Facts and Figures
MGR News May 2004
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The 45/ZS range is now complete, and deliveries are on track for the "end of May". Sales remain buoyant in the UK after a couple of months in the doldrums. Have your say about the CityRover appearance on Top Gear...

And it seems that pictures of the ZR have been leaked onto the internet before its NEC launch...

Pictures of the 2004 MG ZR appear on the 'net early...

2004 MG ZR, looking mean and moody: will it sell as well as its predecessor?

The truth can now be told: the pictures below appeared on the internet on the 14th May 2004 out of the blue. They were indeed the genuine article, and the reason they made it into the real world days before they should were simple. MGR and Haymarket publishing produced an advertorial supplement to WHAT CAR? magazine, July 2004, which celebrated the 80th anniversary of MG and the 100th of Rover. The Plan was for the supplement to hit the shelves on the 18th May, but thanks to subscriber editions being shipped before retail issues, the celebratory supplement got into readers' hands a few days early...

MG Rover have been adept at getting pictures of their cars unintentially into the press earlier than expected: pictures of Rover's 75 was published in several daily papers days before its official launch, and the same seems to have happened again.

Still, that was an understandable error; publishers like to get subscribers' issues out early. But what compunded it was that when these pictures appeared on enthusiast forums, MG-Rover asked said forums to pull the pictures. Was this the right thing to do? Of course not. The internet has this habit of perpetrating information faster than the speed of light, and once something gets on to it, its spread cannot be stopped. In the opinion of austin-rover.co.uk, it merely added to the (admittedly short) list of faux pas committed by the press office or publicity departments.

Still, the story isn't all bad, because the new cars look great, and their combined shelf lives have been extended extremely usefully. Full pictures of the 45 and MG ZR can be seen in their own galleries.

Those embarrassingly early pictures...

Rear view is neat and smooth - very much like that of the 45/ZS

Front details are neat and more modern, and although the rear light clusters appear to be unchanged, they look good in tandem with the reprofiled rear bumper.

Dashboard looks nice for the round air vents...

45 and ZS ranges premiered...

MG ZS

Much better than anyone anticipated given the lack of changes made to the sheet metal.

he ZS is a car that sells badly in spite of itself: not only is it a fabulous driver's car in V6 form, but it is still a practical proposition, and in four-door form, passes off itself as a "baby ZT" quite nicely. In the interests of making it look more aggressive, some unsubtle styling tweaks have been added to the car, but it has to be said that in the picture below, it looks good.

The styling is a step forward; lets hope that the driving dynamics improve from the already excellent standard of the original. With these improvements, it could move back to near the top of the class again...

The ZS 180 shows the extent of the facelift: new bumper mouldings, and a reprofiled boot lid...

Interior makeover is a little more far reaching than the external one: the dashtop is entirely new, and it sports a more contemporary look. Facia cowling is not unattractive, and the circular air-vents show that MGR are not averse to following fashion...

The world premier of the car is due at the Birmingham motor show at the end of May, but attendees of the Brooklands to Brighton MG Regency run were treated to the sight of a ZS saloon being displayed alongside a facelifted ZT260 V8. Customer deliveries begin at the end of May...

Rover 45:

The 45's incarnation of the new facia looks good in Connoisseur spec: the trim colours and use of wood are traditional Rover, and therefore, should not frighten off existing 45 buyers. The fresh look might even tempt a few people back to the marque. One can hope.

Frontal view is more contemporary than the outgoing car.

Most of the important features of this car were covered in last month's news...

CityRover makes a splash on BBC's Top Gear

Did the BBC's motoring programme damage the CityRover's chances? Don't bet against it...

Well, it looks as though MG Rover found itself half way between a rock and a hard place when it came to how they dealt with BBC Top Gear's request for a drive of their CityRover. When it came down to it, the company's PR department declined the request, and Top Gear went ahead with the test anyway, and in the most imaginative way possible.

James May, posing as a potential buyer, took a test drive in one. However, he and his pretend girlfriend were armed with a mini-camera, and cleverly, he took the car on a route which was littered with Top Gear cameras. The absolute piece de resistance of the story was towards the end when cruising up the highway, a Top Gear Fiat Panda came alongside for a lingering camera shot. May's comparative comments concerning price were also timed beautifully.

Needless to say, the result of the test was foregone (the usual brickbats about interior quality, gearchange and ride), but it did make for great television. James May has tested budget cars before on the programme, and was particularly flattering about the unpretentious charms of the Perodua Nippa a couple of seasons back, so it would be wrong to accuse the programme of needlessly attacking the car because it was inexpensive.

For MG Rover, it was a PR disaster, for sure, but even if they had lent a car to the BBC, it would have probably been in line for a kicking. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here: MGR will sell the 100,000 they have arranged to buy from TATA, and should still make a handsome profit on each one. The Indica may look quite appealing, and does go very well in relation to its rivals, but at the current list prices, MGR are doing themselves no favours.

A lot of people watch Top Gear, and even if the "typical" CityRover buyer doesn't, you can be sure that they know someone that does...

Please drop me a line if you would like me to add your opinion on the matter to this page.

Have your say...

...it's a pile of poo and Rover deserve all the flack they get for it. I reckon Rover will be forced to lower the price considerably (they can afford to do it), the price bracket it's currently in, it simply cannot compete with cars like the new Fiat Panda, even though the Rover has a bigger engine. Since its launch I have only seen 2 on the road.

Kevin Davis, Southampton

I'm afraid I'm with Top Gear on this one. I think the exterior design looks good, not too offensive, nor too old. It's just the interior, which I hate. If it were sorted, then maybe it would be good enough to wear the Austin/Morris badge... Perhaps I am old fashioned, but I think Rover should be on large, luxury cars. Not rebadged Tatas.

Richard Jesset, Oxford

I am with Top Gear as well; I think that the interior design is awful. I have read reports in a certain car magazine, that people were cutting themselves on parts of the facia... If Rover managed to smarten up the interiors of "badge specials" like the 200 and 600, why not with this?

Paul Wilkinson, Wolverhampton

Has everyone forgotten the day Top Gear got their hands on the MG SV in the last series? They walked past a CityRover and called it "rubbish" then, so no wonder MGR didn't want to lend them one for a second slaying. The plastics are of pretty poor quality and the price is too high, but otherwise I enjoyed the test drive I took. Rover is a damaged brand already; this is the last thing they need...

Christian Lamb, England

I have to say that Top Gear did MGR a disservice. They should have gone on about the good things: the bigger engine, the large boot the vast amount of room inside. The fact that the doors open further than its rivals indicates that the entry will be good, especially for the old and infirm. Some people have said that Rovers should be Rovers and not re badged Tatas, but virtually the entire range over the last twenty years have been rebadged something or other...

John Mower, England

These are desperate times for MGR and with the CityRover is shows very clearly. At least previous re-badged efforts were based on something respectful in the first place. This model is a badged version of the first 'own' car by a company from an emerging economy. It shouldn't have been born in the first place and is an insult to MGR engineers and indeed it's work force. At the price it's pitched at MGR had this coming to them sadly.

Gary Saunders, Southampton

I don't think the CityRover is a "pile of poo". It's an honest spacious small car and rugged to boot. I think all this is detracting from MGR's fine efforts elsewhere. They needed a small car for the dealers to sell. Increasingly MGR franchises are becoming dual-marque dealerships. They need people to get on the rung rather than end up in a Matiz or Getz. This is it.

Jenny Porfrio, England

It's a shame that MGR had to be devalued in this way. The Tata is a puny little car without any merit, except its low price. And MGR had to take out the USP. Yes, it's a quick way to make a profit, buying from the manufacturer a car at Indian prices and selling it at European ones, but I fear that, in the long run,it will be a big mistake. MGR finances must be pretty desperate.

Rafael Neira Márquez, Spain

I think there is only one thing that merits the car: its name. Generally, it is a sad reminder of the fact that India was a part of the British Empire in the 20th century. Regrettably, it looks old enough for that.

Max, Kazakhstan

...it certainly seems overpriced, but one fact is often overlooked in judging this car: If it is built to withstand Indian conditions, it might well prove to be by far the most reliable and durable car in its segment, which might earn it some respect after all. Only time will tell though. Let's just hope MGR will be around long enough to find out.

Matthias Jost, Munich, Germany

I sincerely hope for MGR's sake that somehow this car helps to turn their fortunes around so they can pump some desperately needed funds into their model development. The CityRover looks too much like a cheap import and not like a small Rover. With its widely known origins, I suspect that not only will the car itself put people off, but also the residuals. As one comment that was made said that a car built for India will be more rugged, the image of a flimsy machine may well disappear over a year or so, but it will be a hard one to change

Dylan Jones, England

With such a need for a new supermini after the demise of the Metro and old Mini, MGR had a duty to provide us with something better. The CityRover gives no incentive to previous Austin-Rover small car buyers to stick with MGR, it will cause more future image damage than can ever be imagined. Rather like the Mini effect in reverse. The car is poor, there's no doubt about that, but they could at least price it (very) competitively and sell on a pure cheapness basis... but there isn't even a 1000cc model to tempt the high insurance young drivers. Not to mention that for the few people who still by MGR for nationalistic reasons, it defeats the object; not so much a "British car to beat the world, as a British badged car to beat absolutely no-one.

Tom Coley, England

...subjective opinion aside, for hard facts on the CityRover, why not visit Rover's own website? Look for the section called "Inside Info". This is where MG-Rover give details of which bits of their cars exceed that of the competition. I challenge the opinionated to own and operate the product for six months, and then write an informed article on the subject.

Gary, UK

Over the years my parents have owned lots of Rover Group cars, and now they are thinking of replacing their Rover 100. I suggested they look at the CityRover. They compared it on price, equipment, etc, to the competition and have decided to buy a Fiat Panda instead. If Rover cannot sell these cars to people that have been loyal to the brand for many years, then I can't see them selling well. They need to delete the base model so that journalists cannot say the cars don't have electric windows or PAS, fit a new dash and the K-Series 1.1 and 1.4, and then sell the cheapest one at £4,999.

Matt Semple, Bristol

I have seen the CityRover in the flesh and to be honest it's a nasty let down. The interior is PAINFUL; it screams cheap and positively yells "Tacky" to the rooftops. As far as the TopGear appearance goes, they were always going to crucify it. It's funny how they whine on about the demise of the UK car industry and they try their hardest to finish the job...

Jon Marriage, England

I agree with the people who think the CityRover shouldn't be a re-badged Tata. What comes next under the guise of despair? Re-badged Dacia's? Come on! Collaboration with Lancia, as suggested on a recent article submitted here, has been my favourite option for the last two years, given the clear parallelism between these two great marques, as long as BMW stays away, because it's been confirmed they still have an interest in lending a hand under some conditions - which we might get to know earlier than expected. Picture a new Metro, refined and sophisticated, yet affordable, based on the MINI. Now, that would be one decent CityRover. In the meantime Hindustan Ambassador owners must be having fun!

Thierry Mouton, Belgium

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Facts and Figures