Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. has unveiled the first MG cars to be made in China.

The company introduced the 1.8-litre MG TF roadster, and the MG 7295 and MG 7275 sedans, at its plant near eastern Nanjing city today.

The brand, which has been renamed `Ming Jue’ or `Modern Gentleman’, will be available in China in the second half of the year.

Nanjing Auto plans to use the brand as a platform to expand globally, as part of a strategy to offset increasing competition, which is squeezing profit margins in China. The auto market in China is the second largest in the world - it overtook Japan in 2006, with sales of 7.22 million cars.

Nanjing Auto plans to invest $2 billion in the MG brand and launch new plants in the UK and US. The company acquired MG in 2005 for $97 million after the collapse of the UK based MG Rover Group.

It plans to manufacture MG TF roadster convertibles at the former MG factory in Longbridge, where it will also open a new research centre.

The company, which can build up to 200,000 cars a year at its Nanjing plant, aims to export up to 60% of the MGs it produces.