MG Concept 5 Debuts: 2011 Shanghai Auto Show

Just the Facts:

• The new MG5 is unveiled — in thinly disguised concept guise.
• The production MG5 is one of a whole array of models that SAIC is planning for the marque and sister brand Roewe over the next five years.
• The MG Concept 5 previews a Golf-class car due out at the end of 2011, to slot beneath the slightly larger MG6.

SHANGHAI, China — The MG Concept 5 is one of a whole array of models that Chinese auto giant Shanghai Auto is planning for the marque and sister brand Roewe over the next five years, as it aims to sell 700,000 cars globally by 2015.

An all-new sports car, an SUV, a replacement for the MG ZT/Roewe 750 sedan, an EV city car and hybrid derivatives including a plug-in are among many models that Shanghai Auto — better known by the acronym SAIC — is developing for the rejuvenated MG and China-only Roewe marques.

There are also new engine ranges on the way, including downsized, turbocharged 1.0-1.5-liter gasoline engines co-developed with General Motors, as well as new 2.0- and 2.4-liter four-cylinders and new dual-clutch transmissions.

For Concept 5, read MG5, with this sportily proportioned five-door hatchback previewing a Golf-class car due out at the end of 2011, to slot beneath the slightly larger MG6.

Largely designed by SAIC's U.K.-based team, with input from China, it continues the styling themes developed in the MG Zero supermini concept that has become the MG3.

The production version of MG's Concept 5 is code-named AP12 and rides on a version of today's MG6/Roewe 350 platform. It will be powered initially by the existing NSE gas engine range of 1.3- and 1.8-liter engines, but in 2014 it will be fitted with the new range of downsized engines that SAIC is co-developing with GM. Code-named SGE, these engines include 1.0, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5 turbos developing between 115 horsepower and 162 hp. The 5 will be fitted with at least the 1.2 and 1.4 versions. A 1.9 diesel will also be offered for Europe.

The MG5's chassis will consist of MacPherson struts up front and a twist-beam torsion axle at the rear.

SAIC is also debating whether to offer an MG version of the Roewe electric city car revealed at last year's Beijing auto show, with the decision depending in part on U.K. government incentives and the rollout of infrastructure in the country. But definitely coming is a hybrid version of the MG6, which will appear in 2012; a plug-in hybrid MG5 is slated for late 2013.

The two-seater MG sports car, which is very likely to be rear-wheel drive, is not scheduled to appear until 2016, with SAIC's product planning boss Liu Tao freely admitting that it has not yet devised a way of being able to offer the model because it has no suitable platforms. But Tao says the company recognizes that a sports car is very important to the marque, and that it will work hard to provide the model.

The MG SUV, which is unrelated to the SsangYong-based Roewe W5 launched at the show, is a monocoque crossover aimed at the Nissan Qashqai. Code-named AS21, it debuts in 2014 and will come with a 2.0 turbo and a dual-clutch transmission; no diesel version is currently planned, but will undoubtedly be needed for Europe.

A year later, the MG7/Roewe 750 sedan replacement appears some 15 years after the debut of the Rover 75 they're based on. A coupelike four-door, it uses GM's Epsilon platform and will be powered by 2.0 and 2.4 four-cylinder gasoline engines and a 1.9 diesel, all with dual-clutch transmissions.

Inside Line says: Most of these new models will be simultaneously designed and engineered in Longbridge and at SAIC's R&D center in Anting, China, where the company has just opened a massive new design studio that's believed to be the largest in the Far East. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent