Roewe 750 to be canned, replacement coming in 2012
SAIC’s flagship Roewe 750 is likely to go out of production in 2012 and will be replaced by a new 750 which will be riding on an entirely platform that is currently shared with GM’s fantastic Buick Lacrosse Epsilon II platform. The Roewe 750 is apparently under research and has been given the internal codename of BP31. The Buick Lacrosse is up for a renewel in 2014, which makes platform sharing with SAIC worthwhile.
The 2011 Roewe 750 is currently undergoing testing, and is likely to be a new seat of light clusters both front and rear which will give the car a minor facelift to carry it through to 2012. The hybrid version of the 750 is also ready for launch.
On the engine front, SAIC will offer the 750 with the choice of 1.8, 1.8T and a 2.5V6 engine which they bought from MG-Rover in 2005. The engines have since been upgraded, with the 2.5V6 gaining more power (from 130kw to 135kw) and the 1.8L jumping from 86kw to 96KW, the 1.8T has not modified power wise.
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Greetings CCT.
How does this news affect the MG7 line? Will it change platforms as well, or will it continue on the old R75 chassis? Does SAIC even see a need for a different MG7 model? Do they plan to market their large cars overseas at some point? These are questions that would interest a lot of us in the UK and US as well. Any clues?
MG is largely going to be used as the export line and so I would expect there to be a new MG7 based on the 750. They will definitely if they are serious about Europe need something of this size.
The 750 has never been a big seller. A new one based on the Epsilon platform might just change matters. Roewe do though need to get a bit more adventurous with their designs particularly if they’re going to have any success in Europe.
As a side point in Shanghai we now (in about the last month) have a whole load of old LaCrosses and VW Tourans as taxis specially for Expo. I’m wondering if the LaCrosses were offered cheap to get rid of stocks of the old model or whether they are second hand? The 750 would have made a good alternative to the LaCrosse and isn’t the product of a JV.