Roewe: History, Landmark Models and Line-up

Roewe at a glance

Roewe is the mainstream own brand of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, a unit of the state-controlled SAIC group. Key facts as of October 2026:

Why Roewe exists: the Rover 75 and the 2004 SAIC deal

Roewe exists because SAIC bought the engineering of a British car but not its name. That car was the Rover 75, launched on 20 October 1998 at the Birmingham motor show. Richard Woolley designed the saloon. It was developed while BMW owned Rover, from 1994. In 2000 BMW sold Rover to Phoenix Venture Holdings, which formed MG Rover Group and moved 75 production from Cowley to Longbridge.

The 75 used the Rover K-series 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine and the KV6 V6 in 2.0- and 2.5-litre sizes. About 211,000 were built between 1999 and 2005. Its maker's wider story is in our history of Rover.

MG Rover was looking for a partner. In late 2004 SAIC bought the rights to the Rover 25 and Rover 75 and to the K-series engine. The deal covered the base Rover models, not the MG-badged versions or the 75 Tourer. Some later accounts date it to 2005, after the collapse; contemporary sources say 2004.

Is Roewe the same as Rover? No. Roewe is a new marque that started with Rover technology. It never owned the Rover name, and later Roewe models use SAIC's own platforms or those of its partners.

2005: MG Rover's collapse and the lost Rover name

MG Rover stopped production on 7 April 2005 and went into administration the next day. More than 6,000 jobs were lost at Longbridge. On 22 July 2005 the principal remaining assets, including the MG brand, the Longbridge site and the engine business, were sold to Nanjing Automobile Group.

The Rover name followed a different path. When BMW sold Land Rover to Ford in 2000, it kept the Rover brand, but Ford gained a veto over its use. SAIC had agreed to buy the name, yet Ford blocked the sale and bought the Rover name itself in 2006. It passed to Tata in 2008 together with Jaguar and Land Rover.

SAIC therefore needed a new badge. It announced Roewe in October 2006. The Chinese characters are translated roughly as "glorious power" in one account and "honour and prestige" in another. SAIC also linked the Latin spelling to the German word Löwe, meaning lion. The first logo (2007–2018) was a Rover-style shield with two lions, a sword, a Gothic R and a red-and-black checkerboard; the 2018 version is blue, without the checkerboard.

From Rover heritage to Rising Auto: Roewe by era

2006–2011: the 750, the 550 and British engineers

The Roewe 750 was revealed in late 2006 and reached the market within about a year; one French-language reference dates its first showing to late 2007. It was a reworked Rover 75 with the wheelbase stretched by 103 mm (4.1 in). Ricardo2010, a UK joint venture staffed with former Rover engineers, helped with the facelift. SAIC bought that company in 2007 and renamed it the SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre, with more than 200 ex-Rover engineers.

The 550, previewed as the W2 concept at the 2007 Shanghai show, followed at the 2008 Beijing show. It used a K-series-based engine in a new body. A hatchback developed from it was announced in 2009 as the MG 6.

2007–2012: SAIC and Nanjing Automobile join forces

The Roewe and MG split did not last. After a letter of intent in July 2007, Nanjing Automobile became part of SAIC in late 2007 (one source dates the final step to 2008). MG TF assembly restarted at Longbridge in August 2008 from Chinese kits, and the MG 6, based on the Roewe 550, was assembled there from 2011. More on Longbridge is in our history of MG.

2012–2016: GM platforms, SsangYong roots and a first plug-in

With the Rover-derived cars ageing, Roewe borrowed from SAIC's partners. The flagship Roewe 950, shown at the 2012 Beijing show and built from April 2012, used the long-wheelbase GM Epsilon II platform of the Buick LaCrosse. The W5 SUV of 2011 used running gear from SsangYong: one source names the Kyron, others the Korando. The compact 350 saloon arrived in 2010, and the e550 plug-in hybrid went on retail sale in November 2013.

2016–2020: the RX5 and the "internet car"

SAIC unveiled the RX5 with Alibaba on 9 June 2016 as what both companies called the first "internet car", with a connected operating system developed by Alibaba. Deliveries started in August 2016. The i6 saloon followed in November 2016, replacing the 550, and the battery-electric Marvel X SUV in 2018. Sales more than quadrupled between 2015 and 2018.

