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Rover 75 reborn as a hybrid
By
Keith Adams
Green news
03 June 2007 02:34
The olde-worlde 75 reborn as a hybrid? Whatever next…
Amidst the confusion about Chinese MGs and Rovers, would-be partner to the Longbridge company, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has quietly revealed an innovative petrol/electric hybrid version of the model formerly known as the Rover 75. The Hybrid, unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show, and mooted for production before the end of the decade, heads an ambitiously priced line-up of V6 saloons that look and feel like Rover 75s, but instead wear the Roewe 750 badge. The Roewe 750 recently entered production in China, powered by local versions of the KV6 engine – and the Hybrid may head the range by the time of the car’s 2009 European introduction. It uses a four-cylinder petrol engine allied to an electric motor - similar to the Prius model - and can run on battery power alone around town.
I’m utterly confused by who owns what of MG Rover…
You’re not alone. In 2005, SAIC unsuccessfully bid for the remnants of MG Rover after buying the intellectual property rights to the 25 and 75. It transformed the 75 into the Roewe 750 with the help of British consultancy Ricardo Engineering, despite losing a battle with Ford over ownership of the Rover name. The Roewe badge (above) is the result. Within weeks, the situation will be confused by the launch of Nanjing’s MG 7Z (nee ZT), which will be built on tooling removed from Longbridge last year. NAC-MG bought the remains of the Birmingham factory last year for £53m, shipped much of it to China, and the reincarnated MGs will be built on the re-housed 75/ZT production line.
