China’s largest automaker, SAIC Motor, said it would build its first factory in Europe, after sales of its cars jumped on the continent.
The state-controlled company – which owns the famous MG brand – says the new plant will produce electric cars.
However, a spokesperson told the media that SAIC had not yet decided whether MG models would be built on site.
MG, whose roots go back more than a century, was made in the UK until production was moved to China in 2016.
On Thursday, a SAIC spokesperson said the company was still in the process of securing a site in Europe and finalizing other details about the project.
“We have several brands including MG, IM and Maxus. We are still deciding which ones will be factory built,” the spokesperson added.
Sales of its vehicles outside of China rose 40% in the first three months of the year, according to SAIC.
The company said the MG brand accounted for the majority of overseas sales, with the number of cars sold in Europe more than doubling in the same period.
The latest announcement comes nearly seven years after SAIC stopped MG assembly at its Longbridge plant in Birmingham.
In 2016, MG said that assembly in the UK was no longer “required” and that the cars would arrive in the country “fully built (and ready) for distribution”.
The Longbridge factory built cars including the original MG and Mini. It was founded in 1906 and survived the First and Second World Wars.
In the years that followed, the site battled the post-war economic depression and the emergence of the automobile industry abroad.
It also recovered from the strike, merger and acquisition, and the decline in the value of its share.
Production at the plant ceased after the collapse of MG Rover in 2005. SAIC eventually bought the brand.
In 2011, the MG6 was launched. It was the first MG car in 16 years to be assembled at Longbridge.
The five-seater was designed in the UK but its parts were made in China.
Chinese automakers – including SAIC, Geely and Great Wall – have seen their market shares grow in recent years.
Exports from China have been boosted by demand for electric cars and sales to Russia as several Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow after invading Ukraine.
Official figures show that China exported more than 1 million vehicles in the first three months of this year. As a result, it overtook Japan as the world’s largest exporter of automobiles.
In addition to its factories in China, SAIC also has production facilities in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Pakistan.
The Chinese company, which has joint ventures with German auto giant Volkswagen and US automaker General Motors, sold 5.3 million vehicles globally last year.
Europe was its largest overseas market with more than 100,000 vehicles sold, according to SAIC.
