Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
This is the Roewe N1 Concept, one of the first new designs to come out of the now renamed SAIC-owned Rover company. The Roewe N1 is said to be going into production by as early as early 2010, sitting below the 550 in the product range (called the 350?) and powered by Rover’s K-Series 4-cylinder engines.
Doesn’t look too bad does it?
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Roewe W2 Concept
F10 BMW Concept M5 unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2011
New 2010 MG6 based on Roewe 550
Proton-SAIC talks for Roewe 750-based Perdana?About the Author
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
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[quote comment="233159"]Is this the basic concept for Perdana Replacement as rumors keep saying that P1 had signed something with SAIC?..I’ll be good if both body structures and engines is more environmentally friendly and cost less for ppl…[/quote]
The Perdana replacement is the Roewe 750/Rover 75 model. It’s engineered by BMW.
pretty decent looking.
look like a honda
old platform right?
china auto maker move fast! P1 need to speed up b4 it is too late.
it looks good ..
hope it wont goes wrong after 50,000km ..
the front does look familiar… isn't it?
like paul said b4, there is posibility that proton engage GM to borrow Roewe model as perdana replacement. if it is true, our PM & meteris will ude china-man car?!
China have a long way to go to catchup with established top european and japanese car makers in the internal combustion engined car sector. However, some industry watcher noted China may never intend to do that anyway because internal combustion engine may have reached the end of the road technically, after all the basic technology is more than a century old. The next major evolution may well be electric car, and this is a more level playing field where everyone is just starting up ( all current electric and hybrid cars are not fully practical yet, in other words they are all crap, even from established car makers ). China is actively pushing for electric car industry and government is throwing serious money to jump start it (government fleet cars, taxis etc). Due to the density of their urban environment, the average driving distance is short and it suits electric car. They are also not overly burdened with a legacy internal combustion engine support infrastructure so there is an opportunity to leap frog technically. Just as the coming of internal combustion engine revolution started with bikes, it will be for electric engine vehicle. Just look at the number of electric scooters in Chinese cities and you will realised that it may be a start of a revolution. Here in boleh land? In the infinite wisdom of the JPJ sages, they banned electric bikes and scooters because they don't have a tax structure for it! Sigh…
Is this the basic concept for Perdana Replacement as rumors keep saying that P1 had signed something with SAIC?..I'll be good if both body structures and engines is more environmentally friendly and cost less for ppl…
looks like a persona with a honda city 'face'. could it be that SAIC is sourcing the rover replacement from proton instead? now that's an intriguing point to ponder!
If re badged as Toyota ,Honda or some other Japanese ,Korean brand, i swear could not have tell that this car comes from china.
Proton time to buck up!!
loong loong way to go for China.. rather buy P1 or P2…
don't be fooled. that is actually a persona.
what happen to petronas engine said given to china company to mass produce?
china – if they can't do it, they'll just buy it.
ugly car? buy / hire the best designer in the world!
Look decent. Wow, can believe it's a "cap ayam' brand if not mentioned. Look like chinese has improve a lot in the field.
the front headlight shape looks like proton gen 2
At first glance, it looks like Vios face-lifted.. Looks pretty decent though..
[quote comment="233179"]don't be fooled. that is actually a persona.[/quote]
totally! and i thought i was the one only that noticed it
looks like the duviosgong
This looks like a derivative of the Honda City.
Not bad.
Much much much better than shitty pesonaa. Hmmmm……
Go China Go…!!!
[quote comment="233157"]China have a long way to go to catchup with established top european and japanese car makers in the internal combustion engined car sector. However, some industry watcher noted China may never intend to do that anyway because internal combustion engine may have reached the end of the road technically, after all the basic technology is more than a century old. The next major evolution may well be electric car, and this is a more level playing field where everyone is just starting up ( all current electric and hybrid cars are not fully practical yet, in other words they are all crap, even from established car makers ). China is actively pushing for electric car industry and government is throwing serious money to jump start it (government fleet cars, taxis etc). Due to the density of their urban environment, the average driving distance is short and it suits electric car. They are also not overly burdened with a legacy internal combustion engine support infrastructure so there is an opportunity to leap frog technically. Just as the coming of internal combustion engine revolution started with bikes, it will be for electric engine vehicle. Just look at the number of electric scooters in Chinese cities and you will realised that it may be a start of a revolution. Here in boleh land? In the infinite wisdom of the JPJ sages, they banned electric bikes and scooters because they don't have a tax structure for it! Sigh…[/quote]
One of the more intelligent post to grace this blog lately after all the crap sling'ng in the Proton and Perodua post from both camps.
I share the same thinking. Internal combustion is dead. The future will polarize to City limited full electrics and Hydrogen Fuel cell for longer ranges.
China has a advantage here with loads of R&D money and a hugh local market for economies of scale. After all, this is nothing new for them, they already do most of our electronics.
[quote comment="233146"]china auto maker move fast! P1 need to speed up b4 it is too late.[/quote]
China just recent bought this techno.. of course it will look more adv… they did not produce 100% of the cars… pls also remember they also bought our gen2.. and we should be proud of that
[quote comment="233177"]loong loong way to go for China.. rather buy P1 or P2…[/quote]
long way to go compare to TOP european and japanese marques.
For a second there I thought this was the next-generation Persona!
Seriously though, this is a really good-looking concept. All hail Roewe! =D
Mana Proton???
Balik Kampong oredi?
Reminds me of a toyota, maybe yaris+vios?
To be honest it does look like it could be based on the Persona. After all, Proton is said to be in talks with SAIC Roewe over some stuff.
proton still rocks….
China's automotive…..like a james bond gadget !!! 90% products in IKEA made in China ….what else????
China hebat !!!
the Rover K-series engine is very reliable and potential engine. I hope P1 can take this engine in the future as Lotus using this engine for their Elise as well.
Roewe 550 0 ~ 100km/h http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Z_Trujtnw&fe…
Listen to the 1.80 Turbo engine!!!!
[quote comment="233283"]proton still rocks….[/quote]
Have a look at the pace & volume of China R&D work first…..Then u may think again if Proton really rock or just a piece of heavy log. Need lot of push to move forward. They are looking into Hyprid, Full Electic & Hydrogen now…
[quote comment="233274"]To be honest it does look like it could be based on the Persona. After all, Proton is said to be in talks with SAIC Roewe over some stuff.[/quote]
eh really ar??
This car is the one that MG-Rover were developing to replace the Rover 45/MGZS, but MG-Rover collapsed before the development could be finished. SAIC came in and took the design and passed it off as their own.
So in essence, it is a UK designed and engineered car, built in China!!
At least they haven't sold it back for $1.
I just came back from the Shanghai Auto show and I was indeed surprised to see the magnitude and the advancement made in the Chinese automotive industry. The automotive industry there has certainly leapt from what I saw four years ago when I was last there. The number of concept cars and the quality of the cars displayed in the show was simply astonishing. I used to have prejudices against Chinese cars due to the lack of product quality especially those imported into Malaysia. But now, I have been enlightened on the progress made by them. If you are there, please visit hall E1 where SAIC products are displayed and see for yourself to clear your doubts.
Much that we want to be proud of our Malaysian-made cars (read:Proton), the Proton buyer/dealer at the show must be terribly ashamed of the brand so much so that they used the brand "Europestar"; and tagline "Engineered By Lotus" without a single mention that it is produced/manufactured in Proton/Malaysia. If you think SAIC used Persona/Gen-2 as their platform, see the car for yourself before you speak.
Anyway, let us not be envious of their success but rather look at it as a challenge for our Malaysian automotive industry (manufacturers, vendors and suppliers) to "wake up" to the reality that our competitive advantage has been overtaken in terms of quality, cost as well as delivery; and all of us have to find new innovative ways to raise our standards to survive the competition.
It is also pointless to "bash" Proton for the sake of bashing because the automotive industry is a strategic industry and crucial for the nation's long term industrialisation programme. The current management is trying their best. Why don't we encourage them rather than linger on legacy issues? The Chinese automotive industry has shown that it is possible to thrive in difficult times. Can we in Malaysia do the same?
[quote comment="233303"]China hebat !!![/quote]
Malaysia hebat…