#UK

MG, now owned by Chinese auto maker SAIC, is apparently gunning for Kia and beyond. But despite their lofty ambitions, MG hasn’t made much headway in the automotive world.

An experiment conducted in London shows that the new MINI is the world’s strongest babe-magnet. This 2012 MINI attracted 28 very skinny and flexible ladies.

For a while, TTAC has been following rumors that Renault may be reviving is storied Alpine brand. Renault will do it, together with another motor celebrity, Caterham.

Morgan’s wood-framed sports cars are facing an existential threat; a species of fungus that infects ash trees, which are the source of wood used on Morgan’s legendary sports cars.

As expected, Ford is closing an UK plant. Unexpectedly, Ford is closing another one right with it, bringing EU plant closings to three in two days. Ford is closing its Ford Transit plant in Southampton, and it is closing the stamping plant in Dagenham with it, says Automobilwoche [sub].

Ford is expected to announce the closure of its van factory in Southampton, England, Reuters says. British shop stewards have been summoned to an emergency meeting at Ford’s European headquarters in Basildon, Essex, today.

Just-Auto is reporting that Honda will cease UK production of the Jazz (aka our Fit)

“to benefit from production economies of scale and fully [use] Honda’s global production resources”.

So, where are they going to come from?

You can see this ad. Television viewers in the UK can’t. The Chevrolet Volt is sold in the UK as the Vauxhall Ampera, and its ad has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority. It says the ad is misleading. The ad claims a 360-mile range. GM is a serial offender when it comes to alternate realities, and this ad is the latest installment.

This will be a wee complicated and very British: The Schneider Trophy, a prize competition for seaplanes was won several times by a Supermarine S6B, which in turn was powered by a Rolls-Royce R Type engine. Follow so far? What does this have to do with cars? Honestly, not the foggiest. But Rolls-Royce Motor Cars proudly presents the Phantom Coupé Aviator Collection, which is said to be inspired by said seaplanes. Still with me? Alright.

After a trip to Bulgaria and the much anticipated June 2012 World Roundup, I wasn’t going to let the London Olympics go without an update on the UK car market. London-ed out already? No worries, you can visit 167 additional countries and territories in my blog, go on, you know you want to!

Or you can check out the Top 260 best-selling models in the US in July here.

The last time I spoke to you about the UK car market in detail was in May 2011 for the Royal Wedding…

Since then there has been a lot of water down the (London) bridge. That was an easy pun…

Not all automakers in Europe have too much capacity. BMW will invest $388 million over the next three years to increase capacity at its Mini plants in the UK, Reuters says.

If you are seeking to conquer, subjugate, crush, annihilate, subdue, rout, defeat thy enemy on track, or, preferably, Autobahn, then collect all your pennies and buy the car that is synonymous for all that vehicular domination: The Aston Martin Vanquish, the car formerly known to a high net-worth clientele as the AM310. Yesterday, the Kuwaiti-held purveyor of handmade super cars finally unveiled its new flagship.

A day before GM officially announced that the Astra production will be moved to Ellesmere Port, a move that is widely believed to seal the fate of Opel’s Bochum plant, we said that the decision won’t go down well in Germany, and that it will be very tough working with a doomed workforce. The workforce is already getting restive.

51 years ago, my beloved Grandfather emigrated from England. Despite being a man of modest means, he immediately went out and bought himself the biggest, V8 powered American sedan he could buy (the exact make remains obscure – it tends to change every time my grandmother tells the story), swearing off British cars and his cursed MG Magnette for life. He would be just as bewildered as I am that there is any demand for the Morgan 3 Wheeler in the United States that would result in U.S. sales.

When Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to start hiring workers at their Halewood plant, the company received 6,000 applications in less than 24 hours. One month on, and Jaguar has received a further 29,000 applications.