Here is proof that China Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) of Shanghai is dead serious about their plans of re-introducing Rover in Europe - although renamed to Roewe since Ford bought the Rover name and logo before the Chinese had the chance to do so.
While at present they are building a revised version of the former Rover 75 and 25 and selling them as a Roewe 750 and 250 in China only, SAIC has had no interest in taking over the rights to the former Rover 45 too, as the car was very old already. Our spy-shots show that SAIC is instead developing their own compact saloon, and from what's visible so far, the car will get quite a European-esque design that might attract buyers in the West.
Nothing can be said about performance yet, but the best bet would be a choice of petrol engines somewhere between 80 and 120 bhp. We could well imagine the car will be officially launched at either Shanghai Motor Show in 2008 or possibly at the Frankfurt Show this September. And we bet the car will be named the Roewe 450.
