MG Rover sales slide further in key month

MG Rover, the Longbridge-based car maker, suffered another disastrous slump in sales in September, taking less than 3 per cent of the UK market in what is one of the key months of the year for the motor industry.

MG Rover, the Longbridge-based car maker, suffered another disastrous slump in sales in September, taking less than 3 per cent of the UK market in what is one of the key months of the year for the motor industry.

A spokesman conceded that its performance had been poor but said it was an improvement on August when MG Rover's market share dropped to an all-time low of 2 per cent.

Figures released yesterday show that MG Rover's sales fell last month by one-third to 11,568, leaving it with just 2.7 per cent of the market - less than the luxury German car maker Mercedes-Benz achieved.

The disappointing sales figures reinforce how important it is for MG Rover to replace its ageing 25 and 45 series of cars which have now been rebadged separately under the Rover and MG marques.

Demand for the new City Rover, which the company is importing from Tata of India, has also been poor with some 5,500 sold since January compared with industry estimates that MG Rover aimed to sell 30,000 a year.

BMW, which sold MG Rover to the Phoenix consortium in May 2000, had a record September, by contrast, selling nearly 27,000 BMWs and Minis, a 12 per cent increase on last year. The overall UK market was down by 2 per cent.