MG Motor’s decision to expand operations through the Portbury docks in Bristol, UK has helped push weekly volumes to a new high for its logistics provider BCA.
For the week beginning February 11, BCA handled more than 12,250 vehicles, an 11% increase on its previous record in 2016. The company said volumes had grown thanks to an increase in established customers, such as MG Motor, and through new business.
At Portbury, BCA provides marine inspection, compound handling, storage and technical services for a range of carmakers, including MG Motor. BCA is processing the MG3, MG ZS Compact-SUV, and the MG GS for distribution to the dealer network. Those vehicles are imported from China following the closure of Longbridge in 2016. Parent company SAIC Motors, which took over MG in 2007, makes the vehicles at its plant outside Shanghai.
“The compound team at BCA Portbury is using algorithmic data within their management information systems to optimise the deployment of manpower,” said Ian Griffiths, operations director at BCA Portbury. “This ensures compound and workshop resources are fully utilised. Proactive planning between BCA Vehicle Services, Bristol Port and the car manufacturers allows BCA Portbury to process vehicles quickly and efficiently.”
MG Motor UK sold more than 9,000 vehicles last year, more than doubling the volume imported in 2017.
Paul Bromley, managing director at BCA Vehicle Services said: “MG is a brand that continues to go from strength to strength. As a supply chain partner, BCA brings the scale that MG needs as it continues to grow in the UK and our integrated approach builds in efficiency and resilience.”
Portbury is part of the port of Bristol, which has recently developed a new area to offer additional car storage for 3,500 vehicles. Further surfacing is about to start on another site with 1,800-unit capacity.
Read more about developments at the UK’s vehicle handling ports in the next edition of Finished Vehicle Logistics magazine, due out at the beginning of April.
