ROVER CityRover

2003-2005

In 2003, struggling UK automotive manufacturer MG Rover needed a modern city car to survive. Instead of developing a new car, they put their brand on the India-made Tata Indica, a car designed for India's low-cost domestic market. The CityRover became an instant, notorious symbol of Rover's terminal decline.

The interior was relentlessly cheap, earning descriptions like "the plastics were so low-grade they made a Ford Transit look like a Bentley." Yet, MG Rover priced it against genuinely modern and successful European superminis like the Fiat Panda and Skoda Fabia. Buyers were not fooled.

The car was ridiculed by the UK motoring press, most famously when Top Gear presenter James May, who was denied a test drive by Rover, went undercover to test it. He called it "the worst car I have ever driven" on the show.

The CityRover was intended to save MG Rover but instead hastened its demise. Production ceased in April 2005 when the company officially went bankrupt with £1.4 billion in debts. This financial failure led to the company being broken up and sold off.

Additional info:

Wikipedia - Rover CityRover

BBC Topgear - Fail of the century #13: Rover Cityrover

Retro Motor - Great Motoring Disasters: MG Rover CityRover

Carscoops - The Worst Cars I’ve Driven: Rover CityRover