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NEW MGTF IS BIG HIT AS 3,000 SALES ORDERS MADE
LONGBRIDGE'S newest MG has left all its sports car rivals standing - with 3,000 advance orders revving up huge demand for the car.
The MGTF, successor to the famed MGF, has been so successful MG Rover has already increased the model's output from 330 a week to 430. The car was launched in a blaze of publicity in February and has already won thousands of admirers in the UK and export markets across Europe.
MG Rover spokesman Greg Allport said the sales boom for the new model had vindicated the company's decision to invest heavily in the MG range.
"For a long time, we wanted to be back in the sports car market but the available funds went to the mainstream models. Funds were not available in the 1980s and 90s but from the summer of 1995 the MGF was the UK's bestselling sports car.
'Then, when the new management took over the company in May 2000, one of the key thrusts was to get far more out of the MG brand than we had done.'
Positive road tests after the February launch led to an order book of 3,000 from a range of key markets, including the UK, Germany, France and Italy. 'We are now building at the rate of 430 a week, increasing the line rate by 100, simply to meet the demand,' said Mr Allport.
'The car has had an absolutely fantastic reception.'
The new range of MGs currently being produced at Longbridge has boosted the models to 30 per cent of output at the Birmingham car factory. MG Rover bosses now hope that the MGTF will generate annual sales of between 14,000 and 15,000.