Mr. Kevin Howe, Chief Executive, MG Rover drove the CityRover at the Tata Motors factory and expressed his pleasure with the car, "In order to effectively meet the market requirements of the United Kingdom, we felt the need to introduce a small car which would target the city car sector . Tata Indica is a product of international standards that fits in perfectly with our requirement as the basis for the City Rover. The CityRover will help us open a new customer segment in the highly competitive UK market."

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. V. Sumantran, Executive Director-Tata Motors, said, The Indica s success in the domestic market has been due to its strong value proposition, and its emergence on the international automobile market is a natural progression. The CityRover retains all the attributes of the Indica which have made it one of India s biggest successes, while introducing into the car characteristics which are unique to Rover and therefore suited to that brand and the driving environment in the UK and Europe."

The agreement between Tata Motors and MG Rover was inked in December 2002. Speaking at that occasion, Dr. V. Sumantran, Executive Director-Tata Motors had said: "This agreement will enhance the volume throughput of the Indica plant significantly. More importantly, we look at it as an endorsement by a major international company of Tata Engineering s capabilities in general, and the world-class acceptability of the Indica in particular".

Manufactured at Tata Motors Pune plant, the CityRover will be marketed through Rover s wide dealer network in the UK and in continental Europe. Tata Motors will continue to market the Tata branded Indica through its existing network in Continental Europe. This agreement between Tata Motors and MG Rover is being seen by the global automobile industry as the coming of age of India s automotive Industry and is an affirmation of Tata Motors product development and manufacturing expertise.

The CityRover is being positioned as an attractive modern city car sector small car that provides the most competitive value-for-money blend of space, performance and specification available in the £6,500-£8,500 price band. The city car sector of the overall European small car market accounted for 1.1 million sales in 2002 and provides a significant market for the CityRover.

The CityRover will be available in the UK and later in continental Europe through the Rover dealer network in 4 versions, namely, Solo , Sprite , Select and Style to suit the lifestyle requirements of its diverse customer base. The CityRover models will be powered by a 1.4 litre petrol engine, with an alloy cylinder head, single overhead camshaft and multi-point fuel injection. It develops 85Ps at 5500rpm, and a solid 115Nm of torque at 3000rpm and has a five-speed manual transmission. The CityRover has an all-independent coil sprung suspension for excellent ride and handling characteristics.