The battle to buy the remains of MG Rover drew closer to a conclusion last night when the firm's former potential Chinese partner formally submitted an offer to buy its assets and engine making division.

New cars could be produced at Longbridge if the bid, by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), is accepted by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Its offer is a joint bid with the Magma consortium headed by former Ford and Maserati executive Martin Leach and former General Motors finance director Ed Sabisky.

The offer is one of three submitted to PWC for consideration over the next few days.

Nanjing Automotive has already submitted its offer, while Project Kimber, a consortium led by company doctor David James, is attempting to seal finance for its bid.

SAIC acknowledged its interest in a brief statement yesterday.

It said: "SAIC Motor has announced that it has submitted an offer to PricewaterhouseCoopers the joint administrators of MG Rover Group and Powertrain, for the combined assets of the two companies.

"SAIC believes that this proposal represents a compelling proposition for the creditors of the two companies.

"The offer envisages a strategic collaboration with Magma Holdings which will focus on the development and distribution of new models and a resumption of car production at Longbridge."

It is understood the offer would involve the movement of Powertrain to the Far East, where engines would be built and shipped back to the UK for final assembly.

A spokesman for SAIC said the reports were speculation, and declined to comment on SAIC's exact plans if its bid was successful.

Meanwhile Project Kimber, which was named after the MG founder Cecil Kimber, was last night still seeking confirmation of support from investors.

Barrie Wills said: "This is the last chance to save Britain's largest independent car maker from falling into overseas ownership.

"It is a credible, fully funded bid with a strong management team that has varied and extensive expertise working in the motor industry.

"Of course there is a lot of passion involved, there has to be, especially with a marque like MG. But, that is balanced by a pragmatic and realistic business plan that will see the brand develop over the coming years and job development at Longbridge."

Mr Wills said he was hopeful a backer could still be found.

He said: " We have an investor, who needs the comfort of knowing someone is going to cover any shortfall from the sale of the assets we are not going to use.

"We are in talks with a number of countries in Asia to build Rovers for them, or sell them part of the equipment.

"We have approached the DTI for a loan guarantee, and they said they need more time to study our plan. But there is a great danger of them spending more time time studying our plan than we spent writing it." n The five millionth Ford Transit rolled off the production line yesterday and was immediately donated to charity.

The vehicle, a white minibus, was built at the firm's factory in Southampton.

Production team leader Robin Trowbridge drove the vehicle off the production line before the keys were handed to the Lord's Taverners.