2020–2026: Rising Auto and the return to one brand

In May 2020 SAIC created the R brand for upmarket electric cars within Roewe; it was separated in March 2021 and became the independent Rising Auto that autumn. In late 2024 SAIC folded Rising back into Roewe as its premium electric line. Meanwhile Roewe added the iMAX8 MPV in 2020, a plug-in hybrid iMAX8 DMH in 2024, and the D5X plug-in SUV in 2024. A second-generation i6 is reported to have been introduced in March 2026.

Roewe timeline

Landmark Roewe models

What the 750 kept from the Rover 75

The 750 kept the Rover 75's body structure and much of its styling but used a longer wheelbase and a new five-speed automatic gearbox. The 1.8-litre turbocharged engine, from the K-series family, produced 119 kW (162 PS). The 2.5-litre V6, called NV6 and based on the KV6, is usually quoted at about 137 kW (184 hp). A hybrid was offered for about two years from 2011–12. Some export markets, such as Chile and Egypt, got it as the MG 750. Production ended in 2016.

Later engines and electrified models

The 550 used a K-series-based 1.8-litre engine with 119 kW (162 PS); the e550 plug-in added an 11.8 kWh battery and an electric range quoted at 58 km (36 miles). The 950 spanned 108 kW (147 PS) to 190 kW (258 PS), the latter from a 3.0-litre V6, on a 2,837 mm (111.7 in) wheelbase.

The RX5 started with a 1.5-litre turbo of 124 kW (169 PS), raised to 133 kW (181 PS) from 2021, and a 2.0-litre turbo of 162 kW (220 PS). The Marvel X used a 52.5 kWh battery and was quoted at up to 370 km (230 miles) with rear-wheel drive and 403 km (250 miles) with all-wheel drive; the test cycle was not stated. The iMAX8 has a 2.0-litre turbo of 172 kW (234 PS), and an electric version from August 2022 combines 180 kW with a 90 kWh battery.

British engineering in a Chinese brand

The UK technical centre's ex-Rover team knew the 75 and the K-series, and the 750 reached the market about two years after the IP deal.

The RX5 then marked a shift from mechanical to software engineering, with its operating system developed with Alibaba. Since then most new Roewe models have been plug-in hybrids or electric cars, such as the ei6, eRX5, Marvel X and the electric iMAX8.

SAIC ownership, MG and where Roewe cars are built

Roewe has always belonged to SAIC Motor, founded in December 1955 and headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. SAIC is state-owned: the Shanghai state assets commission is reported to hold 62.69 %. Roewe sits inside SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, the group's own-brand car business, next to MG.

Is Roewe the same as MG? Not quite. They are separate brands with one owner, and many models are shared: the 550 became the MG 6, the second-generation MG 6 shares its platform with the i6, the RX5 is sold abroad as the MG RX5 (from February 2018), and the Marvel X became the MG Marvel R in Europe in 2021.

Roewe cars are built in China; the 550, for example, came from SAIC's Lingang site in Shanghai. Longbridge in Birmingham assembled MG models, including the 550-based MG 6, from Chinese kits until MG production there ended in 2016.

The Roewe line-up as of October 2026

In October 2026 Roewe sells SUVs, the i6 saloon and the iMAX8 MPV, most with plug-in hybrid or electric versions. Sources disagree on which older models remain on sale, so the table lists only consistently documented models; the Roewe catalogue shows the cars currently in our database.

Recently ended models, according to the most complete listing, include the E50 city EV (2013–2016), 360 (2015–2018), RX3 (2017–2023) and Ei5 (2017–2025). The listings disagree on whether the RX8, RX9, Clever and i5 are still in production.

Roewe in numbers

From 2007 to 2022 Roewe sold 3,441,044 cars in China, according to yearly figures usually quoted for the brand. Key milestones:

• 2007, the first full year: 13,772 cars.
• 2010: 131,001, the first year above 100,000.
• 2016, the RX5's launch year: 241,328.
• 2018, the record year: 479,156.
• 2022: 299,119.

In 2024 SAIC's own brands, excluding its joint ventures, sold 2,429,925 vehicles, of which SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, home of Roewe and MG, accounted for 792,404.