Rover is slashing car prices by up to 16 per cent to try to clear stocks before the new T registration next month.

An average of 9.5 per cent will be cut from list prices of selected 200 and 400 series models across about a third of the range, although some reductions will be as great as 16 per cent.

The Rover 416i is being cut to an on-the-road price of £13,495 and the 214i three-door to £10,495.

Dealers have been told the sale will run until the end of March.

The clearance bargains follow uncertainty about the future of the Rover plant at Longbridge. But the switch from an annual to a six-monthly change in the registration letter has had many manufacturers clearing stocks of S-reg cars.

Rover also wants to stop a slide in sales that has resulted in production cuts and a build-up of stock. Last month sales were down 45 per cent compared with a year earlier.

Employee representatives on the board of Rover's parent firm BMW have offered assurances that they will not support any cuts at Rover.

But unions fear BMW will seek further reductions in the 39,000-strong workforce, beyond the 2,500 already agreed as part of last year's working package aimed at saving the Longbridge plant.

Story date: Thursday 11 February

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