MG Rover has announced in the UK that it will launch a new small Rover car in 2003.

The new Rover, based on the Tata Indica platform, will be manufactured to MG Rover’s design and engineering standards by Tata Engineering at its Pune factory in India. It will be sold by MG Rover’s dealer network throughout the UK and continental Europe. Initial details of the car will follow at a later date.

Kevin Howe, chief executive, MG Rover said: “This new car, which will fit perfectly in to our existing product portfolio, will reach a whole new customer base. We are delighted to have concluded this manufacturing agreement with Tata Engineering. The Pune factory has state of the art facilities and a highly skilled and dedicated workforce.”

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Engineering said: “We are very pleased to be manufacturing MG Rover’s new small car at our plant in Pune and see this as a great endorsement of our engineering and manufacturing expertise. The introduction of this car will see the achievement of yet another milestone for both companies and marks the start of what we hope will be a long and productive relationship.”

Tata is a major conglomerate, based in India. Its diversified interests include steel, communications, consumer products, chemicals, hospitality and IT as well as automotive production. The US$9 billion group comprises 80 companies and has about 225,000 employees.