Letter: Cars too dear

Sir: BMW are going to apply for a government grant to support their production of Rover cars because their competitors, Vauxhall and Ford, are already in receipt of such grants ("Rover Boss quits over huge losses", 3 December). I assume this means British taxpayers will be supporting the manufacture of cars that already sell in this country at anything from pounds 2,000 upwards more than they sell to our continental neighbours.

These same companies make every effort to prevent the British taxpayer from acquiring models more cheaply on the Continent, despite EU rules to the contrary.

Is it too much to expect of the Government to represent our interests by making any grant to a car manufacturer conditional on the selling of cars to the British consumer at prices that roughly equate to those in most of the rest of Europe?

ROGER IREDALE

Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire