SAIC consolidates 4 vehicle platforms, report says

SAIC consolidates 4 vehicle platforms, report says

Automotive News China | 2014/3/25



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SAIC Motor Corp. is consolidating its four passenger vehicle platforms to reduce engineering and production costs, according to Chinese media.



The goal is to build its Roewe and MG lines of compact sedans on a single platform dubbed the A architecture, while mid-sized cars and SUVs will be built on two other platforms, reported China Times, a Beijing daily newspaper.



The first compact sedan based on the A architecture will be introduced in 2016, according to the newspaper.



In 2004, SAIC purchased the Rover 75 platform from the bankrupt English automaker MG Rover, while state-owned Chinese automaker Nanjing Automobile Group Co. acquired the MG brand and the Rover 25 platform.



In 2007, SAIC acquired Nanjing Automobile.



Among SAIC's current products, the Roewe 350 and MG35 are based on the Rover 25, while the Roewe 550 and MG5 are built on the Rover 75 platform.



Of its mid-sized cars, the Roewe 750 is based on the old Rover 75 platform while the Roewe 950 is built on the Epsilon II platform owned by its joint venture partner, General Motors.



Going forward SAIC will phase out the Rover 75 platform, and it will only use the Epsilon platform to develop new mid-sized sedan models, reported China Times.



SAIC now produces its Roewe W5 SUV on the platform of Ssangyong Kyron. In 2005, SAIC acquired Ssangyong Motor Co., then unloaded the Korean automaker in 2009 when Ssangyong entered bankruptcy.



At the Beijing auto show next month, SAIC is expected to launch the MG CS SUV, which is based on the same platform as the Roewe W5, according to the newspaper.



SAIC, headquartered in Shanghai, sold 230,000 Roewe and MG models last year, up 15 percent.



Aside from GM, SAIC also has a joint venture with Volkswagen Group.




Straight away we know there are some glaring and frankly unacceptable errors (for a top line news agency) in that story; the MG/Roewe 550 and MG6 are not built on the Rover 75 platform, as we have been told many times. Yes the Rover 75 technology was part of the equation but very little of it survived the evolution into the new models. And surely the suggestion that the Roewe 350 and MG3 ('MG35'? did they mean MG350 or MG3?) are based on the Rover 25 is equally laughable (yes, the MG3SW was based on the old Rover Streetwise; perhaps that is what confused the poor lambs at Automotive News China?). But having said that, there is some intriguing stuff in there too...

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