Brit HQ for new Rover 'Focus'

You can take Rover out of the Midlands, but you can't take the Midlands out of Rover

Focus rival RDX60 developed for Chinese company by ex-MG and Rover workers

The next generation of Chinese-branded models will be developed very close to the defunct company's former home.

And the line-up will include an all-new compact family hatch to rival Ford's Focus. This will be based on the stillborn RDX60, and should arrive in the next couple of years in both three and five-door form. It will be developed by UK engineering consultancy Ricardo 2010, which is staffed by many ex-Rover employees and based in Warwickshire. The company has recently been bought by Chinese car maker SAIC - the huge conglomerate which purchased the rights to build Rovers back in 2004.

A subsidiary of engineering giant Ricardo, the 2010 offshoot has been working closely with SAIC towards the development of the forth-coming Roewe 750. This re-engineered and rebadged Rover 75, revealed in Issue 932, will go on sale both here and in Europe later this year.

It will be the first of a new generation of updated Rover cars which will form the backbone of SAIC's line-up, and has been developed by a host of ex-employees of the British marque, including former design team members as well as engineers from Powertrain.

"The purchase of 2010 by SAIC is a huge vote of confidence in the innovative skills base that still exists in the UK," said a Ricardo spokesman. "It was always part of the plan that SAIC would take ownership of 2010. The firm could have walked away from the joint venture project, but it is an extremely positive outcome that 2010 is now part of SAIC."

Ricardo 2010 will remain under its own management in a standalone building at Ricardo's Midlands Technical Centre in Leamington Spa.

source: autoexpress.co.uk