Roewe 550
SAIC's work on adapting the 2007 MY Rover 75 for its own use (with more than a little help from its friends at Ricardo 2010) was most impressive - and now it appears that the same magic is about to be undertaken again with its reworking of the RDX60 concept.
After the first spy shots appeared of the small Roewe, speculation has grown that progress is now well underway - and we did have it conformed last year that several ex-MGR engineers had been employed by SAIC/Ricardo2010 in order to commence work on the stillborn mid sized car.
April 2008 - Roewe 550 design story
CAR BODY DESIGN
Design transition from paper to showroom has been reasonably uncluttered...
The SAIC Design Team was briefed to create a brand new four-door saloon to sit alongside the Roewe 750 in the Chinese market but also write a new chapter in the Roewe Brand’s development worldwide.
Being an all new design, this was a chance to produce a modern world class medium sized sedan, retaining the British-influenced dignity and elegance of the 750, while forging a new distinctive Chinese dynamic image and character for the first in a range of many new products from the SAIC’s Roewe premium brand. A close knit International design team, based in UK and Shanghai, was led in the UK by SAIC Design Director Anthony Williams, and SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre General Manager, David Lindley.
Exterior design development
The final theme was selected for its calm yet dynamic style, with a characterful front-end identity design to enhance a strong link with the Roewe 750. The final aesthetic retains a premium feel in line with Roewe core brand values along with dynamic and confident imagery.
In particular the headlamp style was strongly influenced by Roewe 750, whilst offering a more progressive and youthful hi-tech detail with low-beam projector units as standard feature. In harmony with the dramatic front end pan view form, 550 offers a bold and imposing statement. The side view ‘cigar-shaped’ character, again, is derived from Roewe 750 with its obvious curved shoulder and belt-lines, designed to reflect the chrome detailing of 550 and present a dynamic and youthful character.
A confident stance is enhanced by the gently curved sill line. Subtly curved surface treatment and pronounced arches offers a balanced language. The depth of the bodyside reinforces the car’s engineering requirement to conform to the highest international safety targets.
Interior Design
The design fuses the trend for premium ‘simple flowing forms’ with the Asia Pacific taste for ‘technology on show’ enhancing SAIC Motor’s position as the major force in Chinese car manufacturing. The design has been carefully developed to ensure colour options are harmonious to the theme.
The Roewe 550 is offered in two colourways; the warm option is offers familiarity to the Chinese customer with a bold horizontal colour-split and ‘matt’ wood finish whilst the all dark-grey option with ‘black’ gloss wood finish enhances the 550 dynamic and culturally balanced character possibly bringing a European feel to the more progressive customer.
The UK part of the Design Team with the IP21 Design Model from left to right: Principal Designers Dan Bowen, Matt Dillon and Peter Andrews; Tony Williams (SAIC Design Director)
April 2008 - Roewe 550 is launched in Beijing
By KEITH ADAMS
Discount the front-end styling, and you're looking at a might-have-been Rover... and the next MG...
The Roewe 550, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation’s (SAIC) successor to the Rover 45, which has been designed and engineered in Britain by ex-MG Rover engineers, and is closely based on the stillborn RDX60 project, made its first public appearance at the Beijing Motor Show. Based on rejigged version of the Rover 75 platform, which has been put to such good use in the 750-Series model, the conventionally styled car is looking good to increase SAIC's market penetration at home and abroad.
UK consultancy Ricardo has been closely involved with the development of the 550, and has been helping SAIC to tune it to European tastes in readiness for its launch in MG form in 2009-2010. SAIC is looking at bringing the car to Europe, and a source close to Longbridge has told AROnline that the car will receive re-jigged styling upfront, and is likely to be produced in the Birmingham factory, which has been largely idle since 2005.
Rear end styling is similar to the recently launched Citroen C5...
Although the exterior styling is no great surprise, the digital dash looks odd to European tastes - and it remains to be seen if it comes over here unchanged. However, in the context of the rest of China's indigenous motor industry, the 550 is a great leap forward and should perform much better on the market than the 750, which has been a disappointment so far, enduring a number of price cuts to entice customers into the fold.
The engines are a mix of ex-MGR - with 1.6- and 1.8-litre versions of the K-Series forming the backbone of the range, alongside a new 2-litre turbodiesel from an as-yet unconfirmed source.
Interior is much more new-age than the 750's, although the digital display might seem weird to Europeans...
SAIC will be pushing the high-technology aspect of the 550's interior, and promise that in terms of functioanlity, it will rival the best that Germany and Japan will offer. The integrated in-car entertainment system will offer the RMI (Roewe Multimedia Interface) digital multimedia interactive system, which combines integrated information delivery systems, GPS and information functions.
550 RMI digital multimedia interactive system, the multi-functional digital video entertainment experience possible, at any time connected to a variety of audio and video formats, the continuous expansion of the digital world, USB interface and GPS global positioning system will be more practical. It will also feature a high-end navigation system with Bluetooth hands-free system, and can play DVD, VCD, CD, MP3 and supplemented by a British XBM8 speaker audio system.
Key points
* Three years in development, including 18 months virtual design. * Initially launches with 1.8T and 1.8DVVT K-Series engine, followed by a 1.6-litre version * Wheelbase: 2705mm * Hatchback and MPV to follow * User interface is the D5 digital concept. Databased-Control System, Digitized-Interface, Multi-MeDia, Constant-UpgraDing, Tech-frienDly * Roewe and MG versions both penned by SAIC UK (formerly Ricado2010) and SAIC technical center at AnTing, Shanghai. * Length: 4624mm * Width: 1827mm * Height: 1480mm
See also:
12 January: More pictures of son-of-RDX60 appear... 6 March: News digest Geneva special 20 April : Roewe 550 unveiled at Beijing Motor Show
iPod and SDCard compatability will be selling points...
September 2007 - W261 gets closer to reality
SAIC's UK design office putting the finishing touches to its W261 project. Don't be fooled - it's far more advanced than the clay model stage, and expect a launch later this year.
Although you'd never know it, SAIC does have a press office, and amid all of the negotiations with NAC-MG, it has released these images of its upcoming mid-liner, also known as project W261. The car, which has taken shape at the SAIC UK Technical Centre (née Ricardo2010), follows closely the W2 project and the CGI renderings issued by AutoExpress earlier this year.
More details of the car have also emerged, including confirmation that the entry-level model will be powered by a 1.6-litre engine, and that the K-Series power units used under the bonnet will be EuroIV compliant - something that Powertrain engineers in Longbridge had achieved before the company went into administration back in 2005. Like the original engine, much of the engine management system will be supplied by Siemens...
The intriguing prospect is whether there will be an MG5 version of this car, given that SAIC and NAC are about to tie-up, finally giving us a replacement for the highly underated ZS model?
April 2007 - Roewe W2 Concept hits the show circuit
Although development is still ongoing, the 450 is likely to eventually be offered with a 1.8-litre turbocharged petrol engine as well as a 2.0-litre diesel motor
Strong hints at the look of the baby brother to the 75-based Roewe 750 saloon are revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show with the arrival of the W2 Concept car. Dozens of test mules going under the codename W261 have been spotted all over the world on endurance runs. It is clear that there is a close relationship between the W2 Concept, the W261 Project (possibly to be called the Roewe 5-Series instead of 450 as previously mooted). More intriguingly, the British developed car closely resembles one of the final RDX60 styling scheme, as penned by Peter Stevens on the eve of MGR's fall into administration in April 2005.
Although there's little linking this car stylistically with the outgoing Rovers and MGs, the similarity to the ill-fated RDX60 is quite startling, indicating that the project was continued by Ricardo2010, almost seamlessly from the closure of MG Rover - indicating the earnestness of the company's statement back in 2005, that the RDX60 was most definitely theirs...
As with the RDX60, the Roewe 450/5-Series is based upon the architecture of the Rover 75 - and because of that, it's heading for production at an unprecedented rate. Unlike the original MG Rover, car, Roewe's 450 will only be offered in saloon form, and will feature a pretty new interior that echoes the changing face of the original project, and how the MG and Rover marques were going to be modernised.
A launch is expected late this year, with a European on-sale date sometime in 2009.
February 2007 - the first computer generated images
By CHRIS THORP, AutoExpress
Rover's return is gaining pace! We have already seen how Chinese firm SAIC has recreated the 75 and 25 with its new badge Roewe - now Auto Express can exclusively reveal the company's first Ford Focus rival.
Hidden away among a convoy of Roewe's disguised 750 saloons, this prototype of the family hatchback-sized 450 was spotted in Sweden completing its first twilight test. But while its siblings are remakes of familiar ex-Longbridge models, it's obvious this car will break fresh ground for the ambitious firm, which has privately admitted it is committed to making waves in Europe from 2009.
A spiritual successor to the Rover 45, this new machine is expected to follow on from design work begun by MG Rover before the firm folded. Under the skin, the car is based on a shortened 75 platform, and it has appeared so quickly because it's taken advantage of development which MG Rover had already carried out on a replacement model for the original 45. But SAIC hasn't done this alone. British engineering experts have also had a hand in the car's evolution, specifically through spin-off firm Ricardo 2010 Consultants Ltd, created to work with the Chinese on developing new models.
Made up of hand-picked experts, many of whom were employed by MG Rover, the 2010 consultancy will soon be taken over entirely by SAIC. However, it's the link with Ricardo that gives us a further clue to this prototype's identity. While the vis-ually distorting lines and chequer effect are intended to distract the eye, the distinctive pattern is a regular Ricardo disguise. This - coupled with the fact that the vehicle is rolling on Rover 75 wheels - is further evidence that it is a Roewe.
Several other revealing details are also clear to see. The four-door body has a high waistline similar to the Honda Civic's, and while the rear is heavily cloaked, you can still see a distinctive split exhaust pipe.
Expected to be offered only as a saloon, the fresh model's interior is set to break new ground for China's car industry. Quality is anticipated to rival that of European competitors, with an emphasis on the traditional Rover strengths of luxury and comfort. Thanks to the extensive input from British engineers and with many miles of European development driving still to be completed, the 450's dynamics should also be up to the job of matching many rivals on the UK market.
A Euro IV emissions-compatible 2.0-litre diesel unit is being worked on, and it's thought that a turbo-charged 1.8-litre petrol unit based on Rover's K Series will be offered as well. Producing around 150bhp, it's hoped that the motor will boast a competitive blend of performance, fuel economy and refinement.
It's not yet known exactly when the compact family saloon will go on sale, but it is tipped to make an appearance at one of next year's top international motor shows. Roewe is expected to launch in the UK at around the same time.
Meanwhile, MG will also re-appear under the ownership of Chinese firm Nanjing. For the latest images of Roewe's 750, take a look at www.roewe.com.cn, the manufacturer's official website.
Thanks to: China Car Times, and 'Windy'.