MG has announced that it will stop building cars at its Longbridge plant and shift production to China, just five years after the iconic brand starting making cars there once again. 

The decision has been influenced by many factors but the main reason is to streamline production and minimise costs. 

Currently, parts are shipped over from China with cars assembled at the Midlands plant. Just two models - the MG3 supermini (pictured) and GS SUV - were produced at the Longbridge plant ahead of the announcement. 

However, MG has said that UK-based vehicle assembly was no longer required and that any MG cars sold in the UK would arrive fully built and ready for distribution. 

An MG spokesman explained that ending production in the UK was “a necessary business decision”, telling Autocar that “there was no efficient way to carry on doing it in the UK". 

The Brexit vote had also taken its toll, they added, with rising production costs making UK production operations no longer cost-effective. 

Some 25 workers will be made redundant but the facility will continue to employ more than 300 people in other areas of the business.