Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) acquired the tooling to the Rover 75 and has been building the car as the Roewe 750, renamed because BMW had sold the rights to the Rover name to Ford, which was looking to protect its investment in Land Rover.
Now SAIC has added to the Roewe range with the 550, a slightly smaller sedan powered by a turbocharged 1.8-liter gasoline-powered inline-4. The 550 rides on a 106.4-in. wheelbase and measures 182.0 in. in overall length. This front-drive sedan was first thought to be based on the old short-wheelbase platform of the Rover 75 (the Roewe 750 is based on the long-wheelbase version), but apparently SAIC has developed an all-new platform for this entry to go along with the new sheet metal. The 550 is much more contemporary-looking than its larger sibling, with clean body sides, fluted headlamps and a compact horizontal grille as opposed to the larger vertical grille found on the 750.
