China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has announced it will build its Roewe 350 hatchback model at its Longbridge factory in the UK.

The Chinese manufacturer would not confirm to the BBC when production will start or when the models would go on sale, but did say they would be sold through the existing Rover dealer network.

The 350 is already being produced at SAIC’s factory in Nanjing, China but will build the European variants in the UK.

It will be the second model launched in the UK following SAIC’s re-launch of the MGTF in 2008 which allocated 10 examples to each dealer. The launch was subject to many delays while SAIC remedied quality issues with the cars before they went out to consumers.