Rover City to source spares from Tata Motors

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 24 March 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: As part of its agreement with MG Rover, Tata Motors will supply spares and parts for the City Rover’s after sales market. Michael J Booth, corporate-head (product development) of MG Rover told ET, “There are five separate agreements with Tata Motors; sourcing Rover-badged Indicas for the UK and European market, sourcing Safari SUVs for the UK and Europe and sourcing after sales spares for the Rover City.” MG Rover is in the process of taking the Rover City to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France and Belgium. The City will compete with the Indica in a couple of these markets, where the Indica is already available as a Tata Motors’ badged vehicle, according to Mr Booth. While the agreement with Tata Motors is flexible to incorporate both demand drop an increase beyond the estimated 1,00,000 units over five years, the supplies are presently hobbled by capacity constraints in Pune. “Right now, the capacity at Tata Motors is a problem but as they add capacity this year, we will be able to source and sell more,” Mr Booth said. The City Rover, launched four months ago in the UK, has sold 3,000 units. While price competition from productslike the Fiat Panda will have to be taken in its stride, MG Rover plans to push the City as a value-for-money product. “All the markets throughout Europe are highly-segmented. We like to position our products, including the City, distinctively, as a value-for-money proposition. Of course, the City will continue to be examined within that parameter,” Mr Booth said.