CityRover Estate Weighs In

If you don't think there's enough room in the new CityRover, this is the car for you. The Indian company that builds it, TATA, has just taken the wraps off an estate version of the Indica - the supermini on which the British model is based - for its home market.

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Craig Cheetham

03rd February 2004

Our sources say the load-lugger should come to the UK towards the end of the year, and here's what it will look like. However, a Rover-badged version is unlikely to share its sister car's name - the TATA is called the Indigo Marina, and that would revive memories of the Morris Marina, a model MG Rover would probably rather forget!

The new estate shares its lengthened Indica platform with the Indigo, a four-door variant of the hatchback. But the saloon isn't expected to come to the UK, due to a lack of demand for such models in the British market.

Currently, there are no definite plans to bring the estate to these shores, but an MG Rover source confirmed that it's under consideration. Part of the model's appeal would be that it would become Britain's cheapest estate, undercutting the ΂£9,000 Peugeot 206 SW. As for practicality, the newcomer offers more rear legroom than the standard Indica, while the rear seat splits 60/40 and folds flat to boost cargo space.

Indian-market vehicles tend to feature stiffened rear suspension to cope with carrying heavy loads on the country's rough roads. For the UK, it would probably have softer springing.

The car would be fitted with the same 82bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine as found in the CityRover hatchback. But TATA is currently developing a diesel powerplant to meet European emissions standards, which are far stricter than in India. If this engine option is taken up by MG Rover, an oil-burning CityRover could be on sale here as early as the middle of next year.