MG's parent company SAIC Motor is planning to invest £150m in doubling its European Design Centre in Birmingham to double the size to more than 2000sq m by mid 2013.

Following the expansion, the European Design Centre will be capable to work on up to five full-size models at the same time, the company said.

The company has appointed Martin Uhlarik as the design director for UK, who will oversee the UK team focused on MG vehicles.

The design studio, which is based at the company's Longbridge headquarters, is responsible for the design of the MG3, MG5 and MG6 cars.

SAIC Motor UK managing director David Lindley said expanding the design studio will enable the company to work on several projects at the same time and improve its design capabilities across SAIC Group models destined for European and Chinese markets.