The Indian car maker, Tata, has plans to launch its small Indica car on to the British market.

A spokesman for the company said it hoped to reverse a slump in profit levels since the car's domestic launch in 1998.

Tata said it aims to export up to 12,000 cars to Britain each year.

Tata is negotiating to sell the Indica through Britain's MG Rover network but a Rover spokesman said that as yet no deal had been reached.

The Indica is the first car to be fully developed in India and is the only car produced by Tata.

One-hundred thousand of the cars were sold in the first two years of its launch and the company is hoping to break even by the end of the next financial year.

The Times of India newspaper has increased speculation over the potential link with MG Rover, saying that the Indica could be sold under the Rover brand name.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service