MG Rover, Britain's last independent volume car maker, hopes to boost its flagging sales by up to 40,000 units a year with the launch yesterday of its new Indian-built small car, the CityRover.

Rover, whose sales have dropped to less than 4% of the booming UK market, wants to capture a fair slice of the 1.1m market for small cars such as the Citroen Saxo and Ford Ka.

By launching the CityRover, its first small car since the discontinued Metro-Rover 100 at a basic price of £6,500, Rover also expects to make inroads into the market dominated by larger vehicles such as the Renault Clio.

The 1.4-litre car, four versions of which will be produced, is being shipped in from Poona, India, where it is built - to Rover designs - by the Birmingham-based company's new partner, Tata.

· Three of Britain's Japanese-owned car plants are now among the most productive in Europe, according to the annual survey by World Markets Research Centre. Nissan's Sunderland plant heads the list, with 99 vehicles per employee a year, followed by Honda's Swindon plant (82) and Toyota's Burnaston factory (81). Last year 10 European car plants had average labour productivity of more than 80 units per employee, compared with three in 2001.