Hola MG! Latin America...

Over the previous two issues, David Knowles has been your guide for a whirlwind world tour of MG sales outlets. This month the journey concludes – for the time being – in what seems to be perhaps themost vibrant and promising of MG’s markets, the exciting and colourful South American continent and its satellites.

MG’s operations in what is commonly lumped together as Latin America form an important sales sub-region, with the brand now selling in Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Panama, Peru and Uruguay. And there are still, as we shall see, some gaps in the region and perhaps, based on some historic precedents, some opportunities in the future to further grow sales with the help of some local assembly.

On the basis of the evidence, the MG brand has probably been most enthusiastically embraced in Costa Rica, where MG-badged race cars participate in the CTCC (Costa Rica Touring Car Championship) running under the guise of Team MG Hankook, bringing in the Chinese tyre giant alongside the Octagon. Young MG Hankook driver Bernal Valverde, a 26 year old veteran of the karting scene, has become something of a popular heart-throb hero in CTCC events, clinching pole positions and breaking some local circuit records.

The CTCC races use silhouette cars, rather like the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) events in Germany. Alongside the MG there are cars racing under the brand umbrellas of Chevrolet, Ford, Great Wall (a Chinese marque), Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota. All participants use tyres supplied by core sponsor Hankook, and the space frame chassis is powered by a Michigan sourced 350bhp 5.7-litre Chevrolet based V8 engine, driving through a four-speed transmission to the rear wheels – meaning that the MG V8 GT coupé concept is alive and well in Costa Rica, even if it is only on the country’s race circuits!