Roewe 250: Once was a Rover 25
We’ve been wondering just what exactly SAIC had in store for the Rover 25 platform, they received it along with the Rover 75 platform (which they subsequently developed into the Roewe 750) but the Rover 25 was left neglected for a few years, until now:
The Roewe 250 is radically different from the Rover 25, leading itself to more of a Fiat Punto style design, but will of course have that hint of British elegance about it that other mini car producers just fail to invoke in their designs.
Engines are rumoured to be a 1.4 and a 1.6l engine, which is similar to the MG3 SW offerings of a 1.4 and a 1.8l.
The Roewe brand will have quite a line up of cars in ’09, ranging from the 750 large sedan, the 550 compact sedan and hatch, and the Roewe SUV, and not forgetting the Roewe 350.
The 250 may also end up as an MG model, especially after the MG chief mentioned that MG are working on a new A-segment model, possibly even with a 1.4T or 1.5T engine. Should this get the Turbo treatment, we’d be first in line for a new hot hatch.
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The reason it looks like a Fiat is because it is a Fiat! Look at the badge insert at the back. It’s made for a Fiat badge…
That isn’t a Rover 25-based car.
It is Fiat Grande Punto with a new front bumper cover.
The rest of the bodywork is unchanged from the Fiat.
If it was on a Rover 25 platform the fuel filler and exhaust would be on the opposite sides.
If you want my guess, it is a mule vehicle testing the powertrain of a new Roewe vehicle (hence the new bumper/grille, to ensure correct airflow to the radiator and intake), within a Punto body because it has similar weight and dimensions to a vehicle that as yet does not exist in the metal. This saves tooling up a full prototype vehicle just to test the powertrain.
@Neil:
I have high hopes that this is the case. SAIC has thus far played by the rules and a copycat car would be a disaster.
Legal clone?
@Castro
more like a good way to completely ruin a great hatch
That’s clearly a Fiat Punto with a Roewe-esque nose grafted on. It may be a powertrain or chassis mule, though.
or Maybe Fiat ditched Chery and now working with SAIC ?
Clearly a Fiat Punto Grande mule. Having said that, Ash, I don’t believe the Roewe 250 will be based on the old Rover 25, but rather a shorthed version of the new platform sitting under the N1/350. Just an educated guess…;)
BG
does anyone think it resembles a ford focus from the rear just a bit smaller. i hope this isn’t the preproduction shape as i think the last of the 25′s facelifts is a more forward looking design.
How sad! I bought my Rover 25 (which I’ve since managed to smash), because of its twin lights and more elegant looks than the other boxes, rounded or oblong, currently on the roads. This version certainly doesn’t look like a smaller 75, the way the 25 did.
In the 6 years I had that car, I had no problems with it at all.