MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD
Dear Member and Visitor
We ended this ill-fated 2020 without any planned activities for 2021. If it cannot be the year of the MG EEoTY in Cascais / Estoril, it will be the year in which the MGCP will complete 40 years of existence. And as 40 years accumulate a lot of history, it must be thoroughly celebrated.
As the Annual General Assembly will have to elect the new Social Bodies for the 2021/2022 biennium and I’m resigning, as I announced in the last electoral act, new leaders will appear and new ideas will arise. Everything will be alright.
Without club news, let's look at the MG brand which, in the United Kingdom and in terms of sales, is asserting itself as powerful and ready to contribute decisively to the anticipation of the decarbonisation target, set in 2030. So, if in 2019 it was the UK’s fastest-growing car brand, registering just over 14,000 cars sold, in 2020 it surpassed that volume threshold before the end of September.
| Year |
UK since 2008 |
China since 2008 |
Thailand since 2014 |
Philippines 1st Ano |
India 1st Ano |
Australia since 2018 |
|
2019 |
14,061 |
269,751 |
26,515 |
5,085 |
15,930 |
8,326 |
There, MG currently offers three models, namely the MG5 EV, MG ZS EV and MG HS Plug-in, and believes that its new family car MG5 SW EV, with a range of 214 miles, will boost sales and, with its help, 2021 will be the year in which the EV cars will overtake petrol sales for the first time.
Customer acceptance and demand for EVs has grown as battery range has gone up and cost has come down, allowing MG to combine high quality, high-tech, well-equipped and efficient plug-in cars at an accessible price, plus a 7-year warranty and a fast-developing dealer network. (More in MG.Motor.UK).
Regarding continental Europe and since 2019, we know that the fully electric MG ZS EV is being sold in the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg and in 2021 four new models will be introduced. SAIC's strategy will be different in each country and adapted to the existing markets.
On the recent 18th MG Car Club European Conference, held on 7th November by Zoom meeting, we learned from Vivian Vleeshouwers (MGCC European Manager) that Mr. Aiden He (Director Marketing SAIC Europe), unable to participate, had delegated to Mr. Mike Belinfante (Senior Manager Public Relations SAIC Europe), who was also not present, but who, interviewed in advance by video conference, left the following testimony that I share with all MG enthusiasts:
“It is new thinking, we have to save energy and that’s what we have to do. We all love the heritage and the sound of wonderful internal combustion motors but the world has changed.
We have to treasure our past but have to look forward. We share a lot of history and we love your clubs. You are invited and always welcome at one of the distribution points in every country. Just to have a look or to get information, our door is always open. You are our ambassadors, there is an old and a new MG and we have to come together!”
Lastly let me send you a huge ‘thank you’ for all the support that I received in these last six years and my most cordial Octogonal Greetings.
Keep safe,
Isabel Tinoco
December 2020
