ROVER'S recent sales surge looks set to receive a further boost after its new owners confirmed plans to reduce list prices by 'between 10% and 14%'. Buoyed by April sales, which saw Rover record its best performance for a decade as it more than doubled total new car sales and increased fleet sales by almost 40%, new owner the Phoenix Consortium said it planned to correct 'pricing mistakes' made by previous owner BMW.

Phoenix said prices will not return to the pre-sale levels once Rover's existing sales campaign ends on May 31. A spokesman said: 'Once the campaign is over, we expect to fix list prices between 10% and 14% lower than before. BMW tried to make Rover a premium brand, with prices to match. That was a mistake we want to correct.' Temporary sales campaigns, such as money-back offers and discounts, have no impact on benefit-in-kind liability because bills are based on list price. If Rover reduced list prices, BIK bills will fall.'