THE Rover Group, Britain's leading vehicle manufacturer and exporter, has confirmed a £400 million programme for an all new Rover luxury car codenamed R40 to go on sale in the spring of 1999 and to compete in the executive sector.

The programme will result in around 1,000 new jobs in Rover Group and up to further 5,000 in the component supply industry. The investment is part of Rover Group's £600 million annual investment programme.

The car will be built on new manufacturing facilities at the Rover Oxford factory. These include a new state-of-the-art paint plant, a new body-in-white facility with 160 robot stations, a new vehicle hall and a vehicle validation centre. These high technology facilities will deliver BMW Group manufacturing and quality standards.

Total investment in the factory at Oxford is around £250 million with a further £150 million invested in supplier tooling, along with significant investment by the suppliers themselves.

Rover Group is the UK's second largest exporter of manufactured products and recently received the Queen's Award for Export Achievement.

Rover Group chairman and chief executive, Dr Walter Hasselkus said: "The new vehicle is a key element of the BMW Group product strategy and will make a significant contribution to the continued success of the company. It will represent the modern face of Rover and the excellence of British design, and is the first car to be fully engineered during Rover's ownership by BMW. R40 is an important new chapter for Rover, so it has been decided that the British International Motor Show at Birmingham in October this year is the appropriate venue for the car's debut.

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