MG could open two plants in Europe to avoid duties on Chinese cars

MG Motors, the British-owned brand since late 2007 owned by the Saic Motors group, the largest Chinese-owned carmaker by number of sales in Europe, could open two new production plants in Europe to avoid EU duties on imported electric vehicles. The company could announce the location of the first factory in the region down by the summer, according to Automotive News Europe, which cites sources familiar with the matter. MG's BEVs pay an additional 35.3 per cent tariff, the highest rate, on top of the standard 10 per cent for vehicles imported into the EU.

The plant could have an initial capacity of 100,000 units per year and could start production in 12-16 months from the final approval of the project, one of the sources said. A second European plant is also under consideration. Rather than expanding the capacity of the first plant later, MG is in fact already considering building a second one, which in turn would have a capacity of 100,000 units per year. In the first two months of this year, MG's overall sales grew by 21 per cent to 39,202 cars compared to the same period in 2024, but the effects of tariffs on electrics contributed to the brand's BEV sales dropping by more than 50 per cent to 5,509, accounting for only 14 per cent of MG's sales.