The Roewe 550 is a compact car that is produced by
Roewe in China, and was launched at the 2008 Beijing Motor Show. The 550 was reported to be derived from the
MG Rover
MG Rover Group was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consor ...
RDX60 project (itself based on the
platform
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
of the
Rover 75
The Rover 75 is an executive car manufactured initially by the Rover Group and later by MG Rover, under the Rover marque and available over a single generation with front-wheel drive in either saloon/sedan or station wagon/estate configuratio ...
) which was under development when MG Rover failed.
Overview
The car, codenamed ''W261'' during development, is the work of a joint Anglo Chinese collaboration with ex experts of Rover, at consultancy firm
Ricardo
Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname.
People Given name
*Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...
2010 and SAIC had car development team. The 550 was previewed at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show, in the form of the Roewe W2
concept car
A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
.
The drivetrain uses a 1.8 litre engine based on the
Rover K engine
The Rover K-series engine is a series of internal combustion engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. The engine was a inline-four engine, straight-four cylinder built in two forms, Overhead camshaft#Single overhead camsh ...
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 (the Roewe D5 DIGI-NEXT system) and the RMI (Roewe Multimedia Interface, the predecessor of the
SAIC InkaNet 3G/4G interface which was later installed in
Roewe 350,
Roewe 360 and
MG GT
The MG GT is a compact car that was produced by SAIC Motor
SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, ...
) digital multimedia interactive system, a multi functional audio and video entertainment system with
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
hands free system,
USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
interface and
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
.
File:Roewe_550_China_2012-04-15.JPG, Pre facelift Roewe 550 (front).
File:Roewe 550 facelift China 2015-04-10.jpg, Post facelift Roewe 550 (front).
e550 Plug In Hybrid
The SAIC Roewe 550 PHEV is the
plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
version. Its 11.8kWh
LiFePO4 battery packs delivers an
all-electric range
All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of an all-electric vehicle, it means the maximum range per recharge. For ...
of .
[ Retails sales began in China in November 2013.]
Cumulative sales totaled 11,711 units through December 2015, of which 10,711 were sold throughout 2015.[ ''A total of 10,711 SAIC Roewe 550 PHEVs were sold in China in 2015.'']
File:Roewe 550 Hybrid facelift 02 China 2014-04-14.JPG, Post facelift Roewe 550 (rear).
File:Roewe 550 Hybrid facelift 01 China 2014-04-14.JPG, Roewe e550 plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
.
MG 550
In 2008, the Roewe 550 was launched in Chile, rebadged as the MG 550. It was also released in Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
in 2010 and released in Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
and UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
in 2011. A restyled hatchback version of the Roewe 550 was announced at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show
Auto Shanghai (), officially known as the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (), is a biennial international automobile show that alternates with the Beijing Auto Show (Auto China) as China's yearly international automotive ...
as the MG 6
The MG6 is a compact car which has been produced by Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor under the MG marque since 2010. It is slotted slightly above the compact sedan MG GT, and the compact hatchback MG 5.
First generation
The first-generation ...
. The MG6 was imported into the United Kingdom up until May 2016, when it was discontinued following poor sales.
File:MG 550D 1.8T 2009 (10661632443).jpg, MG 550 (front).
File:MG 550G 1.8T 2011 (10661381625).jpg, MG 550 (rear).
References
External links
MG 550 Website
Roewe Website
{{commons category, Roewe 550
Compact cars
550
__NOTOC__
Year 550 ( DL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 550 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
Cars introduced in 2008
2010s cars
Roewe 550 PHEV
Cars of China