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Beijing 2008: Roewe 550 debuts, still good lookin'
by John Neff on Apr 21st 2008 at 1:57PM 
Click above for high-res gallery of the Roewe 550
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation debuted the Roewe 550 over the weekend at the Auto China show in Beijing, and it joins the 750 in a lineup that was designed and engineered entirely in Britain. For those who don't remember the story, a little history lesson might be in order. SAIC fought long and hard against cross-town Chinese rival Nanjing for the right to purchase the bankrupt English automotive brand Rover. SAIC won the battle, but didn't secure the rights to the Rover name. Hence, Roewe was born and the 750 debuted as a rebadged version of the Rover 75. The Roewe 550, however, is its own car with a design that doesn't carry forward any obvious cues from Rover. Based on a shortened version of the Rover 75 platform, the 550 was reportedly being developed before MG Rover bit the dust in 2005, and SAIC has made sure to keep the car palatable to European tastes as it plans to sell the 550 in Europe eventually.
The 550 features a clean and tasteful exterior design, though some at the show note its interior isn't made of the highest quality materials. We do, however, like the digital gauge cluster that wraps around the analog tach, as well as the flush nav screen. The 550's available engines, however, are not as impressive and include the same 1.8T and 1.6L K-Series four-cylinders, as well as a 2.0L diesel, that were sold in Rovers before the company collapsed. Autocar points out it's also possible that the 550 could be badged as an MG in Europe, as SAIC recently bought its rival Nanjing, which settled for buying the MG name when it lost the bid to own Rover's assets.
Check out the new Roewe 550 in our high-res gallery below.
Gallery: Roewe 550 - Live Shots
Gallery: Roewe 550
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All photos Copyright ©2008 Ibiza Wang / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Autoblog Chinese, Autocar]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SPG 2:02PM (4/21/2008)
I like the styling, it reminds me of a J-Spec Nissan.
Any chance we'll get this as a Sterling 550?
Jokes.
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Aki 2:10PM (4/21/2008)
Not sure what photog tried being artsy with creative angles, but ugh. No side view shots, further back interior shots?
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Xcountryflyer 2:17PM (4/21/2008)
Terrible live shots--definitely agree. I think it is a good looking car. At least its not a total copy of any one particular car.
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VLMdesigner 4:19PM (4/21/2008)
Good-looking car but I prefer the front of the W2 concept from last year...See it here :
http://vlmdesigner.over-blog.com/article-6404021.html
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TriShield 2:25PM (4/21/2008)
It reminds me of the quirky styling Hyundai and Kia used to have before they watered down their products into bland styling mediocrity for the global market.
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brian 2:27PM (4/21/2008)
i only see a touch of VW in picture 2 (front shot)
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ugg.tryptophan 6:15PM (4/21/2008)
i dont
tio 2:38PM (4/21/2008)
I like it a lot. It's the first Chinese car that actually has caught my eye.
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Nick 2:50PM (4/21/2008)
It looks like a poor imitation of a Chrysler Concorde, which was ugly as hell to begin with.
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PJ 3:42PM (4/21/2008)
Holy schnikes. If that interior appeared in a new Chrysler, we'd be applauding their turnaround.
Which Chinese manufacturer is going to see Roewe's bet and raise them a handsome exterior? This car heats up China's race for automotive legitimacy, and it's going to be very interesting, if scary, race to watch.
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Rick 5:51PM (4/21/2008)
I love the look, I love the car, I love the design. Just one thing, whose f*king idea was it to place a tweeter behind a door handle?!
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tikijj 3:54PM (4/21/2008)
Combine british automotive technology with chinese manufacturing skills? But in all seriousness, SAIC probably skipped some 20yrs. of growing pain buying off rover.
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joe23521 4:15PM (4/21/2008)
The parking brake handle is quite a nice touch.
Overall very well done.
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keano 4:24PM (4/21/2008)
it looks really nice ! from where i'm standing it looks original...the dashboard is a good break from the german-boring looking cars..
the exterior..eh...not that well made..maybe it looks better in real life
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pscs 4:28PM (4/21/2008)
Gosh... I have to say something... you see that dash? that red centre screen's background is a blend of Mac OS X Panther's curvy background and Vista's swooping lines as well...
urgh... even such a nice car must have something that's ripped off.
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joe23521 5:02PM (4/21/2008)
You're really stretching it there.
Cire 6:09PM (4/21/2008)
I agree with the above comments about the pictures. You really don't get a sense of the overall exterior design with these subpar shots.
I've seen pictures of this car on other websites. It is one of the nicer Chinese car designs. I'm not sure if it is something I would consider buying if it came to the U.S., but it's nicely done overall and a definite step forward for the Chinese.
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Matt Keller 6:29PM (4/21/2008)
I wouldn't call it "good looking". Interesting? yes. Good looking? Hardly.
The CTS is good looking, this is not.
The XF is good looking, this is not.
I could go on.
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OS 8:35AM (4/22/2008)
I don't think it's even close, but this has got to be the best looking Chinese sedan to this date. The instrument panel needs some work, but the interior looks very nice.
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cxvargas 1:35AM (4/22/2008)
Not bad.
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