Manufacturer Roewe (SAIC Motor) Production 2008—present | Also called MG 550
MG 6 Designer Anthony Williams-Kenny | |
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Assembly Lingang, Shanghai, China Class Mid-size/Near-luxury car | ||
The Roewe 550 is a mid-size car that is produced by Roewe in China and was launched at the 2008 Beijing Motor Show. The 550 is reported to be derived from the MG Rover RDX60 project (itself based on the platform of the Rover 75) which was under development when MG Rover failed.
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Overview
The car, codenamed W261 during development, is the work of a joint Anglo-Chinese collaboration with ex-Rover experts at consultancy firm Ricardo 2010 and SAIC's had car development team. The 550 was previewed at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show in the form of the Roewe W2 concept car.
The drivetrain uses either a 1.6 or 1.8 litre 160 bhp (119 kW; 162 PS) engine based on the Rover K engine with 2.0 litre turbo diesel forecast to join the range and a choice of five speed manual or five speed automatic transmission.
The car features a high-technology interior with digital instruments and the RMI (Roewe Multimedia Interface) digital multimedia interactive system, a multi-functional audio and video entertainment system with Bluetooth hands-free system, USB interface and GPS.
In 2008, the Roewe 550 was launched in Chile, rebadged as the MG 550. It was also released in Bahrain, Oman and UAE in 2011.
A restyled hatchback version of the Roewe 550 was announced at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show as the MG 6. The MG6 was imported into the UK up until mid 2016, when it was discontinued following poor sales.
Plug-in hybrid
The SAIC Roewe 550 PHEV is the plug-in hybrid version. Its 11.8kWh LiFePO4 battery packs delivers an all-electric range of 58 km (36 mi) Retails sales began in China in November 2013. Cumulative sales totaled 11,711 units through December 2015, of which, 10,711 were sold in 2015.