SAIC working on new cars, including new Qashqai and Touran rivals
MG6
From 2011 to 2014 SAIC are planning 14 new cars for the MG and Roewe brands, specifically there will be a new generation of Roewe 750 and a Roewe 550 face lift whilst MG are planning to get a new A-segment hatchback and a new small SUV that has been codenamed AS21 and will be a rival to the Nissan Qashqai.
From 2012 to 2013, SAIC will release a face lift Roewe 350 and an MG sedan (codenamed AP13) that will be an A-segment vehilce and also the Roewe Zp13 AO-segment vehicle which is likely to be a Roewe version of the MG Zero concept.
This year SAIC has already launched the MG6 and Roewe 350 compact sedan, in the second half of the year SAIC is expected to launch the MG Zero (codename ZP11) in the form of the new MG3, the Roewe brand will get the long awaited W5 SUV. This year is the year that SAIC actually spreads its wings out into different segments and pulls away from the mid size sedan market that it has so far settled itself into. A new Roewe 750 is also in development and is expected to launch in mid 2011 and will be based on the Buick Lacrosse platform which is likely to make the 750 increase in size considerably.
2012 will see minor facelifts to the Roewe 350 and MG6 whilst the MG7 will be swapped for a new model, 2012 will also see the launch of a small MPV that is similar in style to the current VW Touran MPV, the project is apparently codenamed AM11 and will be built on SAIC’s small car platform although it is unsure if this will be an MG or a Roewe vehicle, but by 2013 a larger MPV will be launched (codenamed B11) and this is apparently expected to be a Roewe model.
Exciting times are clearly ahead for both the Roewe and MG line up after years of hibernation and neglect, MG are also readying their UK factory for imminent launch of the MG6 in the UK which is expected to be sold Europe wide over the next few years.
SAIC are one of the few Chinese automotive companies, if not the only company that have come to understand the need of a strong brand and line up prior to an international launch. Other manufacturers have so far relied on dealers and distributes to carry out marketing and branding exercises on their behalf in foreign lands which is something that dealers are not equipped to do, hence the current lack of Chinese brands in Europe and the destruction of those that dared to tread on European soil.
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I winder what Top Gear will have to say about the new MG. If SAIC does not give them a car to test then they will buy one and completely destroy it, just out of spite. However they have been quite kind to Range Rover even after Tata took over. Hopefully they are fans of the old MG and give this one a chance.
Remember though top gear did like the mg brand of cars as the appeared on the show regular. Hammond and May also loved the MG SV as it attached Jermey Head at the end of filming.
But even clarkson had to love the MG SV and the MG ZT 260.
But the City Rover was the mistake if the MG Rover group had stuck to there orginal plan of selling the City Rover for under £5000 they may have been nicer.
Where in MG’s plans are the replacement for the MG Midget, MGB/MGTF and if we are lucky a sports car to take on Audi and Jaguar. When can we see them in the MG/SAIC plans and better still on the road!
Only when there is a new replacement for a MG Sports Car can we truly say MG is Back !
The City Rover was a disaster and totally devalued the brand of Rover, or what little value there was left in the brand when it launched.
@ MichaelP
No.
MG has never tried to compete against the premium sectors of Jag and Audi et al. Their history was the affordable sports car, so standard segments are where they should excel, and all car have the sportfing finesse.
So we’ll have rivals to:
Fiesta, Corsa, CLio and Polo – Dull MG3 / Exciting Zero
Focus, Golf, Astra and Megane – MG5 hatch and sedan
Octavia, Jetta, Citroen C5, Mazda 6 – MG6
As yet no news on competior for Mondeo, Insignia or Passat, although with the news that the Roewe 750 will be parts sharing with or based on the Buick Lacrosse (therefore Vaux / Opel Insignia) it seems that the competitor will come in the form of the MG7 replacement.
Insiders in the American dealer organization (NADA) believe that MG will not return to the US market until they have a MGTF replacement. SAIC has told us not to look for this model until 2014, so we are hoping that the new sports car, and some sedans and hatches will arrive in the US by late 2015. This should be enough time for MG-Birmingham to increase production enough for US exports, and time to establish an American dealer network which must be built from the ground up.
Ric,
Not sure if your from the UK or not, but I thought the Passat, Octavia, Jetta, C5, Mazda6, Mondeo and Insignia were all in the same Segment of Car Size?
The Passat may not be now as it is slightly bigger than previously when it and the Mondeo and Octavia all looked identical.
I would have thought the Jetta to have been a smaller class of car than the rest mentioned here.
In theory You’re right.
My point is that the Mazda 6 and C5 are always so heavily discounted (especially C5) that their lower end versions are in direct competition with middle and higher end Octavias and Jettas.
@bob:”However they have been quite kind to Range Rover even after Tata took over.”
Your comparison to Landrover-Tata doesn’t fit here. Landrover (and Jaguar) are still British company’s, who just happen to have an Indian owner now. Top Gear couldn’t break down on Landrover or Jaguar because the cars hadn’t changed (yet).
MG-Rover, or rather MG and Roewe, are Chinese brands, who build Chinese cars, in Chinese factory’s. This MG6 is a totally new and unknown car, so it doesn’t matter whether they liked the old MG or not. We’ll just have to wait and see what they think of it.
I kinda like its looks.