Business reporter John Cranage spoke to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson about the threat posed to Midland firms from foreign bidders.
Lord Mandelson has repeated calls for overseas buyers of British companies to respect their heritage and the contribution they make to the economy.
They must be run with the long-term interests of the business and the UK as a whole in mind, he told the Birmingham Post.
With Cadbury under siege from United States bidder Kraft and historic car company MG and vanmaker LDV now in Chinese ownership there are concerns about these important West Midland industrial assets.
Doubts are being expressed about the ability or willingness of SAIC (Shanghai Automotive) to deliver on earlier promises to resume volume manufacturing of MG cars at Longbridge, whose assets were acquired by another Chinese company, Nanjing Automobile, in 2005.
One Nanjing executive said at the time that the plan was to create more than 1,000 jobs and to be producing up to 100,000 cars a year at Longbridge within five years.
The reality is that SAIC, which operates an engineering centre and a design studio at Longbridge, has temporarily suspended production of the MG TF and cut jobs at the old MG Rover plant.
The company says TF production will resume in spring 2010 in time for the British sports car “season” and says it will produce a British version of the recently-announced MG6 saloon car at the factory, also next year.
Car industry experts say the TF has always been a low-volume car that does not square with the original claims made by Nanjing. The company had sold 360 cars up to the end of November.
One national commentator recently doubted that cars would ever again roll off the Longbridge production line “in serious numbers”, adding: “I hope the Chinese prove me wrong but so far there have been too many broken promises.”
The future of LDV is still uncertain a week after Eco Concept, a company headed by Chinese businesswoman Dr Qu Li, bought the assets from the company’s administrator.
It is thought, though, that production of the Maxus van could be “lifted and shifted” to China, leaving small-scale production of an electric-powered version of the vehicle at Longbridge.
With the 60-day takeover clock ticking on US food group Kraft’s £9.9 billion hostile bid for Cadbury, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Jerry Blackett has called for assurances over the future of Cadbury should it change hands.
In a letter to Kraft chairman and chief executive Irene Rosenfeld, Mr Blackett said: “It is crucial for Birmingham and the West Midlands that Cadbury continues to make a positive contribution to our business life, including maintaining levels of employment and investment in research and development.
