While the Chinese connection for MG has been building up steadily, with SAIC aggressively marketing the marque in the country, it has all been rather quiet at the place where it all began, until now, that is.

The brand has just been relaunched in the UK, the return being ushered in at the company’s Longbridge facility in Birmingham. To chug things along, there’s a new website as well as an updated logo for the brand – the badge differs from the Chinese version and wil be used exclusively in Europe.

There’s also a product, of course, and this is the MG6, which will carry the flag for the brand’s return to European shores. The fastback version, based on the Roewe 550, is slated to go on sale in the UK sometime in the middle of April, with customer deliveries starting sometime in May. At this point, the car will ship only in 1.8 turbo form, with a five-speed manual gearbox.

Meanwhile, the sedan form is due into the UK around July, with keen interest ramping up its arrival from the third quarter of the year. Hopefully, it’ll be a happier time for the brand with its return home.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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Here’s another debutant at the ongoing Auto Guangzhou 2010, the MG3. Although the MG brand is now in Chinese hands, they are keen to promote the British links and heritage of the marque, which was obvious from the constant presence of Union Jacks around the stand. SAIC even brought in classic MGs for the show.

The MG3 is a B-segment supermini that’s rather neatly styled and proportioned. At 3,999 mm long, 1,728 mm wide and 1,517 mm tall, it’s about the size of a Ford Fiesta, but slightly larger in all directions. The 2,520 mm wheelbase is also very long for its class. The black roof isn’t very original but there are some neat details such as headlamp bulbs with MG logos, like the Mk4 VW Polo. The long rear lamps are a bit like the Volvo XC60′s.

The interior is quite pleasant as well. While plastics are hard, the dash design is cool in a minimalist way, and there are some iPod influences in the white trim and stereo controls. If you’re wondering what’s in the dash top cubby, it’s a mount for a portable GPS unit. The two-tone black-beige theme also works for me, and it’s quite spacious at the back, too.

There’s not much info on what’s underneath, save for the option of a 92 hp 1.3L engine and a 108 hp 1.5L unit. The show car has an AMT gearbox. The MG3 will be launched locally in March 2011.

Full live gallery after the jump.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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The 2010 MG6 was unveiled at the Auto Shanghai 2009 recently and is essentially an MG-badged version of the new Roewe 550. It is a larger car than the Roewe N1 Concept also shown at the Chinese autoshow.

Under the hood will be a turbocharged 1.8 litre Rover K-Series engine. MG calls it a fastback while the Roewe 550 looks more like a sedan, and its styling definitely looks sportier and edgier compared to the Roewe-based alternative. For one, the fact that there is no weird Toyota Venza-like front is a plus point.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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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?

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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Apparently Proton is revisiting an old “friend”. Proton was in talks with Rover to supply it with the Proton GEN2 to be rebadged as a Rover to replace the Rover 45, which was at that time a car based on a derivative of the Honda Civic EG (Honda Domani).

We first heard of this in the year 2000, but things only picked up in 2004. In return, Rover would supply Proton with the Rover 75′s platform, which would have been used to produce a Perdana Replacement Model. Towards the end of 2004, it looks like things turned sour and the collaboration was canceled without any fruitful outcome. All they said was the partnership was “not viable”, and that was the end of it.

Now it appears that Proton is once again in talks with Rover, only this time the people doing the talking are their new owners SAIC. According to a source in Proton, things are still at the discussion stage. The deal once again is for the Rover 75 platform (now the Roewe 750) to be used by Proton as a new Perdana replacement car, and in return Proton will allow SAIC to use one of their platforms to badge produce a Roewe.

This could be the GEN2 (which is also sold in China as the Europestar RCR) or even the Proton MPV, as despite there being so many shots of what everyone assumed to be a Roewe MPV out there on the internet (with rear sliding doors), but apparently this has turned out to actually be the Luxgen MPV.

The 2.5 litre KV6 engine from the Rover will also likely be bundled together with the platform. While this is considered by many to be an old engine, SAIC has made some changes to the new rechristened 188 horsepower Roewe KV6 with the help of Ricardo and updated it to Euro 4 standards. A variant of the KV6 is found in the Naza Ria.

So, a Rover Perdana and a Mitsubishi Waja it is? Can’t wait for something concrete.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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Nanjing Automobile, who owns the MG brand now, will be purchasing diesel engines from an European engine supplier to slot into its’ MG 7 for the European market. What Nanjing has right now is a BMW diesel that makes 113hp, and that would definitely not work in a modern European market.

Nanjing director Paul Stowe says the new engine for the MG 7 will be purchased from a manufacturer that already supplies engines to other companies, though he declined to name which one. We will have to look at an European manufacturer that has an engine plant in China, where the MG 7 is currently being built. Automotive News reports that the supplier might be Fiat or VM Motori.

VM Motori is a turbodiesel specialist of sorts, and it’s turbodiesels have found it’s way into many vehicles, including Cadillacs, and even the recently launched Weststar series of rebadged LDV Maxus vans use VM Motori turbodiesels.

Source

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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Roewe is basically what Rover has become after SAIC took over, and the models currently on sale are basically rehashed versions of the 75 and TF, but this might indicate Roewe’s new design direction. This is the Roewe W2 concept, which looks decent enough on the outside but features a cool LED touch screen control module on the inside, as well as a funky meter panel.

It is the result of a collaboration between SAIC’s own team and ex-Rover and ex-MG designers. The Roewe W2 is slated to be Roewe’s new C-segment mid-range car and will join Roewe’s line-up in 2008.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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The first new “Modern Gentleman” cars have rolled off Nanjing’s assembly line in Nanjing, from a factory that Nanjing managed to piece together using the robots and assembly lines they bought from Rover.

The first two new models from Modern Gentlemen are the MG7 Saloon and the MG-TF sports car. Nanjing’s new factory can produce 200,000 cars, 250,000 engines, and 100,000 gearboxes annually.

Nanjing intends to keep the original British flavor, however it’s future direction from MG will be the Chinese market. However, it also intends to sell the cars around the world, but China is the major market. Some Modern Gentleman cars will also be produced in Longbridge, UK as well as Ardmore, Southern Oklahoma, with the latter to begin soon next year. MG originally stood for Morris Garages.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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The bid for Rover finally goes to Nanjing Automobile after a three-month battle by three companies, of which two are Chinese.

Nanjing is the smaller of the two Chinese firms, with the other being Shanghai Automotive. The third firm is Kimber group based in UK.

The deal was secured on Friday between Nanjing Automobile and Rover sale administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Nanjing Automobile is China’s older carmaker. They intend to shift Rover’s engine and car plant to China but they will retain some plants in UK. UK will also be the base of a new R&D facility.

Currently Nanjing Automobile has three major manufacturing bases – Nanjing Iveco, a wagon joint venture with Italy Iveco, Yuejin Light Truck Co and Nanjing Fiat, a car joint venture with Italy’s Fiat Auto.

Due to China’s expert abilities in piracy, Honda has repossessed blueprints and equipment related to building the MG ZS and the Rover 45 which was based on the Honda Civic.

Rover originally had some form of tie-up with Proton with plans of a Rover-badged Gen2 and a Perdana model based on one of the bigger Rovers.

Source: BBC News

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 20:06:22 +0000.

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