Roewe 450 (Rover 45)

Donington

Forum Addict
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
5,649
Location
UK
Car(s)
'05 Honda Civic Type-R
This is basically the new Rover 45, now owned by chinese company Roewe. There's a fair amount of British work on this, by ex Mg Rover people. If it's marketed as a Rover over here, you never know, it might do well.

car_photo_213257_5.jpg


car_photo_213256_5.jpg
 
The one-piece grill screams Audi, the lower intakes below the headlights scream VW, and the high-beltline side profile screams Lexus. I guess this is what we can expect from Chinese manufacturers...knock-offs of more expensive cars! Looks decent enough though. I wonder what it's like to drive.
 
pretty ok.. except for the rear where i think they used oversized cherries for headlamps...
 
You can complain about this and that being wrong with it, but compare it to any old Rover and you have to say, if they sold a car that looked like that in the first place they wouldn't have gone bust. I'm not saying i'd take it over an Audi or BMW or anything, but it looks great for a Rover.
 
Love child of a Skoda and a Passat.

Roewe? Never heard of it. Only Chinese car I ever hear of was Cherry
 
I owned a 97 420 and like most Rovers I thought it was not to bad to look at (a Civic after all) interior not bad either and very well equipped. Car was let down by it's mechanics being a Rover Diesel if the temperature dropped to the point of frosty ground you knew you would have to push the thing in the morning. The battery and Altinator where checked out they where fine it needed a expensive job of Glow Plugs after the outlay of a couple of hundred quid it didn't help. I am not cruel enough to say the car was rubbish but it was replaced with a 2000 Astra which IMO exterior was not as nice to look at and the interior looked like you went into a 70's time warp, most reliable car I have ever had though.

The old 400/45 was released in 1995 with over a 10 yr production run bit dated that is a 21st century car it looks great.
 
Looks ok. But it's stolen for everything else.. (Well hey, the Japanese do it too! ;))How can it be marketed as a Rover in the UK? BMW own the rights to the rover name.

If it is decent to drive, it might do ok.
 
Looks ok. But it's stolen for everything else.. (Well hey, the Japanese do it too! ;))How can it be marketed as a Rover in the UK? BMW own the rights to the rover name.

If it is decent to drive, it might do ok.

That's why it will be called a "Roewe"
 
They look like chops, what is the source?
 
They also have unveiled the MG StreetWise.

So they make a good looking and interesting 45, and THAT?

(oops. Forgot MG-China and Rover-Roewe-Roewe-your-boat are different)
 
Looks ok. But it's stolen for everything else.. (Well hey, the Japanese do it too! ;))How can it be marketed as a Rover in the UK? BMW own the rights to the rover name.

If it is decent to drive, it might do ok.

Ford owns the name now.
 
Love child of a Skoda and a Passat.

Roewe? Never heard of it. Only Chinese car I ever hear of was Cherry

It's a SAIC brand (they bought the rights to the Rover models, but not the factory, that's owned by Nanjing).

That car looks alright, although the wheels don't really suit it.

I don't know if the Roewe brand will go that far outside of China, though.
 
The one-piece grill screams Audi, the lower intakes below the headlights scream VW, and the high-beltline side profile screams Lexus. I guess this is what we can expect from Chinese manufacturers...knock-offs of more expensive cars! Looks decent enough though. I wonder what it's like to drive.
Whoa, breathe, buddy.

Doesn't look that bad, actually, though the manufacturers would be wise not to sell it in England and really humiliate the locals.

Hey kids, here's a fun fact: did you know Chery was started by a bunch of ex-GM guys? (Well, that explains everything. :p)
 
Last edited:
If they whacked on a Rover badge this thing could probably sell, as it does look fairly upmarket with a Volkswagen and Audi like front. The rear side window line reminds me of the Cadillac CTS.
Overall not a bad looking car that screams for a descent badge and engine.
 
Woe-ver?

People have a go at the Chinese about rip off's, what about the Japanese? Stupid double standards.....

10+ years ago yes. The Japanese are largely out of that design rut now.
 
Volkswagen anyone??
 
Top