given a facelift in 1999, becoming the Rover 45. It was repositioned and priced to compete with the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, rather than larger cars like the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Vectra. From 2001, a re-engineered hot hatch version of the Rover 45 was launched and sold as the MG ZS. The 1.4- and 1.6-litre K series petrol and 2.0-litre L series diesel engines were carried over from the 400 Series, along with the introduction of a 1.8 K series and a 2.0-litre V6 from the larger Rover 75 (replacing the 2.0 T series four-cylinder petrol unit) – although this power unit was only available on saloon versions. The 45 came equipped with the better seating of the 75 and whilst the 400 models handled very well, the suspension was tuned to give much better controlled ride characteristics with quicker steering. The 45 was available with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) supplied by the German manufacturer ZF Sachs AG which had previously been used in the MGF. This particular design of CVT consists of an oil cooled laminated steel belt (with external oil cooler) running on variable pulleys. The revised model boasted improved equipment levels, comfortable interior and reduced prices, compared with the preceding 400 badged models. While the asking price was now in line with other small family cars, the Rover 45 began to lose market share, its chances of success not helped by its aged design. Therefore, the 45 was never able to seriously compete with more modern designs, such as the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra in terms of popularity. It was also outsold by the likes of the Peugeot 307, Fiat Stilo, Volkswagen Golf and Renault Mégane. A 2004 facelift was MG Rover's last effort to boost sales of the Rover 45, with a new front and rear-end styling, a redesigned interior with refreshed dash, centre console and new switchgear, revised suspension settings, improved equipment and lower prices. Some of these changes were necessitated by the end of Domani production in Japan, as Honda refused to continue the supply of certain parts. Production of the car stopped in April 2005, due to MG Rover's bankruptcy. Honda swiftly terminated the licensing agreement with MG Rover, and removed the remaining tooling and assembly lines for the car from Longbridge prior to its sale to Nanjing Automotive, which meant that no versions of the Rover 45/MG ZS were