The all new car will be available initially as a five-door fastback, with a four-door saloon to follow later on. The automaker optimistically told the Financial Times that customer clinics have compared the MG6 with the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia and even with small BMWs. Prices in the UK are said to range between £16,000 to £20,000 (US$25,425 to US$31,780).
Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) bought the intellectual property rights to some of MG's cars and engines after the collapse of parent company MG Rover in 2005. Meanwhile, Nanjing Automobile bought much of the production equipment back in 2007.
The latter's 2007 estimate of selling 50,000 cars a year appears to have been rather optimistic, with actual sales being more of the order of, "hundreds, not thousands". The two companies are now merged under the SAIC name.
MG's Birmingham office employs some 300 engineers and 30 design staff, who provide design and engineering services to parent SAIC. MG Birmingham has previously contributed its extensive knowhow to the development of the Roewe 550 and 350 sedans and the MG Zero concept car that was shown at the Beijing Auto Show earlier this year.
Chinese automakers have had no success exporting cars to Western Europe and the United States in the past. MG Birmingham's input is especially important for SAIC, with the Chinese still struggling to make large cars that are competitive with the Europeans. David Lindley, Head of SAIC's Technical Centre explains:
"There's still a lack of capability in Shanghai, and probably will be for years, to design a new vehicle from a clean sheet of paper."
The success of the MG6 is essential for the future of Longbridge and for MG's European operations. At present, Longbridge only builds small numbers of the outdated MG TF roadster.
Only time will tell if MG can buck the trend and recapture the hearts and minds of British consumers. The MG6 will hopefully be the first step in this difficult process.
By Tristan Hankins
Source: FT (sub. req.) , Kudos to Aikiv for the tip!
______________________CHINA-SPEC MG6 GALLERY______________________
The all new car will be available initially as a five-door fastback, with a four-door saloon to follow later on. The automaker optimistically told the Financial Times that customer clinics have compared the MG6 with the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia and even with small BMWs. Prices in the UK are said to range between £16,000 to £20,000 (US$25,425 to US$31,780).
The U.S. government is eager to unload its 61% stake in GM after taxpayers bailed out / loaned the iconic automaker to the tune of US$50 billion. This comes despite the political ramifications of selling part of the brand to foreign investors or sovereign-wealth funds.
Having already announced the Roewe N1 Concept, China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) that owns the rights to the MG Rover brand, revealed that its 2009 Shanghai Auto Show booth will also host the world premiere of the MG6 Concept. The five-door liftback model is based on the underpinnings of the Roewe 550 which was designed as SAIC's successor to the Rover 45.Although details are still sketchy, the MG6 will most likely lead to a production version that might very well find its way into Europe where MG Rover already sells the resurrected TF LE500 in the U.K.
Powertrain options for the MG6 will be identical to those offered in the Roewe 550 including a 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine.
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...
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
Technorati: ROEWE+750E, SAIC, Shanghai+Automotive+Industrial+Corp, China, Rover+75, autos, images, official+photos, pictures, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, autos, Carscoop
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
Technorati: Roewe+750E, Rover+75, Rover+25, China, SAIC, Carscoop, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles
