5 Foreign Car Models Powered By GM's Small Gasoline Engine

General Motors, at 19th position in the Fortune 500, is a U.S.-based global force to be reckoned with. Such companies, of course, have a long history of exporting their cars and vehicles to different markets. Sometimes to great success, sometimes not so much, sometimes under a different name, sometimes not.

As well as this, though, GM creations have found their way into vehicles from other global manufacturers. The company's Small Gasoline Engine (SGE) is a very prominent example. It arrived in 2014 — a time when surprisingly potent and efficient yet smaller engines were starting to become more desirable than ever. A reliable GM engine of this capacity was in order.

Shanghai GM, Opel, SAIC and Pan-Asia Technical Automotive Center worked together on what would become a whole family of SGEs, with capacities ranging from 1.5 liters to one liter. As reflects its international origins, it's an engine family that was employed in a lot of different cars around the world. In this piece, we'll take a look at five prominent models equipped with it outside of the U.S., and exactly what they were capable of.

AutoEvolution quotes Opel Chief Engineer Dr. Matthias Alt as saying that the powertrain was designed to put an end to "the various balance, noise and vibration issues typical of conventional three-cylinder engines." According to Alt, "it's big on refinement and performance but small on fuel consumption." These qualities were initially put to the test within the rather modest body of the Opel Adam, the first car to sport the then-new GM SGE. 

The Adam was a GM car, with the company owning Opel, one of the oldest car brands, until it sold Opel (and Vauxhall) in 2017. There were fruits of that relationship that are more than worthy of remembering, though, and this little hatchback is just one of them.  First arriving in the 2013 model year, it was first equipped with this particular SGE the following year. The model's two choices of 1.0 liter EcoTecs were equipped with either 90 hp or 114 hp, both of which have 125 lb-ft of torque and the latter offering a speed of 122 mph. 

The plucky Adam family grew to include the Adam Rocks, a sportier model with a choice of alloy wheels up to 18 inches in size and bold color options first seen in 2014. 2019 was the final year of the Adam, a modestly successful vehicle that shifted approximately 50,000 models annually in Europe. It was sacrificed as part of a pivot for the brand in light of tighter European emission standards.

While some concept vehicles are doomed to become lost in the ether and never see production, the MG GS was always intended to see release. The 2013 Shanghai Motor Show saw the debut of the MG CS Concept, and two years later, it became MG's very first model of its type. The '15 MG GS was an SUV venture between China's SAIC and the British MG, and in its first guise, it was equipped with an interesting engine choice. 

SAIC is the owner of British brand MG Motors, and the GS propelled it into the realm of the family-friendly SUV. This was reflected in the marketing for the model, with the commercial above highlighting the fact that the "GS" in the name can be interpreted as "Get Set,"  indicating that it's supposedly ready at a moment's notice. It was clear that two particular qualities needed to be emphasized: practicality and affordability. How was this reflected in the powertrain and specs of the vehicle, then?

The 2015 British MG GS was equipped with the 166 hp 1.5 liter turbocharged SGE, offering 184 lb-ft of torque. The GS was also available in pricer trims like the Exclusive, which saw the addition of amenities like heated leather seats and 18-inch alloy wheels. The automatic Exclusive cost £20,995 (approximately $26,685 today), with the base model priced at £14,995 (around $19,000). 

SAIC had a direct involvement in the development of this family of GM SGEs, and, as a creation of the brand, the Roewe 360 would also benefit from the development of the engines. Introduced in 2015, the 360 was, SAIC reported in September 2015, "installed with SGE 1.4 TGI mid direct injection turbocharged engine and 7-speed TST intelligent double-clutch gearbox." This option was provided alongside a 1.5 liter engine outputting 109 hp, outstripping it significantly at 148 hp. 

The 360 arrived in the wake of the Roewe 350, which itself made its first official appearance at 2010's Beijing Motor Show. The NSE engine of the initial 350 proved problematic at launch, unable to adhere to European emissions regulations of the time, with an Auto Car first drive review of the model concluding,  "with just 107bhp and 100lb ft of torque, the unit in our test car lacked grunt and needed to be worked hard." 

The 360, while it improved upon the grunt of its predecessor, was a modest looking model and a less than spellbinding performer. Nonetheless, 2017's 360 Plus variant offered a boost to 156 hp and 173.33 lb-ft torque, demonstrating that there was still something more to be squeezed from its 180.28 inch by 71.02 inch frame. This sedan compact would be followed by the Roewe i5.

[Image by Navigator84 via Wikimedia Commons |Resized and cropped | CC BY-SA 4.0]

While the Opel Adam and Roewe 360 are lesser-known models, that certainly can't be said of the Vauxhall Corsa. In the U.K., it even unseated the mighty Ford Fiesta as the country's most popular new vehicle in 2021. Elsewhere in Europe, the model is better known as the Opel Corsa.

The Corsa was first introduced by Opel in 1982, a modest model in a 3.62 meter package that packed a 100 hp engine and the popularity to warrant production of more than 3 million models before arriving at its second generation in 1993.

Over two decades later, in 2014, the Corsa E was introduced. This model featured a 1.0 liter variant of the SGE. It afforded the plucky five-door hatchback either 115 or 90 hp, with the 115 hp model boasting a slightly higher top speed of 121.17 mph.   By this time, the Corsa had carved itself out a reputation as a smaller model that didn't feel cramped; indeed this was the longest model yet at slightly over four meters long, 1.9 meters wide, and approximately 1.5 meters tall.

The venerable Corsa family continues to go from strength to strength, with Vauxhall in the United Kingdom offering the latest in the family, the New Corsa Electric, in trims ranging from Design to Ultimate. The Ultimate trim offers luxurious features like a driver's seat with a massage function and stylish Alcantara trim seats. 

[Image by M 93 via Wikimedia Commons |Resized and cropped | CC BY-SA 3.0 DE]

This list has some rather small cars, such as the Opel Adam and the Opel Corsa. Roewe's 950 family of sedans is considerably larger than some models equipped with GM's SGE. With SAIC and GM partnerships have led to Roewe models frequently being equipped with GM technology, and the e950 is another example.

The 950 itself made its first appearance in 2012 at Beijing's auto show. It was immediately familiar to anyone who has seen a Buick LaCrosse, but such is the benefit of the connection between the Chinese and United States brands. By 2015, the production model of the 950 sported specs of 213.89 lb-ft of torque, topped off with a zero to 60 mph of 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 136.7 mph. Two years later, a rather different variant would appear at the International Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicles Exhibition & Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicles Achievement Exhibition in Beijing in October 2017: the Roewe e950. 

This hybrid plug-in model was equipped with a 1.4 liter variant of the SGE, as well as two electric motors offering 41 hp and 76 hp respectively. The 50T internet model, SAIC had reported that August, was deemed among the "first internet administrative cars" developed in China, along with the base 950. Roewe's efforts in the EV world continued with the medium electric D7, a four-door sedan that launched in 2023 with a 197 hp motor.

[Image by Jengtingchen via Wikimedia Commons |Resized and cropped | CC BY-SA 4.0]