23 October 2012

The Rover 400 (45) 2000-2004

This is one of three articles about the Rover 400/45 model.


This car needed replacing but got a facelift instead. Not enough sales for the 400 model to go it alone, yet then owners BMW tried just that and failed. They sold up and took the replacement model designs back to Munich to rot in an office draw. Who thinks capitalism has a caring side? Anyway, it soldiered on but was losing ground to the newer competition. The last owners named the Phoenix Four didn't have the money to do a new model but pretended they did.

Below are production figures of the third and last effort by MGR. There was still something to like about the car. A sporty MG ZS model was added but as you can see, it wasn't that successful.

Year Tot 45 ZS
2000 49900 49900 -
2001 44200 38275 5925
2002 33250 26400 6850
2003 22100 15650 6450
2004 20700 14950 5750
2005 5425 3300 2125
Tot 175600 148500 27100
Avg 29250 24750 5425

Now some major markets:

Yr UK Spa Fra Italy Germ Ned Por Bel Gre
00 ? ? 4400 5300 ? 1175 ? ? 750
01 20650 ? 3100 3400 1875 800 ? ? 600
02 20925 ? 2100 1850 850 425 ? 550 350
03 15800 4375 1600 1250 650 475 700 325 125
04 11350 4525 1250 875 725 350 600 275 150
05 4175 2050 825 275 350 200 200 225 150
Tot 72900 10950 13275 12850 4450 3425 1500 1375 2125
Avg 14600 3650 2225 2150 900 575 500 350 350

I see the Spanish liked them right to the end. A modest seller in Germany though.

The 400 range was a useful seller for Rover but as you can see by the production figures from 2000, past its 'use by date'. I am sure that many who buy a used example of them will find them a car with character and a nice vehicle to drive.

To read about the 1995-99 period  please click here 

Pics: http://www.netcarshow.com/rover

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