Keith Adams Came in from a nice afternoon with ‘er indoors to find the mirror cap of my Rover 75 resting playfully on my kitchen work surface. Beneath it, are a couple of pieces of mirror – a familiar oval one, and a strange rectangular one. Puzzled, I wonder what’s going on – and ask [...]

Another spin on the Group Lotus merry-go-round Christopher Sawyer DRB-HICOM Berhad’s (DRB-Hicom) recent acquisition of PROTON Holdings Berhad (Proton) also gave the company control of Lotus Group International Limited, the owner of struggling British engineering consultancy and sports car maker, Group Lotus PLC (Lotus) – or, if you wish to read that another way, the [...]

Keith Adams Although the spotlight was firmly on the Icon in Beijing, the show also saw the launch of MG’s BTCC special editions, as well as the ‘RedLine’ series of modifications, intended to strengthen the marque’s sporting identity. MG, which is still a very young company in China, is pushing hard to bolster its youthful [...]

Keith Adams Auto China 2012 officially saw the severing of the genetic ties between SAIC Motor’s faux-UK brand and the Rover products it formerly based its cars upon. The impressive new car that headed up Roewe’s motor show hoopla was the 950, which is based closely on the Buick LaCrosse/Saab 9-5, nestling atop a GM [...]

Keith Adams We met Stephen Harper prior to he unveiling of the MG Icon Concept at the Auto China 2012 motor show in China and managed to get the low-down on the car which he oversaw during its creation whilst working for SAIC Design. Tell us about the car What we really wanted to do [...]

Keith Adams Jaguar has launched its most luxurious and expensive XJ ever, the Ultimate edition. As it’s been unveiled in China, it’s also the right venue to announce the new 3-litre V6 powertrain, that’s set to power the F-Type when it’s launched in 2013, has been added to the range – expanding the big cat’s [...]

Keith Adams MG’s exciting new Icon Concept was officially unveiled at the Auto China Show 2012 to rapturous applause from the assembled – mainly Chinese – media. The exciting new concept was penned by Chief Designer Stephen Harper from a brief laid out by Global Design Director for SAIC Design, Tony Williams-Kenny, and is a [...]

Keith Adams A new top-line Range Rover Evoque has been launched at the Auto China 2012 motor show. The Victoria Beckham-designed Special Edition will be built to order, with no more than 200 leaving Land Rover’s Halewood factory. The car, which is the next step in a relationship between the model and Land Rover first [...]

Words: Clive Goldthorp Photographs: Simon Davies/Pegasus Photographics Last weekend’s BTCC Meeting at Donington Park provided AROnline with the opportunity to undertake some initial research into the impact which the launch of MG KX Momentum Racing has had on the British public’s awareness of the MG marque. AROnline interviewed a total of nine spectators – most of whom had already [...]

Keith Adams MG’s going back to the marque’s stylistic roots with its latest concept car. The Icon, which will be unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show this month, promises to lead to an intriguing small-crossover if it’s signed off for production. The car was styled by former Austin Apprentice and renowned Designer, Stephen Harper – a man with [...]

Words: Clive Goldthorp Photographs: Simon Davies/Pegasus Photographics The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rolled into Donington Park for Rounds Four, Five and Six last weekend and, after three action-packed races, MG KX Momentum Racing’s Jason Plato retained his Championship lead – he left the East Midlands track with 84 points while Honda Civic-driving Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan [...]

Eagle-eyed AROnline reader, Stewart Weller, spotted the 2013 Range Rover out testing recently. Although it’s a quick snap, it’s interesting to see some of the car’s finer details through the monochrome camouflage. Following on from the outgoing L322-generation Range Rover has proven a monumental task for LR engineers – mainly because the 2001 original was [...]

MG dealers will be offering buyers a chance to pick up a new 6  for £250 per month on its new contract hire scheme, MG Lease. The scheme will be offered throughout MG’s dealer network, and will be initially offered on the MG6 fastback in S and SE form, with the TSE to follow ‘within [...]

Nissan’s next new C-segment hatchback will be built at its Sunderland plant, near Washington.  The car is due to be released in 2014, and increases the company’s investment in the UK massively, creating 225 jobs (to total 6225) at the factory as well as 900 in the supply chain by 2014. Nissan’s £127m investment in [...]

MG Motor UK saw orders go into overdrive last month, selling 236 MG6 cars compared to just eight in March 2011 – a rise of nearly 3000 per cent for the Birmingham-based firm. The sales success marks a lucrative £4 million plus windfall for the Chinese-owned Longbridge firm, which has now sold more cars in [...]

Georgina Chapman, Co-Founder of Marchesa joined Land Rover to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company’s presence in the USA in a VIP celebration where the 1987 Range Rover and 2012 Evoque were on display.  NFL star Bart Scott and TV personality Kelly Bensimon, were also on hand and shared details of their own [...]

Unveiled at the New York Motor Show – the name for Jaguar’s production C-X16. We’ve seen them before during the 1970s, 1990s and 2000s, but this time, after so many false starts, the Jaguar F-TYPE will be going on sale by the summer of 2013. We’ll have to start getting used to calling the wonderful C-X16 by its [...]

Words: Clive Goldthorp Photographs: BTCC Media Office Jason Plato and the Triple Eight Race Engineering-run MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 GT scored what ITV4′s new Race Commentator, Toby Moody, described as an ‘unbelievable’ win in the third British Touring Car Championship round at Brands Hatch this afternoon and, as a result, head into the next [...]

‘Booming’ MG Motor UK is planning to re-launch the Rover 100, re-badged and suitably overhauled to meet the needs of the 21st century sub-B sector before the end of 2012. The car, which originally went out of production in 1997, following disastrous Euro NCAP testing, and as a result of dwindling sales, is to make [...]

Keith Adams An unlikely partnership, or a synergy of brands? Whatever way you look at, it, the idea of a Range Rover Evoque Bollinger edition is an appealing one. Crafted by Range Rover in collaboration with Italian customisers Aznom, this unique Evoque features a wine-red paintjob with bronze trim and a matt black roof, with [...]