TATA'S ROVER TROUBLES: India's Tata Motors will consider pulling out of its troubled partnership with MG Rover, if current talks fail to resolve differences over the price and market positioning of the Tata-built CityRover car.
Ratan Tata, the Indian group's chairman, said if the current disagreements could not be resolved, "we would talk of a dissolution". That stage had not yet been reached, he said. The talks centre on the price of the CityRover, which is rebranded from Tata's Indica car, and the addition of new features to attract buyers. MG Rover wants to cut the price of the car or add free equipment to make it more competitive, and has proposed that Tata bear some of the cost.
A person close to the senior management of the Indian company described relations between Tata Motors and MG Rover as "irreparable".
Tata's management is seething over what it regards as MG Rover's complicity in "spinning" tales within the industry about the quality of the parts.
Suspicion on the Indian side has been fuelled by MG Rover's ambitions in China, where the company is awaiting regulatory approval to develop a mid-sized car with Shanghai Automotive Industry, for production in Britain and China.
The ploughing championships were yet another attraction for the car distributors, in particular those with off-roaders in their fleets.
Top billing this year went to Land Rover, which launched its new Discovery 3 at the show.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was on hand to introduce the latest version from the off-road specialists.
The Discovery goes on sale this month, with prices starting at €55,700. A commercial version will follow in November priced at €38,000.
Ford has announced a change to the specification line-up in the upcoming Focus range. The new cars will now begin in 'Freedom' spec, moving up to LX, Zetec, Ghia and the range topping Titanium spec.