Last year I wrote wrote a story (updated with many new pics) about the murky times after Nanjing Auto bought the MG brand. It was unclear what Nanjing bought exactly. This uncertainty was mainly caused by Honda, which owned or co-owned several MG-Rover platforms and designs.
Early after the purchase Nanjing Auto showed several new MG’s. One of these cars was the MG5 sedan, which was unveiled on the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. But there was another ‘Chinese’ MG5. A hatchback model was discovered by reader Max Xiao in Anting Motor City in Shanghai. Thank you very much for the pictures!
This is the MG5 that debuted on the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. It was a sporty sedan, based on the face-lifted version of the MG ZS sedan. The MG ZS sedan in turn was based on the Rover 45 sedan, and finally; the Rover 45 was based on the Honda Civic (6th gen).
Nanjing MG5 sedan, 2009 Shanghai Auto Show.
This is the rear of the car seen by Max. It is clearly a 5-door hatchback, note the different lights, the short rear-deck, and the windshield wiper. It seems to be based on the facelifted version of the hatchback version of the MG ZS, which in turn was based on the Rover 45 hatchback. And, again, the 45 was based on the Civic.
Nanjing MG5 hatchback.
Max was told that the car would be restored. It seems to be in a good shape, bar for the missing badges. I am not sure if this hatchback was ever shown in public. Probably not. There would have been pictures of it. So perhaps this was just an internal concept car or design study, cancelled like all the others when it became clear that Nanjing Auto didn’t own the rights to any of the Honda-based cars.
Interior is the same as in the MG ZS, and happily the badge is still on the wheel.
Max and me are trying to find out more about this hatchback model and I will update this article if we get new any information or images.