MG TF could be scrapped for good

After briefly rekindling production of the MG TF roadster at the carmaker’s Longbridge plant in May of last year, new owner Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) quickly stalled operations because of quality issues with some of the components it had bought from the bankrupt MG Rover. Now it appears production plans for the resurrected MG TF might be well and truly dead and the project possibly scrapped forever.

The death of the two-seat roadster first came about in April 2005 when MG Rover collapsed. Hope was renewed when Chinese automaker Nanjing (now owned by SAIC) bought most of MG Rover and set about restarting production.

While the plan was to return the TF to production, the company building the body shell (Stadco Ltd.) has quit the project. Reasons for the decision have not been revealed but sources close to the project claim the costs to produce a car with the capability of competing on the world market was too high to make it viable, reports Automotive News.

SAIC had already selected 50 dealers to sell the car in the UK and officials were planning to follow with a U.S. launch within the next two years. There were also plans to start production of the car in Nanjing, China, next month but there’s no word if any of these plans will be scrapped along with the TF.