Longbridge plant

Longbridge plant

Longbridge in 2006
Built	1895 (1895)
Location	Longbridge, Birmingham, England
Industry	Automotive
Products	MG 6 (2010-2016) MG 3 (2011-2016) Rover 75 (previously) Rover 45 (previously) Rover 25 (previously) Rover Streetwise (previously) Rover CityRover (previously) MG ZT (previously) MG TF (previously) MG SV (previously) MG ZS (previously) MG ZR (previously) Rover 400 (previously) Rover 200 (previously) Rover 100 (previously) Rover 600 (previously) Rover Mini (previously) Rover (previously) Land Rover (previously) MG (currently) Mini (previously) Austin Motor Company (previously) British Leyland (previously)
Employees	About 400 (2008–2016) 0 (2005–2008) 10,000 (2000–2005)
Architect	Herbert Austin
Style	Manufacturing, Industrial Centre / Plant
Area	69 acres (28 ha) (Remaining)
Address	SAIC China MG Motor, Lowhill Lane, Longbridge, Birmingham B31 2BQ
Owner(s)	Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Rover Group (previously)

The Longbridge plant is an industrial complex situated in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is currently owned by SAIC Motor and is a manufacturing and research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary.

Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Longbridge employed around 25,000 workers. A wide variety of products have been produced at the site during its history, although the core product has been cars, most notably the original two-door Mini. During the Second World War the main plant produced munitions and tank parts, while the nearby East Works of Austin Aero Ltd at Cofton Hackett produced several types of aeroplane such as the Short Stirling and the Hawker Hurricane.

Originally a printing factory built on green fields the site has had a variety of private owners, as well as a period of state ownership. Since the collapse of MG Rover in 2005 part of the site has been redeveloped for commercial and residential usage. The remaining 69 acres of the site are leased by SAIC.

The original site and factory development was undertaken by Birmingham-based copper plate printers White and Pike Ltd. Looking to consolidate a number of small sites around Birmingham, and diversify into new areas, they chose a series of 20 agricultural fields in Northfield eight miles to the south of the city on the Bristol Road at Longbridge. The site was bounded by: Lickey Road; Lowhill Lane; the Midland Railway's main Birmingham to Gloucester mainline; and the Halesowen Joint Railway with the Great Western Railway. The purchase also included Cofton Hill, which rose 70 feet (21 m) above its surroundings. Designed by Stark & Rowntree of Glasgow and constructed by James Moffatt & Sons of Camp Hill, the factory was built at a cost of £105,000, opening in the first quarter of 1895. Unfortunately the venture failed, and the site was repossessed by the bank in 1901.