NANJING Automobile Corporation, the Chinese car group that dramatically bought MG Rover at auction late on Friday, has pledged to make 80,000 cars a year in the UK within five years and create 2,000 jobs in the Midlands.

Nanjing plans to make five new MG cars in Britain, executives close to the bid said, and will shortly begin recruiting a senior management team.

It will make only MGs in the UK. The Chinese plants will manufacture up to 200,000 cars a year, probably under the Austin brand. “This is great news for the UK. We are saving a premium brand and high-quality production work for Britain,” said Alan Belfield, head of management consulting at Arup, the British design and business consultancy that has worked with Nanjing on the bid.

Powertrain, MG Rover’s engine plant, along with other production tooling, will move to China.

Nanjing could yet face a legal challenge from Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), a rival Chinese group that had been thought favourite to win the MG Rover auction.

SAIC paid £67m last year to MG Rover for intellectual property rights on its engines and two of its models, and has previously insisted it has the right to use them exclusively.

A spokesman for the group said last night that its position had not changed, and it would now consider its options.

Kimber, the consortium led by company doctor David James, is also trying to keep its bid alive. Tomorrow it is expected to submit a new bid to Price Waterhouse Coopers, raising its offer from £25m to £45m. Nanjing is thought to have paid between £50m and £60m.

Executives involved in the Nanjing bid rejected suggestions they faced intellectual property problems. Belfield said intellectual property rights had remained with MG and could now be acquired by Nanjing.

It is not certain when UK production will start. Belfield said work was required to make MG Rover engines compatible with European emissions laws that come into effect at the end of the year. The company also needs to recruit suppliers and assemble a dealer network.

Nanjing is considering using part of MG Rover’s Longbridge plant in Birmingham, but industry sources said the Chinese group was also studying other Midlands sites. The Chinese takeover is likely to mean less work for UK suppliers. Nanjing said it was examining a “low-cost supply chain” — which is thought to mean more components being sourced from China.

Of the 2,000 British jobs, several hundred would be in engineering and design, Belfield said. Before it went into administration, MG Rover employed 6,000 people.

Nanjing’s win capped a day of dramatic negotiations in London. Rover’s administrators, Ian Powell, Tony Lomas and Rob Hunt, met a team from the Chinese group at the offices of City law firm Herbert Smith.

Martin Leach, the former European head of Ford who had teamed up with SAIC, said he was “disappointed” its bid had not been successful.

State-owned Nanjing, which is based in the capital of Jiangsu province, builds 180,000 cars a year, with plans to increase production to 300,000 annually. It employs 14,600 people, and has assets valued at £690m.

Nick Stephenson, one of the “Phoenix Four” that bought MG Rover from BMW for £10 in 2000, has acted as an unpaid adviser to the Nanjing bid.

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