Roewe's Sharp Looking N1 Compact Sedan Debuts in Shanghai

Now here's a proposal from China that could very well be accepted in terms of styling from Western car buyers. SAIC's renamed Rover division, Roewe, that owns the tooling rights to the Rover 75 and 25, unveiled the N1 Concept car at the Shanghai Auto Show. The N1 is in essence a thinly disguised version of the planned production model that is set to go on sale in China next year. The compact-sized sedan that will sit below the 550 in Roewe's vehicle line-up will be offered with various four-cylinder gasoline engines.

MG6 Turbo: First Photos of China-Made MG Rover Liftback

At the center of MG's stage at next week's Shanghai Auto Show will be the all-new MG6 Turbo. The midsize five-door liftback is based on the platform and the mechanics of sister company Roewe's 550 sedan which in turn uses the underpinnings of the Rover 75 that was developed back in the late 1990's when the MG Rover Group belonged to BMW. The MG6 is powered by an upgraded version of Rover's K-series 1.8-liter turbocharged engine.

Speculation has it that the MG brand, which now belongs to China's SAIC Group along with Roewe, plans to sell the MG6 initially in the UK as early as 2010, and if all goes well, to the rest of Europe.

Roewe 550 Sports Edition Scooped Ahead of Shanghai Auto Show

And the news just keeps rolling in from China and the Shanghai Auto Show that runs from April 20 to 28. Roewe, which if you still haven't heard, is SAIC's premium auto brand that owns the tooling rights to the Rover 75, will be presenting a new variant of its British designed and engineered, 550 compact-sized sedan called Sports Edition. There's no information on what may be hiding under the hood - if there are any upgrades at all, but the sleek Chinese sedan does get a contrasting black bodykit with front and rear aprons, boot lid spoiler, side skirts and a set of chunkier alloy wheels.

Via: Sohu

Roewe N1 Concept Sketches Surface on the Net

SAIC's renamed Rover division, Roewe, plans to unveil a new near-to-production concept car codenamed N1 at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show that runs from April 20 to 28. While Roewe is being quite secretive about its new concept study, two official renderings of the subcompact sedan found their way into the net outlining the vehicle's sleek exterior styling. Speculation has it that the N1 is based on the underpinnings of the Chinese firm's 550 compact sedan which you can check out here.

Via: Worldcarfans

Roewe N1: Rover's Chinese Heir to Present new Concept Study at Shanghai Show

Chinese state-owned SAIC Motors that bought the rights to the Rover 25 and 75 models in late 2004, will introduce a new concept study under the Roewe brand called N1 at this month's 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. Aside from a teaser sketch that was published on its official website, the Chinese automaker has not released any details on the N1 Concept. Currently, Roewe's portfolio consists of the Rover 75 based 750 and the designed and engineered in Britain 550 compact sedan that made its premiere at last year's Beijing Auto Show.

Chinese Roewe models coming to Europe in 2008 via SsangYong distributors

According to a report from Automotive News Europe, Roewe will enter the European market quite sooner than expected thanks to the help of SsangYong, which like Roewe, is a subsidiary of SAIC. Starting in 2008, Roewe will introduce its first model in Europe, the production version of the W2 concept (pic) that premiered at the Shanghai Show. Although the Chinese carmaker intends to launch Roewe as a separate brand in 2010 through an extended SAIC network, ANE reports that the W2 will be distributed through the dealer network of its Korean subsidiary and sold under the SsangYong badge.-Continued: Click "Read More..." below

Not exactly the turnout most industry observers were expecting when SAIC bought the design rights for the Rover 75 & 25 from MG Rover before the latter collapsed in 2005. Albeit SAIC’s "SsangYong dribble" seems like a smart move now, helping them fastforward their European penetration, I believe it would have been wiser to wait a couple of years until they created a SAIC network.

Via: Automotive News Europe

Roewe W2: Shanghai concept previews Roewe’s forthcoming compact sedan

Roewe, or in other words Rover’s Chinese spouse presented a brand new concept at this year’s Shanghai Show, the W2 sedan which was penned by former MG Rover designers and SAIC's own team. Even though it’s more than obvious that the design team took a peek or two in the Toyota/Lexus range, you’ve have to admit that the W2 actually looks quite good and has nothing to do with most of the dull-looking, mixed-grilled creations you usually see from Chinese car makers. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

According to SAIC owned Roewe, the Ford Focus Sedan sized W2 will go into production towards the end of the year with international sales staring in 2008. The W2 will be Roewe’s second model after the launch of the Rover 75 derived, 750E.

Roewe W2 Concept: Chinese...Rover previews all-new mid-size sedan at Shanghai Show

You could call the W2 the first new Rover model in years, but I guess we’d rightfully anger British enthusiasts so lets just say its the first Chinese-designed Roewe. According to our initial info Roewe (they presented the Chinese version of the Rover 75 dubbed 750E a few months ago), will put the 4door-sedan concept into production with little changes towards the end of the year. We’ll have more on the W2 Concept as soon as we get our hands on an English press release since we don’t plan on learning Chinese -for the time being that is...

ROEWE 750E: SAIC reveals official pics of it's Rover 75 based sedan

Before some of you start screaming "COPY CAT", know that this Rover 75 based sedan is 100% legitimate. The owner of the newly established ROEWE car company is Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC) and it has bought the intellectual property rights to build Rover's 75 in 2005.

The 750E will be officially unveiled at the Beijing Auto show, which runs from Nov 17 to 28 and there are rumors that SAIC has plans to export the 750E to Europe and the US in the near future. Mmm, I wonder if ROEWE is pronounced "Rong Wei" in Chinese... Via: Jalopnik

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Bye-Bye Rover, hello Roewe : Chinese SAIC creates new brandname for it's Rover 25 & 75 based cars

After failing to acquire the "Rover" brandname from BMW in September by Ford (as it used it's option to buy the brandname when it bought Land Rover from BMW in 2000), Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp -aka SAIC, created a new nameplate for the two Rover models (25 & 75) that it has intellectual property rights to build.

The Chinese company will name it's versions of the Rover 25 & 75, "Roewe" with the 75 being named 750E (Rong Wei in Chinese). The Rover 75 based 750E, pictures of whom you see here, will be officially unveiled at the Beijing Auto show, which runs from Nov 17 to 28. As for the company's logo, the resemblance with the original is obvious.

Most interesting though is the fact that SAIC has plans to export the 750E to Europe and the US in the near future. We'll have more on the Roewe 750E specs and export plans closer to the presentation date. Via: Autoblog.com

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