A classy MG7 sedan, seen in an old area of central Beijing back in 2011. The MG7 looked fantastic in purple with darkened windows and the factory-standard matte gray alloy wheels. The MG7 was a real Brit in China.
The MG7 was manufactured by Nanjing Auto and based on the Rover 75/MG ZT. Nanjing Auto acquired the platform and the MG name in 2005 from British bankrupt MG Rover. Production in China started in 2007 and ended in 2013.
In 2008, Nanjing Auto was taken over by SAIC, a conglomerate based in Shanghai. SAIC was in the Rover game too. It had managed to acquire the rights to the Rover 75, but not to the Rover name. SAIC therefore called their Rover 75 the Roewe 750. Amazingly, production of the Roewe 750 continued all the way until 2016! Today, MG and Roewe are still owned by SAIC. Roewe is the bigger success in China, but the MG brand is the main export name.
The MG7 was available with two MG-Rover engines: the 2.5 V6 and the 1.8 turbo. Our Beijing car has the latter under the bonnet. Rated output was 120 hp and 160 Nm. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic. Price in 2011 started at 156.800 yuan.
There wasn’t a real successor for the MG7 when production ended in 2013. This changed nine years later in 2022, when SAIC unveiled an all-new MG7, a very beautiful sports sedan.