Roewe, SAIC's renamed Rover, has an SUV in the works. Details are scant, though it's reportedly based on a Ssangyong model. We think the Ssangyong Kyron is hiding under the Roewe's handsome sheetmetal. The Kyron carries its Mercedes-esque styling atop a ladder frame and off-road capable 4WD componentry, so Roewe's new SUV should be able to get dirty without becoming mired. Roewe has added some Lexus to the styling of the Kyron, but the older Mercedes powertrain systems might not remain underhood. Ssangyong uses Mercedes castoffs through a special licensing agreement, though we wouldn't go so far as to call either vehicle a bargain last-gen Mercedes. Looking into reports on the Kyron reveal a vehicle that's well equipped but not a screaming deal; nor is it a stellar performer. Perhaps Roewe has revised the chassis calibration and found a different motor to slide in between the front fenders.
[Source: China Car Times via Straightline]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
k.w.a @ Dec 4th 2007 5:10PM
this looks like a kia sorento to me. it's funny how some automotive companies stoop so low nowadays that even KIA and hyundai should be copyrighting their sh*t.
ugg.tryptophan @ Dec 4th 2007 5:26PM
i know ive seen that grill on another car, just cant put my finger on it.
Khalid @ Dec 4th 2007 10:09PM
It takes many styling cues from the Ssang Yong Rexton.
chairman @ Dec 4th 2007 5:28PM
Am I the only one that finds a watermark on a Chinese car photo kind of funny?
Derek @ Dec 4th 2007 6:18PM
Before all the haters start posting, i want to point out several facts. 1) SAIC owns 50% of Ssangyong, so it is not really plagarism if the parent company uses a design for another subsidiary. No one accuses Pontiac of copying the Cobalt in making its G5 sedan.... 2) The watermark is from the website which hosts the picture, so no, there is nothing wierd about a watermark on a Chinese car. 3) There is absolutely no connection with KIA or Hyundai, and if you think about it, most two-box SUV designs look more or less the same, the same way how the Kia Sorento looks similar to a first-generation M-class.
Chris @ Dec 4th 2007 6:16PM
I doesn't look that bad, but I still prefer the SUV's of other brands.
I_Hate_China @ Dec 4th 2007 10:57PM
This thing is nothing more than China-produced Kyron with styling revision and Rover-derived gasoline engine(Kyron is diesel only).
BTW, Roewe is a Chinese-domestic market only brand. Roewes will be badged as Ssangyongs for the European market. And poor Koreans get all the bad rep from poor-quality Roewes in Europe. Well, it wasn't like Ssangyong was a quality brand to begin with.
Apu @ Dec 5th 2007 2:11AM
We get Mercedes-engined Kyrons here.
Apu @ Dec 5th 2007 2:13AM
I mean with gasoline engines
tekdemon @ Dec 5th 2007 12:12AM
Actually, if this thing has the new interior that the 550 got, it might not be that bad. I'm not saying reliability is going to be great, but the interior at least looked really nice on the 550 from the pics I've seen.
SPG @ Dec 5th 2007 1:14AM
This SUV reminds me of the first gen Hyundai Santa Fe and even more of the Kia Sorento.
Yet with a K platform LeBaron grill.
I can't say as I don't like the Sorento though.
I'd just never have one.
simon goldberger @ Dec 6th 2007 3:34AM
It really amazes me how many products SAIC and Nanjing have managed to design and release in the last 2 years....
Almost as though MG Rover had a long term product strategy and vehicles already designed that SAIC and Nanjing could milk as the fruits of their new ownership.....
Obviously my comment has nothing to do with the MG styled and badged Ssang yong Rexton that we had floating around at Longbridge in the days following SAIC's purchase of Ssang Yong and during the period when as MG Rover workers we naively thought the Chinese wanted to work with us, rather than destroy the company we were so proud of..
If I remember rightly the 5 rextons brought into MG Rover for the MG SUV Styling exercise were in effect smuggled in with the help of SAIC and supposedly without the knowledge of SSang Yong who where in the process of launching the Rexton in the UK at the same time.
Obviously at the time the plan was to MG rather than Rover badge the vehicle due to the licensing agreement between MG Rover and BMW for the Rover name, which (at Ford's understandable insistence) indirectly blocked us from deliverying a 4x4 Rover......