Why did SAIC choose the MG brand and not Rover?

[Paulj]

I'm sure people have noticed that the cars we currently drive are not exactly sports cars? Maybe they will do a real 2 seater, wind in the hair electric sports car one day, but for now, no. So why didn't they use the Rover brand name, which would suit the character of the existing range so much better?
They did buy the name, didn't they?

 

[gazter]

The brand cursed forever, associated with Alan Partridge..

 

[Vattaa]

I thought BMW still owned the Rover nameplate.

Edit: Its owned by JLR according to Wiki

 

[Mg5van]

Only your grandad would by a Rover.
Grandads to be or in my case old before your time buy MG

 

[Jomarkh]

They may not be sports cars but they can shift like one.
Was Morris Garages a tuning place?

 

[GorillaWheels]

Roewe, which SAIC owns, I believe is pronounced Rover in Chinese, so maybe they did...sort of

 

[Archev]

I'm sure people have noticed that the cars we currently drive are not exactly sports cars? Maybe they will do a real 2 seater, wind in the hair electric sports car one day, but for now, no. So why didn't they use the Rover brand name, which would suit the character of the existing range so much better?
They did buy the name, didn't they?

What about that beautiful sporty saloon car with yon fabulous name the MG Magnette surely the perfect name for our modern electric delights?
MG 5 MAGNETTE
Looks good doesn’t it ?

 

[biffo]

This is the sort of modern MG I would like to drive

 

[m4rmite]

Only your grandad would by a Rover.
Grandads to be or in my case old before your time buy MG

I learnt to drive in a rover metro in my teens.
I had a rover 214 in my 20s
Now a roewe in my 40s


Gosh how i wasted my 30s

 

[Archev]

This is the sort of modern MG I would like to drive

Aye that would do at a pinch I suppose

 

[Alb]

I don't imagine SAIC will be sentimental about the brand name.
From a commercial perspective it makes sense in my mind to exploit the brand in whichever part of the market is likely to create highest profit.

 

[Archev]

I learnt to drive in a rover metro in my teens.
I had a rover 214 in my 20s
Now a roewe in my 40s


Gosh how i wasted my 30s

I owned five Rover Maestros, two vans and three cars. All were diesels with the superb Perkins direct injection engines. A wee bit noisy but excellent vehicles. Easy 55 / 60 mpg. I’ve still got a brand new towbar for a van but sadly it doesn’t seem to offer up to the MG 5LR too well . Och a Scrooge can dream can’t he?

 

[Mg5van]

My sister learnt to drive in a metro.
Great little car. I was a little worried about the rust on it so thought I'd fix it at a mates workshop jumped in it and promptly smashed into the house and messed it up.
That's when I discovered you could press the brake and accelerator at the same time when wearing steel toe caps.

 

[Archev]

My sister learnt to drive in a metro.
Great little car. I was a little worried about the rust on it so thought I'd fix it at a mates workshop jumped in it and promptly smashed into the house and messed it up.
That's when I discovered you could press the brake and accelerator at the same time when wearing steel toe caps.

I’ll bet sister was hopping mad - you’d be glad of them toecaps

 

[busa]

Only ever had one Rover, other than a few Landrovers, I'm not one for image, but I'd sooner own an MG than a Rover again

 

[Jonnobris]

Never owned a rover, my dad had a few, a 1994 820i, a 420SDi and a 25 2.0tdi.

Drove the 420 and 25 and to my mind where both good handling cars (compared to my Corsa!) and as a new driver, had plenty of punch.

 

[adickinson]

I believe Ford bought the rights of the 'Rover' brand when MG Rover when into administration, as they owned Land Rover at the time, TATA then purchased this when they formed JLR.

SAIC and Nanjing bought the rump of the MG Rover business, producing the Rover 75 as a Roewe and also the MG brand. As someone has already pointed out Roewe is how the Chinese pronounce Rover.

I think most of that is correct...if not check out www.aronline.co.uk which is a fabulous website about all things British Auto related.

We have a 1973 MG B GT, a 1989 Rover 213 S, a 2001 MG F Trophy SE and soon to have a (hopefully) 2021 MG 5 Exclusive LR! My dad had a Rover 75 Club SE Tdci, fabulous car which did almost 200000 miles and barely missed a beat.

 

[Kithmo]

I had a 1988 Rover 216 Vitesse EFI, the old shape with the Rover s-series engine and fuel injection. It was the most fun car I'd owned up to then, 0-60 in about 9 seconds. Loved it but it began to rot.

 

[Deleted member 3150]

MG was second choice to Rover but SAIC knew Roewe would not work in some markets. Wiki -The name Roewe originates from SAIC's failure to acquire the Rover brand name from BMW c. 2005 (it was instead sold to Ford in 2006,[3]and the brand is currently owned by Tata Motors). Composed of the Chinese characters Róng and wēi, which roughly mean "glorious power", the name is a transliteration of Rover, although SAIC has stated that it is derived from Löwe, the German word for lion. Loewe, pronounced much like Roewe by Chinese speakers, is also the name of a Spanish manufacturer of luxury leather goods.[4]

 

[Mg5van]

I’ll bet sister was hopping mad - you’d be glad of them toecaps

She did ok out of it as my other sister had her fiesta stolen and so she had that when it reappeared a couple weeks later.
I did consider myself lucky as one sister is a weed and the other a kick boxer.