MG vehicle production history stretches from a small 1920s sports-car operation to 1.5 million cars produced between 1924 and 2002. The figures below show how output changed from limited-run prewar Midgets and Magnettes to mass-market MGBs, MG Midgets, Metros, and the modern MGF. Unless otherwise stated, the model totals and periods come from the 2002 production table, 1.5 MILLIONTH MG IS A GOLDEN JUBILEE SPECIAL, which says its historic records were assembled from the most authentic records available.
Contents
- Early MG production, 1924–1933
- The prewar range, 1931–1939
- Postwar Midgets and the Y-type, 1945–1955
- [MGA, Magnette, Midget, and MGB growth](# mga-magnette-midget-and-mgb-growth)
- The Metro, Maestro, and Montego years
- The 1990s revival and 2002 milestone
Early MG production, 1924–1933
MG’s earliest recorded cars were made in small numbers. The MG 14/28 Super Sports produced 395 cars from 1924 to 1926. The 14/40 and MkIV followed with 851 cars from 1926 to 1929. These totals describe a specialist manufacturer whose production was measured in hundreds rather than tens of thousands.
The 18/80 range produced 736 cars from 1928 to 1933, while the smaller M-type Midget reached 3,235 cars from 1928 to 1932. The contrast is important: the Midget’s simpler, more accessible sports-car formula generated more than four times the 18/80 total despite overlapping the same early period.
The rarest early MGs were competition-oriented or highly specialized models. The 18/100 Mk III Tigress produced just 5 cars from 1930 to 1931. The C-type Midget reached 44 cars and the D-type Midget 250 cars, both during 1931–1932. The F1/F2/F3 Magna produced 1,250 cars from 1931 to 1932.
| Early model | Production period | Cars produced |
|---|---|---|
| 14/28 Super Sports | 1924–1926 | 395 |
| 14/40 and MkIV | 1926–1929 | 851 |
| 18/80 Mk I/II | 1928–1933 | 736 |
| M-type Midget | 1928–1932 | 3,235 |
| 18/100 Mk III Tigress | 1930–1931 | 5 |
| F1/F2/F3 Magna | 1931–1932 | 1,250 |
These figures are model totals for the stated production periods, not annual production rates. They should not be converted into yearly averages without accounting for overlapping model runs and incomplete period detail.
The prewar range, 1931–1939
During the 1930s, MG broadened its output across Midgets, Magnas, Magnettes, and saloons. The J1/J2 Midget produced 2,463 cars from 1932 to 1934, while the J3/J4 Midget was far more limited at 31 cars from 1932 to 1933. The K1/K2 Magnette reached 410 cars from 1932 to 1935, and the competition-focused K3 Magnette produced 31 cars from 1932 to 1934.
The L-type Magna added 576 cars from 1933 to 1934. The N-type Magnette produced 745 cars from 1934 to 1936. In the Midget line, the PA/PB reached 2,499 cars from 1934 to 1936, while the Q-type made only 8 cars during 1934. The R-type was another very small run, with 10 cars produced in 1935.
MG’s larger cars also contributed materially to prewar production. The SA saloon and drophead coupe produced 2,738 cars from 1935 to 1939, including 862 roadsters. The TA Midget produced 3,003 cars from 1936 to 1939. The VA 1½-litre reached 2,407 cars in the same broad period, from 1936 to 1939. The TB Midget added 379 cars in 1939, while the WA 2.6-litre saloon produced 369 cars from 1938 to 1939.
The prewar figures show two distinct strategies. MG kept specialized variants such as the Q-type, R-type, and K3 in single- or double-digit production, while more practical or better-established models reached several thousand cars. Even the larger SA and VA remained low-volume by later MG standards.
Postwar Midgets and the Y-type, 1945–1955
After the Second World War, MG production expanded sharply. The TC Midget produced 10,001 cars from 1945 to 1949. MG’s official history, A Century of MG, describes TC production as exceeding 10,000 cars after its 1945 launch, consistent with the detailed production table’s 10,001 figure.
The Y-type family produced 8,336 cars from 1947 to 1953, including 877 open tourers. The TD Midget then became one of the most productive early MG models, with 29,664 cars from 1949 to 1953. The TF Midget added 9,600 cars from 1953 to 1955.
| Postwar model or family | Production period | Cars produced |
|---|---|---|
| TC Midget | 1945–1949 | 10,001 |
| Y-type family | 1947–1953 | 8,336 |
| TD Midget | 1949–1953 | 29,664 |
| TF Midget | 1953–1955 | 9,600 |
The TD total is nearly three times the TC total, illustrating how quickly the postwar Midget formula gained reach. The Y-type also demonstrates that MG’s production history was not limited to open sports cars: its family included saloon-based production and 877 open tourers.
MG’s official history places the MGA launch in 1955 and describes more than 100,000 MGAs sold over its seven-year life. The detailed table records 98,970 MGAs from 1955 to 1962, so the two sources use different levels of rounding or presentation. The official wording remains “more than 100,000,” while the detailed source gives the specific 98,970 figure.
MGA, Magnette, Midget, and MGB growth
The 1950s and 1960s marked MG’s move into much larger production volumes. The ZA/ZB Magnette produced 36,600 cars from 1953 to 1958. The MGA Twin Cam added 2,111 cars from 1958 to 1960. The later Magnette Mk III/IV produced 30,996 cars from 1959 to 1968.
The MG Midget became a major volume model, producing 224,843 cars from 1961 to 1979. The MG 1100/1300 produced 157,409 cars from 1962 to 1971. These totals were substantial, but the MGB/GT was larger still: 513,276 cars from 1962 to 1980.
| Model or family | Production period | Cars produced |
|---|---|---|
| ZA/ZB Magnette | 1953–1958 | 36,600 |
| MGA | 1955–1962 | 98,970 |
| MGA Twin Cam | 1958–1960 | 2,111 |
| Magnette Mk III/IV | 1959–1968 | 30,996 |
| MG Midget | 1961–1979 | 224,843 |
| MG 1100/1300 | 1962–1971 | 157,409 |
| MGB/GT | 1962–1980 | 513,276 |
The MGC/GT was a much smaller program, with 9,002 cars from 1967 to 1969. The MGB GT V8 produced 2,591 cars from 1973 to 1976. MG’s official history describes the MGB as selling more than 500,000 units after its 1962 launch, while the detailed table records 513,276 for the MGB/GT production period.
Milestone dates help place this expansion in sequence. The 100,000th MG was reported as an MGA 1500 on 16 May 1956. MG reported its 500,000th car as produced in 1963. The 1,000,000th car was a left-hand-drive MGB roadster built in October 1975. These milestone descriptions come from the same 2002 MG production communication.
The Metro, Maestro, and Montego years
MG’s 1980s output shows the marque applied to performance versions of practical hatchbacks and saloons as well as traditional sports cars. The MG Metro 1300 produced 120,197 cars from 1982 to 1990. The MG Metro Turbo added 21,968 cars from 1983 to 1990.
The MG Maestro 1600/2.0 EFi produced 47,914 cars from 1983 to 1991. The MG Montego EFi produced 34,476 cars from 1984 to 1991, and the Montego Turbo added 7,276 cars from 1985 to 1991. The Maestro Turbo was much rarer, with 504 cars from 1989 to 1991.
The rally-derived MG Metro 6R4 was rarer still. Its production total was 205 cars from 1985 to 1986. This makes the 6R4 a useful example of how MG’s badge covered both high-volume performance derivatives and very limited specialist programs during the same decade.
The 1990s revival and 2002 milestone
The MG RV8 represented a renewed sports-car program, producing 1,983 cars from 1992 to 1995. The MGF then became the main volume sports car of the revival, with 77,269 cars from 1995 to 2001.
MG’s early-2000s Z range broadened the product mix again. The MG ZR produced 14,195 cars in three- and five-door forms from 2001 to 2002. The MG ZS produced 8,392 cars in five-door and saloon forms during the same period. The MG ZT, including the ZT-T estate, produced 5,760 cars from 2001 to 2002.
The MG TF figure needs careful interpretation. The 2002 production table reports 4,027 cars by April 2002 in the production period covering its 2002 launch. This is not a lifetime final total. It is a reported count for that then-current period.
By 2002, MG reported 1,500,000 cars produced from 1924 through 2002. The same source presented the total as 500,000 saloons and 1,000,000 roadsters. That split is an illustrative body-design classification, not a complete body-style census.
The later official history provides a separate modern reference point. A Century of MG says the ZS approached 800,000 units in six years after its 2017 introduction. “Approached” is retained here because it is the source’s rounded wording, and the period is 2017–2023 rather than the historical 1924–2002 production window above.
Taken together, the figures show a clear change in MG’s production scale: five-car and ten-car prewar specials, thousand-car specialist ranges, tens of thousands of postwar models, and the MGB, MG Midget, Metro, and later ZS at much higher volumes. The periods and qualifiers matter because the totals describe individual model runs, reported milestones, rounded official history statements, and one partial 2002 count rather than a single uniform production series.