MONDIAL Assistance will replace the AA as provider of breakdown and recovery services to Rover, MG and Mini from the start of next year. This is the second major contract Mondial has won from the AA this year, after securing the Land Rover account in January, and means the entire BMW Group will use Mondial to provide its breakdown and recovery service in the UK.

Rover's new roadside assistance arrangement will see Mondial run a fleet of Land Rover Discoverys to attend all Rover Group breakdowns. A Rover spokesman said: 'The contract was coming up for renewal at the end of the year, and we had a fresh look at it, inviting other companies to tender. We thought the Mondial package as a whole was exactly what we were looking for, with branded cars and dedicated technicians. We have spent many years with the AA, it worked very well with us, and we have been satisfied with what it has done.'

Mondial is now recruiting a national team of vehicle assistance technicians to service the account, starting in the major conurbations and expanding in line with Rover sales to cover the whole country by the end of 1999. Meanwhile, Renault is also out to tender for its breakdown and recovery service, currently provided by the RAC, and is understood to be attracted by the notion of a dedicated fleet of roadside assistance engineers driving Espaces and serving only Renault vehicles.