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The Roewe 550, unmasked, uncovered, inside and out

17 April 2008 15 Comments

We love the Roewe 550, which is most surely the car that will put the Chinese car industry on the map. Pictures have been released which give far more detail on the 550’s interior, and exterior.

roewe550-bodya.jpg roewe550-bodyb.jpg roewe550-body.jpg

Interior:

roewe550-body-int.jpg roewe550-body-inta.jpg

Now that full pictures of the car (which will be launched next week) are out, what do China Car Times readers think?

15 Comments »

  • Anthony said:

    All I can say is congrats to Roewe who did what the useless Rover management could not do. I think the car looks great. My only reservation is the lack of grille….but only because I am thinking of it as the small Rover they could never make. Thumbs up from Europe!

  • peryerplowman said:

    What might have been….. :-(

    CLASS

  • aron said:

    God I love that dashboard. Hands down, best Chinese car ever.

  • Bob said:

    The Dash is a bit wierd - but in a good way. I like it! (well minus the front of the car ;-). It looks like it’ll stack up against the Lavida?

    160,000 for a 1.8T engine, decent exterior and interior - sounds right to me :-) Wonder how good that GPS will be (meaning the maps)…

  • Edgar Koops said:

    I like the car, it looks very good, but a pity that I don’t see much Britishness in it and it doesn’t resembles a Rover/MG, it more is in style with the new Lexus cars. But nevertheless a great Chinese car which could have great succes in Europe I recon, probably even more if it would be adjusted a bit and put on the market as an MG and not as a Ssang Yong. Time will tell…….

  • vava1 said:

    WOW! Can’t wait to see the MG version :)

  • aron said:

    I agree, it lacks quirky British characteristics (kind of like how Jeremy Clarkson said new Jags have lost their quirkiness and temperment). Nonetheless, an impressive showing…
    .
    Is it headed to Europe under the guise of Ssangyong? That would be a pity, although it might be a good move to hide the fact it comes from China lest it gets blasted out of the water before it arrives.

  • Bartig said:

    Awesome. Already this good in such a short time. Roewe already outgrew my oh-how-I-like-the-industry-underdogs feelings, because this design is more serious than what the Korean ever made.

    Yes, that includes the grille. Can’t see anything wrong about it.

  • Christian Davis said:

    Looks good. But it can’t seriously be called an MG if SAIC don’t make 1 volume car in the UK….

  • OS said:

    Looks pretty good all around. Probably the best Chinese car up to this point.

  • Alibaba said:

    Look great in silver.

    Ash,
    what do you think of “D5″ of this car in SOHU article?
    http://auto.sohu.com/20080417/n256355695.shtml
    I suppose “Syn-Tech” means SAIC will officially support customer software upgrade, sth like ECU or personal interface. That’s interesting.

  • Bob said:

    Was just wondering, does this car have an option of Parking sensors? (you know starts beeping when you back to close to something, or better yet, shows you a radar-ish looking graphic of your proximity to things while backing up - ala BMW)

    This auto seems up there in offerings, so would think it might have the options like the higher brands - but just have this feeling it doesnt… If not, does any other Roewe vehicle offer this option?

  • Ash (author) said:

    Im still trying to digest it - The English is all buzzwords, where as the Chinese has a bit more meaning to it.

    Could it be that the Roewe 550 will have that Toyota style call home feature to download latest software/patches/maps?

  • Brian said:

    I must agree. Great finishing. Sophisticated design. There’s a little too much Toyota Allion in the greenhouse, though.

  • dogtucker said:

    lets wait and see it in the flesh - then comment.

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