Ford buys Rover name from BMW
09-18-06 | 11:35 AM
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Ford buys Rover name from BMW
Times Online September 18, 2006
Ford buys Rover name
The trademark of the collapsed car giant Rover is to be bought by Ford, the US carmaker said today.
Ford, which already owns the Land Rover marque as part of its Premier Automotive Group, said it had informed German carmaker BMW it will exercise a veto which will allow it to acquire the Rover name.
The trademark was not included in negotiations to sell Rover to China's Nanjing, which is planning to build MG sports cars at the Longbridge factory in Birmingham.
Ford said in a brief statement today that BMW had given Land Rover a right of first refusal to acquire the Rover trademark when it sold the Longbridge operation in 2000.
"We believed then as we do now that it is in the interests of the Land Rover business to own the Rover trademark," the company said.
"We have today informed BMW of our desire to exercise this right to acquire the Rover trademark."
Ford, whihc made a $1.4 billion loss in the first half, declined to give any financial details.
The sale could come as a blow to Chinese carmaker SAIC, which had agreed to buy the brand name, according to Chinese media reports.
SAIC has the design rights to two Rover models which it bought from failed British carmaker MG Rover before MG Rover collapsed last year.
On Friday, Ford revealed plans to cut 10,000 more salaried jobs, close two more factories and suspended its dividend as the latest steps in a restructuring plan designed to cut costs by $5 billion a year.
The group, which is also offering redundancy packages to 75,000 hourly workers, added that it now does not expect to be profitable in North America until 2009, a year later than its previous forecast.
source : business.timesonline.co.u
Ford buys Rover name
The trademark of the collapsed car giant Rover is to be bought by Ford, the US carmaker said today.
Ford, which already owns the Land Rover marque as part of its Premier Automotive Group, said it had informed German carmaker BMW it will exercise a veto which will allow it to acquire the Rover name.
The trademark was not included in negotiations to sell Rover to China's Nanjing, which is planning to build MG sports cars at the Longbridge factory in Birmingham.
Ford said in a brief statement today that BMW had given Land Rover a right of first refusal to acquire the Rover trademark when it sold the Longbridge operation in 2000.
"We believed then as we do now that it is in the interests of the Land Rover business to own the Rover trademark," the company said.
"We have today informed BMW of our desire to exercise this right to acquire the Rover trademark."
Ford, whihc made a $1.4 billion loss in the first half, declined to give any financial details.
The sale could come as a blow to Chinese carmaker SAIC, which had agreed to buy the brand name, according to Chinese media reports.
SAIC has the design rights to two Rover models which it bought from failed British carmaker MG Rover before MG Rover collapsed last year.
On Friday, Ford revealed plans to cut 10,000 more salaried jobs, close two more factories and suspended its dividend as the latest steps in a restructuring plan designed to cut costs by $5 billion a year.
The group, which is also offering redundancy packages to 75,000 hourly workers, added that it now does not expect to be profitable in North America until 2009, a year later than its previous forecast.
source : business.timesonline.co.u
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