The Rover 400 1995-99

                 This is one of three articles about the Rover 400/45 model.

The 400 HHR model was a new model based on the Honda Domani, which was apparently sold in Europe as part of the Honda Civic range as a hatchback and estate (wagon). The new 400 model was to be separate from the 200 range. Rover wanted to have more input into the car as it had with the R8, but Honda had different ideas and the Domani was offered pretty much as it was. All I can say is that Rover had better designers when it came to aesthetics than Honda did. Rover did eventually get some input into the 4 door model and was the better for that. It seems Rover wanted a bigger car but had to take what Honda offered. Rover in fact pitched the HHR at a class larger than it was, but the strategy fooled no one. 

Being a model range in its own right, the 400 was produced in larger numbers as a Rover, but without the Honda Concerto variant any more. The production figures below testify to the solid sales of the new range. The 1999 figure does include some production form the 45 model that replaced it. 

Year	Prod
1995	68,500
1996	108,900
1997	144,000
1998	145,000
1999	91,400
Total	557,800
Avg	111,600

As for sales by countries, some are listed below:

Year	UK	Italy	France	Germ	Neder
1995	47,350	?	2,450	?	800
1996	63,850	15,600	7,100	?	1,500
1997	61,900	17,100	7,650	?	1,650
1998	57,300	10,200	8,300	7,900	2,500
1999	33,350	6,000	5,800	6,150	1,650
Total	263,750	48,875	31,300	14,050	8,100
Avg	52,750	12,225	6,250	7,025	1,620

 This was not the model it should have been. Rover needed something larger, especially the Hatch version, but the company was tied to what Honda offered. Overall quite successful.

To read about the 1990-94 period  please click here 

Pics: http://www.netcarshow.com/rover

The Rover 400 1990-94

This is one of three articles about the Rover 400/45 model.

The first Rover 400 (R8) came out in 1990 and was a 4 door saloon (sedan) version of the 200 model. Later a 400 Tourer Estate (wagon) model came along also. The car was a joint venture between Rover and Honda, the latter got the Concerto Model from the collaboration. Being able to produce both cars off the same assembly line bought cost efficiencies for both companies.

Below are production figures for both the Rover 400 and Honda Concerto. The '% 400' column represents the percentage the Rover model got as opposed to it's Honda equivalent. The 1995 year figure is low as the R8 was replaced during the year with the new HH-R model. Combined production for the outgoing and incoming models was 91,200.  

Year	400	H Con	% 400
1990	35,500	26,500	57
1991	45,100	36,000	56
1992	47,600	32,400	60
1993	48,500	18,400	72
1994	50,800	8,700	85
1995	22,700	2,200	91
Total	250,200	124,200	67
Avg	41,700	20,700	67

Now for sales of the 400 in two markets only. Often 200/400 sales were combined, so I cannot ascertain sales elsewhere. The 1995 figure includes the new 400 HH-R model too. 

Year	UK	France
1990	20,500	-
1991	25,400	2,500
1992	23,400	2,600
1993	33,150	3,150
1994	29,550	2,400
1995	47,350	2,450
Total	179,350	13,100
Avg	29,892	2,600

Overall, a convincing effort. Some say it was the best 400, and I am thinking so too. 

To read about the Austin Montego  click here 

The Jaguar S-Type History

The S-Type was built between 1999 and 2007 (some say 2008). Was it successful? I don’t really know if it was, but I think production figures were modest. I liked the look of it, somewhat retro but classy. The only part I didn’t really like was the rear end treatment. In 2002, a supercharged R version was released, which gave it some needed power as it was quite a heavy car by all accounts. To find out how many were made:


1999 53,000
2000 53,500
2001 38,300
2002 36,100
2003 31,900
2004 26,100
2005 23,800
2006 16,800
2007 11,000

Total 290,500


S-Type production slipped with the release of the X-Type in 2001, although between the two of them they did take Jaguar to record sales figures.

Jaguar has and still is making great cars. However, the S-Type won’t be remembered in history as a great Jaguar. Good but not great. Of course most cars will at best be good, so in that sense it was a success. It was replaced by the XF.

PS. Some sales by markets. The UK figures are reasonable estimates:

Yr	USA	UK	Germ	Italy	Jap	Fra	Can	Spa	Aus	Ned
99	15550	?	500	1300	?	700	675	?	650	625
00	24500	?	4100	3000	?	1500	1250	?	725	975
01	19550	7200	2725	1700	?	1075	1125	?	525	525
02	15950	7300	2500	1700	?	950	750	?	575	450
03	14875	6600	1425	1075	1125	725	600	750	325	350
04	10975	7500	1425	1400	1075	975	425	975	?	325
05	8900	6800	1475	1250	925	800	275	1025	225	275
06	5875	6025	1475	925	600	625	200	800	200	200
07	3525	4450	1350	500	425	675	125	650	125	125
Tot	119700	33300	16975	12850	4150	5825	5425	4200	3025	3850