MG is a brand of SAIC Motor.

102 years, six owners since 1980

The year is coloured by whoever held it at the time.

1. 1924 MG began in 1924, when Cecil Kimber built sportier bodies on Morris cars at Morris Garages in Oxford and gave them the octagon badge. MG's own European brand history opens "Since 1924, MG has been making cars people love to drive", and SAIC's own MG brand page dates it the same way: "1924年，第一辆MG汽车诞生" — "in 1924 the first MG car was born". SAIC marked the centenary in 2024 with a return to the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
2. 1988 MG left state ownership in 1988, when the Government sold its shareholding in Rover Group, the renamed British Leyland that had carried the MG name since the 1975 nationalisation, to British Aerospace. Kenneth Clarke told the Commons on 29 March 1988: "Today we have entered into a conditional contract with British Aerospace for the sale of the Government's shareholding in Rover Group", for £150 million; the sale completed that summer, and a later ministerial statement dates it plainly: "BAe bought the Government's shareholding in Rover Group in July 1988". The seller was the state, which this dataset never models, and the buyer, British Aerospace, is not an entity in it.
3. 1994 BMW bought Rover Group, and the MG name with it, from British Aerospace in 1994. The Minister for Industry told the Commons on 31 January 1994: "This morning, British Aerospace announced its decision to accept an offer from BMW to acquire its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rover Group Holdings Ltd", for £800 million; the Associated Press reported the same day that "BMW agreed Monday to buy the Rover car company from British Aerospace for $1.2 billion". The same deal brought BMW the Rover, Land Rover and Mini names. The seller, British Aerospace, is not an entity in this dataset.
4. 2000 BMW broke up Rover Group in 2000 and sold the Longbridge car business, with the MG and Rover badges, to the Phoenix consortium. AROnline's account of the marque names states that "BMW AG retained ownership of the intellectual property rights (IPRs) to the Rover marque when Rover Group Limited was sold to Phoenix Venture Holdings Limited for the nominal sum £10 in May 2000. Rover Group Limited was re-named MG Rover Group Limited"; SAIC's own MG brand history records the same year as "2000年：MG- Rover集团成立", the formation of the MG Rover group. Phoenix paid a nominal £10 and received a loan from BMW; the buyer, Phoenix Venture Holdings, is not an entity in this dataset.
5. 2005 MG Rover Group collapsed into administration in April 2005, and on 22 July 2005 its administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers sold the assets of MG Rover and of its engine subsidiary Powertrain Ltd to Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation, which took the MG trademark and the vehicle technology with them. SAIC's own MG brand history records the step as "2005年，南汽以5300万英镑收购MG" — "in 2005 Nanjing Auto acquired MG for 53 million pounds". Neither the seller, MG Rover Group, nor the buyer, Nanjing Automobile, is collected in this batch, so both counterparties are left unlinked.
6. 2007 MG came to SAIC on 26 December 2007, when SAIC and the Yuejin Motor Group signed their full cooperation agreement in Beijing and Nanjing Automobile, which had bought the MG assets in 2005, became a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor. SAIC's own disclosure on that subsidiary reads "2007年12月26日，上汽·跃进全面合作签约仪式在北京人民大会堂举行，南汽成为上海汽车集团股份有限公司全资子公司" — "on 26 December 2007 the SAIC-Yuejin full cooperation signing ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, and Nanjing Auto became a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor Corporation Limited". SAIC's own account of the period puts it in brand terms: "2007.12, 上南合作，上汽获得MG品牌、浦口基地" — "December 2007, the SAIC-Nanjing cooperation; SAIC obtained the MG brand and the Pukou base". The seller, Nanjing Automobile, is not collected in this batch.