Musgrove on the Rover 800

THE GUARDIAN
Austin Rover Managing Director Harold Musgrove discusses Project XX at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

"This car will challenge the best Germany has to offer, clinic results in Europe and North America have been emphatic in that opinion. We have to tailor our cars to suit individual export markets. In the case of Germany, that has meant spending considerable time and resources on meeting the emission regulations , whether we approve of them or not. But our range of compliant cars benefit both the consumer and the environment.

But we have other advantages. Austin Rover products are not dependent upon the availability of lead-free fuel , essential if a catalyst is fitted , at present stocked by just about 10 per cent of the fuel stations in Germany and difficult to obtain elsewhere, so that, in effect, catalysts are placing travel restrictions on one of the most outwardly mobile populations in Continental Europe. Catalysts are expensive to buy and maintain and their fitment inevitably means loss of fuel efficiency.

It is true that with current technology, catalysts will be required to meet the low emmission levels for large cars but in the longer term, Austin Rover is developing new lead-burn technology which will result in significant advances in emission performance and fuel efficiency."