SAIC Motor Corporation, the owner of MG Motors, plans to develop several new models for the British brand in order to boost sales outside its home market in China. The Chinese owner of MG Motors has already spent £1 billion ($1.64 billion) to re-launch the MG and Roewe brands (former Rover) and intends to invest another £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion) to achieve annual sales of 700,000 by 2015.

In 2010, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, most of which were delivered in China, with only 2,000 units exported to other markets. This past April, MG launched its new mid-size MG6 in the UK, the first new car to be assembled at the British firm’s Longbridge plant in 16 years. The company said that when it completes the development of a diesel version, it will offer the car to rest of Europe. "We will not go into mainland Europe without a diesel," UK managing director, William Wong, told Autonews.

The five-door MG6 is currently available with a 1.8-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and is priced from £15,500 (€17,650).

Aside from the MG6, the British automaker is preparing a range of six new models: the MG3, MG5, MG7, an SUV-style crossover, a replacement for the TF roadster and a small electric car.

The MG3 is a small hatchback that has already been launched in China and is destined to go on sale in the UK at the end of 2012. Next up is the MG5, a compact model designed to compete in the C-segment against the Volkswagen Golf and Opel Astra, which was shown as a concept the Shanghai auto show this past April and is set to arrive in Europe in 2013.

The following year the company will launch the MG7 large sedan that is said to share GM’s Epsilon 2 platform with the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia as part of a partnership between GM and SAIC in China. That same year, MG is planning to unveil a small crossover model to rival the Nissan Qashqai.

Finally, the TF roadster will get a replacement in 2016 in the UK, while a small EV based on the Roewe E1 concept is also planned for launch.

Source: Autonews

If you are a car guy like Mark Sawatsky of Winnipeg, Canada, and you happen to have a Jaguar 5.3-liter V12 and an old 1967 MGB GT lying around in your garage, it doesn’t take too long to come up with an impressive project. For Mark it was the creation of racecar to compete in the modified class of the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America).

Mark says that while an LS1 V8 from GM would have been more powerful and an easier build for his project, he went for the Jaguar unit to keep the British theme intact and because an MGB GT V12 sounds “really cool”. And who can blame him - a V12 is and will always be an exotic choice for gearheads.

Scroll down for some pictures from the MGB GT V12 and if you’re interested to find out more, check out the link below for the full build thread.

Source: MGexperience via Jalopnik