On Saturday, September 22, GM and its Chinese partners, which include SAIC, Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, opened the largest automotive proving ground in the country.
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The automaker said it delivered an average of 3,500 vehicles every day through the first eight months of the year 2012, up 15.2 percent from the same period last year.
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In particular, the Shanghai GM joint venture posted sales of 97,064 units (+5.7%), SAIC-GM-Wuling 98,694 units (+26.6%) and FAW-GM 3,379 vehicles (+3.1 percent).
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SAIC is now trying to strengthen its U.S. presence with the establishment of its new North American Operations Center in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham in Michigan.
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At last month's Beijing Auto Show, we saw MG providing a glimpse into the future with the Icon, a study for a small crossover coupe.
Another proposal for a future MG model comes from a design student of the Coventry University in the UK, who created a sports car concept during his internship at SAIC Design.
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The British company's first ever SUV concept was created by the MG global design team headed by British director Anthony Williams-Kenny who says he took inspiration from some of the most well-known MG models of the past such as the MGA and the MGB GT.
“The MG brand has a unique set of values and heritage and allows us to offer individual design values to our products," said Williams-Kenny. "The MG Icon represents our vision of a modern MG and we feel that the small SUV canvas demonstrates MG’s capacity for progressive design with respect for its long heritage."
Up until now, the Chinese automaker's largest model was the 750, which is a rebadged Rover 75 sedan. This week, Roewe pulled the wraps off a new flagship sedan, this time based on the Buick LaCrosse, which uses GM's Epsilon II platform.
The two cars share similar dimensions with the 950 measuring 4,996mm long (196.7-in), 1,857mm (73.1-in.) wide, and 1,502mm (59.1-in.) tall with a wheelbase of 2,837mm (111.7-in).
Roewe said that the 950 will launch with two engines, a 2.4-liter four-cylinder petrol and a 3.0-liter V6 with direct injection, which as you may have already guessed, are sourced from GM and the LaCrosse.
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The Sail is a five door sub-compact hatchback that has been developed at GM’s Technical Center in Bangalore to ensure that it will meet the needs of the Indian buyers.
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The development program calls for the reduction of manufacturing complexity by consolidating three engine families into one and increasing the interchangeable global components.
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The Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, which is jointly owned by the two companies, will undertake the development of the new architecture, with GM and SAIC teams working together.
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With the Baojun brand, GM wants to compete in the fast-growing market for new cars in smaller Chinese cities targeting first-time buyers with a budget of around $10,000. Domestic Chinese rivals include Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile Holding and BYD.
The solution – to companies such as BAIC, Dongfeng, Chang’an and others – is to seek talent abroad; in Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and USA. Research and development centres are popping up in Nottingham and Detroit and recruitment fairs are being held in Munich, Stuttgart and Aachen.
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In 2010, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, most of which were delivered in China, with only 2,000 units exported to other markets. This past April, MG launched its new mid-size MG6 in the UK, the first new car to be assembled at the British firm’s Longbridge plant in 16 years. The company said that when it completes the development of a diesel version, it will offer the car to rest of Europe. "We will not go into mainland Europe without a diesel," UK managing director, William Wong, told Autonews.
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Lending even more evidence to China’s growing importance for automakers, Volkswagen is planning to develop two new bespoke vehicles, one with each of its partners in the Middle Kingdom, Autonews said in a report today. Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., which is a joint venture between China’s SAIC Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, will produce a new luxury sedan, while VW’s second joint venture in the country with the China FAW Group Corp., FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co., will develop a dedicated electric vehicle for the partnership's newly launched Kali brand.
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The all new car will be available initially as a five-door fastback, with a four-door saloon to follow later on. The automaker optimistically told the Financial Times that customer clinics have compared the MG6 with the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia and even with small BMWs. Prices in the UK are said to range between £16,000 to £20,000 (US$25,425 to US$31,780).
The U.S. government is eager to unload its 61% stake in GM after taxpayers bailed out / loaned the iconic automaker to the tune of US$50 billion. This comes despite the political ramifications of selling part of the brand to foreign investors or sovereign-wealth funds.
Having already announced the Roewe N1 Concept, China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) that owns the rights to the MG Rover brand, revealed that its 2009 Shanghai Auto Show booth will also host the world premiere of the MG6 Concept. The five-door liftback model is based on the underpinnings of the Roewe 550 which was designed as SAIC's successor to the Rover 45.Although details are still sketchy, the MG6 will most likely lead to a production version that might very well find its way into Europe where MG Rover already sells the resurrected TF LE500 in the U.K.
Powertrain options for the MG6 will be identical to those offered in the Roewe 550 including a 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine.
Chinese carmaker NAC MG has announced But we ask; more than 16,000 pounds for a car that's practically a facelifted version of the original MG TF that was introduced in 1995? That's a lot for a car that was already outdated compared to its rivals when it went out of production in 2005, let alone in 2008. For example, prices for the Mazda MX-5 1.8 start from 15,750 pounds while you can get a nicely equipped MX-5 1.8 Icon for 16,825 pounds. We drove the last TF130 back in 2005, and while the MG had its fun side, even then, it showed its age in more ways than one.
A teaser shot of Shanghai Volkswagen’s forthcoming Chinese built and designed mid-size sedan that will debut at the Via: es.autoblog.com