REPLACEMENTS for the Rover 200 and 400 - the 25 and 45 - made their world debuts at the London Motor Show. The manufacturer insists that together with the new 75 saloon fleets it now has a complete range of vehicles that on cost and performance will outsmart competitors.

The facelifted versions of the two cars were unveiled by Dr Henrich Heitmann, member of the BMW board of management, who said the 25 and 45 had been 'designed to establish, together with the 75, an integrated family of Rover cars covering key segments in which the brand will operate and demonstrating unprecedented integrity of production and design'. Jim Lynch, Rover sales director, sees the arrival of the new cars as an opportunity to 're-present' the brand to fleet customers offering financial benefits such as higher residual values and lower maintenance costs as well as the qualitative improvements in build and performance. Both cars have three year/60,000-mile warranties.

While the smaller 25 - due for launch at the end of the November - is expected to be most popular in retail markets, the 45, due to go on sale in January, is seen as a key to Rover regaining its place in the corporate market, with about 60% expected to go to fleets. Lynch said: 'We expect residual values to improve by about 5% on those of the 200 and 400 to reflect the quality and specification improvements and as such even sharper contract hire rates.'