With just days to go it’s the countdown to the MG6 sports fastback - the first all-new MG in 15 years – to tackle Goodwood’s famous hill climb.

Invited guests will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel and drive pre-production versions of the new car on a special three-mile course, incorporating the famous hill run, at Goodwood House in West Sussex.

The event, the Moving Motor Show on July 1, is part of the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed and will offer an exclusive preview of the exciting new MG6 sports fastback.

Powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged engine, the five-door MG6 has been designed and engineered in Birmingham and will be built by MG Motor UK at the MG Birmingham plant.

MG Motor UK currently builds the MG TF sports car. It is sold through more than 40 MG dealerships across the UK and costs £13,799 on the road.

Full details and prices of the MG6 will be announced nearer the launch date.

During the three day Goodwood Festival of Speed, from July 2-4, visitors will be able to see both the MG TF and pre-production versions of the MG6 at the MG stand which is in the Motorshow Paddock close to the hill climb start line.

MG cars of the future will be designed in the world’s newest automotive design centre in Birmingham.

The new MG Global Design Centre, which opened yesterday (June 15) is part of a multi-million investment in new technology at the 69-acre MG Birmingham site, which also houses the huge SAIC UK technical centre where nearly 300 leading engineers work.

These two centres of excellence are already designing and engineering a range of new MG models which will start to be launched in the UK from later this year.

Total investment of this phase of development at MG Birmingham, including new engine test bed facilities now being planned, amounts to almost £5-million.

MG Motor UK is owned by SAIC, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, one of the largest automotive companies in the world.

The new Design Centre will provide a purpose-built studio for 20 designers and sits next to the SAIC Motors European Technical Centre (SMTC) at the heart of

the MG Birmingham site.

Inside the Global Design Centre are advanced workstations with the most sophisticated computer-aided design (CAD) software. Designers have the ability to create designs – both interiors and exteriors – from the initial concept stage to ‘virtual cars’ through to full-size 3D images and clay models.

British MG Design Director, Tony Williams-Kenny, said: “This is a huge step forward for us. The advanced technology and dedicated team make us one of the most professional design studios in the world – we may not be the biggest, but we aim to be the best.

“We will be finalising all details of the new MG6 from this studio and it gives us superb tools and facilities to go further forward on projects such as the MG Zero concept and beyond.”

The Birmingham MG plant currently builds the iconic mid-engined TF sports car and is now gearing up for production of the sleek MG6 five-door sports fastback which will be launched at the end of this year.

MG Motor Sales and Marketing Director, Guy Jones, said: “The Global Design Studio and the SAIC UK Technical Centre are huge investments and show just how committed we are to the future of the historic MG brand.

“This is bringing manufacturing and highly-skilled engineering design back to the heartland of the Midlands. It’s a fantastic day for British industry, Birmingham and the proud name of MG.”

A PRE-PRODUCTION version of the MG6 sports fastback was the star attraction at the recent MGLive! event - a three-day celebration of the MG marque organised by the MG Car Club, staged at Silverstone race circuit.

More than 10,000 fans attended and were able to see a pre-production version of the five-door 1.8-litre turbocharged MG6 which will be launched later this year. A silver MG6 was centre-stage at the MG6 Plaza, where visitors were allowed to inspect it in detail, while a bright orange model acted as a Course Car and went round the world-famous Silverstone GP circuit after each race during the weekend event.

The MG6 is designed and engineered in Britain and will be built by MG Motor UK at its factory in Birmingham, which also builds the iconic MG TF sports car.

Guy Jones, Sales and Marketing Director at MG Motor UK, said: “We showed the new car to probably the most critical MG audience in the world – British MG fans – and there was a fantastic response.

“We are delighted with the very positive response of MG owners and fans. Their reaction is a further boost to the engineers and designers in Birmingham who have worked hard to make an MG for the 21st centaury while incorporating traditional features, such as great driving dynamics, which sets MGs apart.”

Work on updating the MG Birmingham factory in Longbridge is continuing a pace, with the company on target for MG6 production to begin in a few months time

The next public opportunity to see the MG6 will be at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed. As well as being on static display, pre-production models will take part in the festival’s Moving Motor Show on July 1. Invited guests will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel and drive the MG6 on a special three-mile course, incorporating the famous hill run, at Goodwood House in West Sussex. The MG6 will also be on display during the Festival of Speed event (2-4 July).

