Motor's ultimate controller, holding its shares through the wholly state-owned parent Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group). Published figures for the parent's holding in the listed company cluster between about 63% and 68%; no figure carrying its own date could be confirmed from an SAIC filing, so the stake is left null.

  2. SAIC Motor owns MG at 100% since 26 December 2007.

    SAIC has owned MG since it merged with Nanjing Automobile on 26 December 2007. It did not buy the brand directly: Nanjing had bought MG Rover's assets in 2005, while SAIC had separately bought the Rover 75 and 25 designs and the K-series engine in 2004.

Former owners

Holdings that have ended. They are here because the story needs them and are never part of the current tree.

  1. Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation formerly held MG at 100% from July 2005 until 26 December 2007.

    Nanjing Automobile bought the MG marque and MG Rover's plant assets from the administrators in July 2005 for about £53 million, outbidding SAIC. It held the brand for two and a half years until SAIC absorbed the company.

  2. MG Rover Group Limited formerly held MG at 100% from 2000 until July 2005.

    MG Rover Group at Longbridge was the last British owner of the marque, created when BMW broke up Rover Group in 2000. It went into administration in April 2005 and its assets were sold that July.

Every holding above this entity, with the stake and the date it began.
Holder Holds Kind Stake Since
Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission SAIC Motor controls controls 1995
SAIC Motor MG owns 100% 26 December 2007

MG: questions people ask

Who owns MG?
SAIC Motor, the vehicle group owned by the city of Shanghai. It has held the brand since 26 December 2007, when it merged with Nanjing Automobile, which had bought MG's assets out of administration in 2005.
Is MG still British?
The marque is British in origin and still has a design and engineering office in Birmingham, but the company is Chinese-owned and the cars are built in China, Thailand, India and Indonesia. Volume production at the last British plant, Longbridge, ended in 2005.
What does MG stand for?
Morris Garages, the Oxford dealership that Cecil Kimber managed for William Morris and where the first MGs were built in 1924.
Is MG sold in the United States?
No. MG has no US sales operation and none has been announced. The badge was last sold in America in 1980, under British Leyland.
What is MG called in China?
名爵 (Míngjué, roughly 'MING-jweh'), characters chosen to echo the English initials while reading as 'renowned nobility'.

Related

Sources for MG

  1. MG Motor Middle East, MG Heritage & History. Read . MG's own heritage timeline: 1924 founding at Morris Garages, Cecil Kimber, the move to Abingdon.
  2. NBC News, MG Rover sold to Chinese automaker. Read . July 2005: Nanjing Automobile's purchase of the MG Rover assets.
  3. Wikipedia, MG Motor. Read . Finding aid for the 26 December 2007 SAIC–NAC merger, the Chinese name 名爵 (Míngjué), the plants and the JSW arrangement in India.
  4. SAIC Motor, SAIC Motor reports record sales in 2025. Read . Published 7 January 2026; MG's 2025 volumes in Europe, India and Thailand.
  5. MG Motor Europe, MG Motor Europe. Read . Country selector, used for the European market list.
  6. Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), Uncertainty continues following sale of MG Rover to Nanjing Automobile Corporation. Read . The 2005 collapse and sale from a European public body's account.
  7. Wikipedia, List of automobile manufacturers of China. Read . SAIC Motor listed under local-government state ownership with MG Motor, Roewe, IM Motors, Maxus, Wuling and Baojun.
  8. Wikipedia, MG ZS (crossover). Read . SAIC plants at Zhengzhou and Lingang; assembly in Thailand, India and Indonesia.
  9. SAIC Motor, Company Profile. Read .
  10. Wikipedia, SAIC Motor. Read . Gives 62.69% for the Shanghai state-assets commission, without a date.