ROVER is celebrating scooping a multi-million pound series of deals with company car fleet buyers.

Jim Lynch, Rover sales director in the UK, said the arrival of the lower-priced Classic version of the Cowley-built Rover 75 and the new Rover 25 and Rover 45 models had helped the company secure more than 300 corporate car sales.

He said: "These deals will be followed by many more as fleets begin to appreciate our products' combination of price, specification and appeal, in a often colourless sector."

The deals come just days after the Cowley-built Rover 75 picked up its fifth international award in two weeks.

One of the deals was with KAG Autocare, an accident management company based in Bradford, which has ordered 40 Rover models.

Gateshead Thunder, the Premier League Rugby Club has ordered 15 models and Durham County Cricket Club is buying 15 cars.

White Rose Environmental (WRE), a subsidiary of Yorkshire Water, is ordering only diesel-powered Rover cars, buying 60 cars, including the Cowley-built Rover 75 Diesel.

Impact Assist, an accident management company based in the North East, is taking more than 40 Rovers. Rover's owner BMW has announced it is moving a key product development team from Germany to the UK.

It plans to move more than 200 specialist engineers and designers from Munich to Rover's £30m design centre at Gaydon, near Banbury, to develop a new small car for Rover to be built at a revitalised Longbridge factory in Birmingham.

Story date: Friday 17 December

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