SAIC and Dongfeng recently signed an agreement to supply Rover designed 1.8T K-Series engines to Dongfeng for use in their own brand automobiles. Dongfeng currently lacks any of its own engine designs for their own vehicles, and are relaying on third parties for engines. Dongfeng dropped a Cummins diesel engine in the Crazy Soldier, the sluggish Shengyang Mitsubishi unit in the Jing Yi, and possibly the same Mitsubishi unit in the Dongfeng Coupe.
The Jing Yi will be casting out that Mitsubishi unit over the next month, and installing the mighty fine 1.8Turbo Rover K-series via a deal with SAIC, the Turbo’d up Jing Yi is expected to sell from 120,380rmb and will rival the likes of the VW Touran in the mini turbo MPV market
I don’t think that this deal will help Rover to improve its market position and image.
Didn’t they fix the issue with the headgaskets being blown?
Seeing as Rover is dead and buried, or soon to be rectified by TATA (depending on who you believe) then I think Rovers market position and image is not an important issues.
MOLTOV, blowing headgaskets were fixed by SAIC, there was a Ford workaround, IIRC, for existing Rover owners.
please keep Rover alive!!!
This should be a nice boost for Jingyi sales which already outdo the Touran with a naturally aspirated engine.
Jingyi dont sell too well from what I hear, they have an order book of several 100 and really only ‘make to order’ at the moment!
According to the China Automotive Association of Manufacturers,in March, Dongfeng’s Jingyi sold
2,404 units to SVW Touran’s 1,745, putting it in fourth place among MPV sales.
I must admit Bob that these high numbers for Jingyi came as a surprise.
A closer look makes me think that CAAM has confused the Liuqi Jingyi with the Liuqi Future MPV, the usual contender that makes the top ten list.