Autoblog

If you're of the opinion that the religious right has too much influence on American politics, you should check out Saudi Arabia. The royal family has relied for decades on the support of fundamentalist Wahabi clerics who, in return for their support to the ibn Saud regime, have insisted on ever more stringent laws. Among those measures has been a strict ban prohibiting women from driving that has been in effect for 75 years since the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932, but the Saudi government is finally preparing to lift the ban.

The government decision reportedly stems from an effort to placate a mounting women's lib movement, whose activists have been mounting rolling demonstrations by leading convoys of women driving around in the kingdom despite the law prohibiting them from obtaining driver's licenses or automobile insurance. According to the Saudi government, the ban will be lifted by the end of the year. Critics point out, however, that previous government commitments towards reform have not been met.

[Source: The Daily Telegraph via Instapundit, Photo by HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty]

Originally designed to be the centerpiece of MG Rover's future vehicle plans, this now-stillborn prototype named the RDX60 has been located in a dark, dusty corner within Longbridge. The five-seat hatch based on the Rover 75 platform was the replacement for the Rover 45 built to go head-to-head with the Golf and Focus in 2004. Unfortunately, delays and a general lack of funds sent it along with the future MG Rover into automotive oblivion in April of 2005.

[Source: CAR Magazine]

See early sketches of Rover and MG versions of the RDX60 after the jump

Thanks to our colleagues reporting from their home turf on Autoblog Chinese, we now have the first official shots of the Rover 75-based sedan from Roewe, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.'s (SAIC) newly minted brand. We've shown you spy shots of the large sedan, but these are the first official pics that show off the new sedan's front end. The shape of the face is a bit Rover-esque, but the new fascia incorporates a large chromed grille frame that's bisected by body work a la Audi, new headlight clusters and vertically stacked fog lamps at the corners. We are also given a few interior pics that, quite honestly, look decidely unlike what we usually think of (rightly or wrongly) as Chinese craftsmanship. The sedan's inner sanctum uses a combination of matte gray plastic, beige plastic and leather, as well as a light wood trim. A satellite navigation system is present, as well as what looks like the shifter for a 5- or 6-speed automatic transmission with no manual control. We've surmised in the past that engine offerings might include a 1.8-liter and 2.5-liter, the smaller of the two perhaps sporting a turbocharger. The pics show a tachometer with a redline of about 6,750 rpm, though that's hardly a telling clue. Looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to discover the mechanical details of Roewe's first offering that's destined for export all over the world.

More pictures can be found after the jump.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Related posts:

• SAIC launching new brand without Rover name
• Surprise! Ford buys Rover name from BMW
• China's SAIC on the fast track to building a brand

Since both Plan A and B have failed, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. has decided to move on to Plan C, which means taking the intellectual property rights to the Rover 25 and 75 models it acquired last year and selling the vehicles under a new brand name. Today that name was announced, and when the new 750E "Rong Wei" (Chinese for "glorious power") is unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in November it will be called the Roewe 750E. Hmm... kind of sounds like Roewe-ver, no?

[Source: Forbes]