The Morgan Motor Company opened the first of three dealerships planned in China yesterday as demand for its hand crafted vehicles expands in Asia.
Morgan has received 11 orders for cars in China in the last three months – a significant sign of market appetite for the company which last year hit a milestone in producing 1000 of its highly sought after vehicles in twelve months.
Morgan has a target to sell at least 50 of its luxury, wooden chassis cars in India during 2013 and to take total production to 1500.
Morgan Motor Company MD, Charles Morgan, grandson of the company founder, visited Shanghai to open the new showroom. “There is an appetite for quality UK products that have government approval to be sold here,” he told TM.
“Mass production [in China] though advanced, is seen as unattractive because it is inflexible,” Mr Morgan continued. Morgan’s products – built to individual specification, by hand, are a far cry from this one-size-fits-all convenience production.
This is not to say however, that Morgan’s products are not advanced in their own way.
Newer models such as the AeroMax, Aero8 and Eva GT utilise superformed aluminium alloy body panels for lightweighting and the company has invested heavily in design software from CAD and PLM vendor Autodesk to ensure it preserves its pedigree of unique and inspiring car profiles while evolving for modern tastes and regulatory requirements.
New new Chinese dealership in Shanghai Xintiandi will be run by ex-pat and Morgan collector Ben Wood.