THE CHAIRMAN of Indian car manufacturer Tata said yesterday he hoped to build on the relationship his company has formed with MG Rover.
Revealing that it was intended to start shipping versions of the Tata Indica supermini to Britain in late autumn, Mr Ratan Tata said he was pleased at the way the two companies were working together. "I am very happy at the relationship," said Mr Tata at the Geneva Motor Show.
"The people at MG Rover have a lot of engineering expertise and we would look on expanding what we have - but it is too early to say exactly what may develop."
He said that the only firm arrangement at the moment between the two companies was to bring the Indica to Britain under a Rover badge as part of a three to four year deal. "This is an agreement to work on engineering our cars together," said Mr Tata.
He dismissed as speculation reports that a two seater sports car, which Tata has developed as a concept, was being considered as a new MG Midget.
The Indica is intended by MG Rover to fill a gap left in its line up by the old Metro and the Rover 100, which was discontinued several years ago while the Longbridge company was owned by BMW.
The cars which will be sold in the UK will be reworked by Rover engineers to satisfy European requirements.
An announcement about what engines will be used in the car is still to be made, but it is understood that MG Rover's award winning K Series unit will be used in the petrol models. Diesel versions will also be available.
The Tata car, which is likely to have prices starting at around £7,000 as a Rover, was on display yesterday on the company's Geneva stand. As a five door hatch it is smart looking, and priced at such a level it would be highly competitive against the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Skoda Fabia.
Yesterday Mr Tata also revealed his company's latest model - the Indigo estate - which is based on the same platform as the Indica. The Indigo has a quality finish and comes with four airbags, ABS, central locking and air conditioning as standard.
Mr Tata said that although MG Rover was aware of the Indigo it was not part of the current deal and at the moment there were no plans to bring it to the UK.
Meanwhile MG Rover reported steady interest in the cars on its stand at Geneva despite having no new models on show. The MG XPower SV 250mph five-litre V8 supercar, first revealed at the Birmingham International Motor Show last year, was making its debut in Switzerland alongside other MG Rover models including the ZT-T Tourer.