Birmingham and Coventry became important centres of the car industry from the early 20th century. The Austin car plant was built in 1905 at Longbridge, to the south of Birmingham, and gradually expanded over the next 75 years, but closed down in 2005 on the bankruptcy of MG Rover. Since 2007, part of the former Longbridge plant has been reused by new owners Nanjing Automobile for the production of MG Cars. Cars produced at the Longbridge plant included the Austin Seven (launched in 1922), the Mini (1959), BMC/BL 1100/1300 saloons and estates (1962) and Austin Metro (1980).