I had a mini, which was a very unique and fun design, and once had a Rover Metro as a temporary car while our car was in the garage -- also a vey fun car to drive and solid as anything.

Supposedly, the problem Rover hit was though their last-developed large car (Rover 75) was very good and reasonably popular, since they'd been pulled away from working with Honda by the sale to BMW, they had neither a modern middle-sized car nor a replacement for the Metro. Put that together with being passed from hand-to-hand (from BAe to BMW was 6 years, BMW to Phoenix another 6, and Phoenix lasted another 5) in an industry struggling from overproduction, and it was always problematic.

Whenever Citroen, GM, etc have gone bust, their respective governments have always stepped in. Competing in a loss-making industry against government-backed competitors is one tough game.