Two new cars from Rover today. The one that caught my eye was the Streetwise, a Rover 25 adapted for urban on-road use. They jacked up the suspension to 4x4 height. It has scratch resistant bumper zones, wheel guards and roof bars. It looks quite impressive and it's a new one on me. It's kind of compromise between the 4x4 and small car. Not bad for £9K either.
There's pictures of the car on their website.
www.mg-rover.com/content/Rover/en_GB/Rover2/~jsp/m...p
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Looks quite cool - First time I've seen a car maker actually promote a car on the strength of congested roads at least it looks as if it has character. Heard today that Rover have finally struck a deal with the Indian firm to import 50k cars accross Europe.
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I am surprised to agree that it looks quite nice. But is it worth the 2k extra over a 25? Does it have any more kit etc
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The website suggest revised trim, new switchgear and improved access. As for kit the 25 was always quite well specced.
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I must admit I always thought I would never buy an english car but the 75 tourer and this one are quite impressive looking. Still, my uncle had a R-reg 200 (rebadged 25 later, I think) with had a head-gasket at 25 or 30 thou so I am not so convinced a good buy. Funnily enough, my uncle keeps saying he would buy a 75 but is worried Rover will go out of business and leave him with no spare parts. Not sure this is so likely.
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I must admit I always thought I would never buy an english car but the 75 tourer and this one are quite impressive looking. Still, my uncle had a R-reg 200 (rebadged 25 later, I think) with had a head-gasket at 25 or 30 thou so I am not so convinced a good buy.
Certain detail changes have been made to the K-series engine in the last three or four years, to try to solve some of these problems. E.g. uprated gaskets (head and inlet manifold), steel head locating dowels instead of plastic. I think it should turn out that the 25/45, ZR/ZS are more reliable in the engine department than the 200/400 on which they are based.
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Oh my goodness me.
Is there nothing that MG Rover won't do to try and dress up old wine in a new bottle?
(Exactly that phrase was used about 25 years ago when Vauxhall launched the Magnum instead of the Viva).
I saw the piece on BBC2's Working Lunch today and the comment was that MG-Rover are set to lose £400 million this year and the analysts were saying that launching a Tata Indica with a Rover badge on might put someone off spending £20k on a 75 with the same badge on.
They said the Indica is so far behind in quality that it makes the Perodua Nippa, kia Pride and Hyundai... (something or other) look positively futuristic.
Definitely a bad thing, said the analysts.
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Be nice Sean!
Can't we just have ONE british car maker...please...but then so many people think Ford and Kelloggs are british anyway...shhhh
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Oh my goodness me. Is there nothing that MG Rover won't do to try and dress up old wine in a new bottle? (Exactly that phrase was used about 25 years ago when Vauxhall launched the Magnum instead of the Viva). I saw the piece on BBC2's Working Lunch today and the comment was that MG-Rover are set to lose £400 million this year and the analysts were saying that launching a Tata Indica with a Rover badge on might put someone off spending £20k on a 75 with the same badge on. They said the Indica is so far behind in quality that it makes the Perodua Nippa, kia Pride and Hyundai... (something or other) look positively futuristic. Definitely a bad thing, said the analysts.
Well what do analysts know about cars? By all accounts the Indica is quite well built, the factory is certainly more modern than many European ones. The cars does have some refinement issues but apparently Rover have worked on those. As for it putting buyers off spending 20 grand on a 75, well they obviously thought so too, hence the CityRover moniker. And by the way, they got THAT idea from somewhere else...
forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6712
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You can actually watch the programme online today, you know:
www.bbc.co.uk/workinglunch
You just click on "watch today's show"
(Need speakers, soundcard etc on the pc)
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I don't think MGR will lose £400m this year. Any analyst saying that is going to look very stupid because MGR is a private limited company, it does not have to issue detailed quaterly accounts except to it creditors. None of the UK banking institutions are MGR creditors, this information is not in the private domain and as such any speculation is just that.
Also, if anyone has ever been to India lately, they are not some backwater, they are a major world class player in some high-tech industries. TATA is a huge conglomerate employing 225,000 people worldwide. It's Pune factory is one of the most advanced in the Indian sub-continent using advanced JIT techniques, robots and assembly lines capable of manufacturing 400,000 cars a year. It's not a backstreet operation, the factory cost £650m to put together, that's a lot of plant.
The Indica V2 is a much improved car from the V1 and the domestic car has a 100,000 car waiting list at home, it's been a huge success. It's a good car.
As for the comparison, it's not exactly a fair one neither is it an informed one.
The press release as I saw said that the line the CityRover will be made on will be a full partnership between TATA and MGR with MGR managers on the assembly line. The chassis, suspension and trim have all been revised, MGR has also retuned the engine to give 90Ps and 110Nm of torque at 3000rpm. That's a good performance considering the MINI One engine is a 1.6 and puts out 90Ps.
You pay your money and make your choice.
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Re: The Indian Rover
1: Most of the bugs have been ironed out - sales are going from strength to strength. Since the indian consumer has choice, he can go else where - that says something. Probably the one of the few cars with a one month waiting list in India (the other is the E class merc)
2: Most of the plant that builds the Indica was the old Nissan plant in adelaide which was closed down
3: The paint shop that paints the Tata's also does the local Mercedes C, E, and S class assembly. Mercedes quality audits show that Indian assembled Mercs have the best quality outside Germany
BTW the Streetwise concept is copied from Fiat - The Fiat Palio Adventure - same black bumpers, jacked up wheels etc.
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Thank you ajit, someone else who knows there TATA from their potatoes.
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Interesting that the black plastic bumpers are seen as a step up from colour coded ones. What next? A new window wind mechanism that gives improved reliability by using precision machined mechanical gears and an ergonomically shaped handle formed from specialist thermoplastics? Nasty central locking replaced by door locks specially customised to each door?
Looks nice, and my mother loved her Rover 200. But £9K means it is competing with higher end Yaris, New Model Micra, and is not far off the Honda Jazz. That's tough competition.
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Re the Citirover - Look at it this way. You need spend only 6000 for a solid durable car to drop the kids at school. The remaining 5000 quid can cover the school fees for 18months
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