The sight of an MG at Goodwood will bring back happy memories for Lord March, the man behind the revival of Goodwood as a key motoring venue in the UK. He said: “My grandfather, Freddie March, used to race MGs and it will be fantastic to see an all-new MG back on our roads. It will mark another historic link between Goodwood and one of the world’s most iconic brands.”

Goodwood Festival of Speed’s famous hill run will be the venue for an exclusive preview of the exciting new MG6 sports fastback.

The new 1.8-litre turbocharged five-door will be built by MG Motor UK at the MG Birmingham plant and is due to be officially launched later this year.

But visitors to the prestigious Goodwood festival in July will be among the first people in Britain to see the new car. And some invited guests will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel and drive the MG6 on a special three-mile course, incorporating the famous hill run, at Goodwood House in West Sussex.

This year, for the first time, the festival will stage an additional day called the Moving Motor Show on July 1 when some guests will be invited to drive the course.

The sight of an MG at Goodwood will bring back happy memories for Lord March, the man behind the revival of Goodwood as a key motoring venue in the UK.

He said: “My grandfather, Freddie March, used to race MGs and it will be fantastic to see an all-new MG back on our roads. It will mark another historic link between Goodwood and one of the world’s most iconic brands.”

MG Motor UK currently builds the MG TF two-seater sports car, sold through 41 MG dealerships and costs £13, 799 on the road.

The MG6 will be the first all-new MG to be produced at the MG Birmingham plant in 15 years. Full details and prices of the MG6 will be announced nearer the launch date.

During the three day Goodwood Festival of Speed, from July 2-4, visitors will be able to see both the MG TF and pre-production versions of the MG6 at the MG stand.

MG Motor recently launched an initiative asking MG fans everywhere to play a part in the ongoing regeneration of the MG facility in Birmingham.

With massive investment being made in the design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities on the site, the future has never been more exciting and to mark this next chapter in the MG story, we have chosen to rename the site MG Birmingham, formally bringing together this iconic brand with the globally recognised 2nd City of the United Kingdom, which MG has called home for over twenty years.

As we focus on the future, we want to celebrate the heritage attached to both the MG brand and this historic site and as such we asked MG fans everywhere to give us their suggestions for naming the internal roads at MG Birmingham. We were delighted by the response with ideas coming in from MG supporters from all over the world.

MG Motor Sales & Marketing Director Guy Jones said "The response from MG fans has been fantastic with hundreds of interesting suggestions being made, we are very lucky to have so many people who obviously care about the brand and gave a great deal of thought to producing so many intriguing ideas" Guy went on to say "This obviously gave us a nice problem, whittling down the names for a short list but after much debate we have arrived at the final five and work has already begun to produce the signs to be erected here at MG Birmingham."

The five road names that will shortly appear at MG Birmingham are:

- Abingdon Avenue

- Morris Garages Drive

- Octagon Way

- Austin Street 

- Issigonis Road

In view of the prominent association between the selected road names and the brand and site, a number of variations on each of these themes was received however, MG Motor are delighted to confirm that we have invited each MG fan who was the first to suggest each of the chosen names to an unveiling at MG Birmingham, which will be held shortly. Our congratulations go to Chris O'Leary, Jamie Henderson, David Knowles and Ian Merriman (MG are currently still trying to reach the sender of one of the selections) and our thanks again to the hundreds of others who took the time to contact us with their views.

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Notes:

Abingdon Avenue - named after the first dedicated MG factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. This facility closed in 1980

Morris Garages Drive - Cecil Kimber, founder of MG, was working as General Manager at Morris Garages, Cowley in Oxford, when he developed the concept of the MG and took the name as a nod to Lord Nuffield who allowed him to develop his idea and give birth to an icon.

Octagon Way - Past, present and future - the Octagon badge has always been the instantly recognisible sign of MG

Austin Street - Recognising the heritage of the motor industry on this site and the man who started it all.

Issigonis Road - the creator the the original Birmingham built Mini and several innovations that still appear in MG vehicles today Cecil Kimber – the founder of MG, is already remembered at MG Birmingham with the dealer training college named in his honour.