The 5,000,000th Rover

[Roverite]

Originally Posted by peter1961

dos'nt ford own the brand name of rover ?.

Originally Posted by GagHalfrunt

No, it went to Land Rover as they had first dibs on it when MGR perished.

Ford didn't sell the Rover name when they sold the company; it was given with some sort of 'buy-back' option. When the assets of MGR were sold off, Ford exercised their right to buy the Rover name back, which they did, for £11 million. There was an explanation given, which allowed Ford to use it to boost their credibility, but I didn't understand the reason. As far as I know, Ford still have it; if JLR actually owned it, I am sure Rovers of some sort would be being made by Tata.

The Chinese SAIC purchased the design rights to R40 and produce their Roewe 750 from new tooling, but based on the design integrity. NAC purchased the 'tooling' for Rover 75, plus the MG name, which has resulted in their MG7. So NAC produce basically the same product as MGR, SAIC produce a productionised version of the design.

Unless Ford can be persuaded to part with the name, I can't see Rover being revived. The Land-Rover, which was integral with the 'old' Rover company, was made into a separate trading arm, sometime after Rover failed to be an independent company.

Out of interest, VW thought they were buying Rolls Royce Motors, but they only bought the production facility and the Rolls Bentley name. Mercedes bought the Rolls Royce name from under their nose, but had to build a new factory at Goodwood and design an all new car.

Funny old World, full of tangled webs.

Roverite.

[scoubix]

Originally Posted by Roverite

As far as I know, Ford still have it; if JLR actually owned it, I am sure Rovers of some sort would be being made by Tata.

Nope, Tata is now the owner of the Rover brand name and trademarks, including the Viking (pre-2004) logo imagery. It was part of the Jaguar-Land Rover business unit that Ford Tata acquired from Ford in 2008. Part of the deal between the two parties, and a request from Ford, was that the Rover brand should not be separated from the Land Rover sale.
So Tata possibly could decide to reintroduce the Rover brand in any way they see fit and in any market, should they see any value in complimenting Jaguar and Land Rover with another portfolio using the Rover brand. So far, anytime they've been asked about this by the car press, they've either decline to answer or commented that they have no short, middle or long term plans to reintroduce the Rover brand anywhere.

Edit : check the gov.uk IPO website for confirmation:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmownerid/sear...guar&postcode=

[MrDoodles]

Rover Nano anyone?

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally Posted by MrDoodles

Rover Nano anyone?

Noooo, it could be MG all over again!

[Roverite]

Originally Posted by scoubix

Nope, Tata is now the owner of the Rover brand name

Edit : check the gov.uk IPO website for confirmation:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmownerid/sear...guar&postcode=

You are right, but I didn't really understand the link; seemed to be too many entries for Rover over the years, but that is probably my misunderstanding.

The AR-online site has a pretty comprehensive list of events and I have had a word with the Editor of Freewheel (the RSR magazine), who spent all his working life with BMC, through to MGR and was involved with the promotion and launch of the R40.

He told me that it is owned by Tata, but previously in 2000 when BMW bought Land-Rover, Ford retained the Rover name to avoid any chance of diluting the position of Land-Rover by BMW introducing a 4WD Road Rover, for example.

MGR used the Rover name under license from Ford, until it went bust, when Ford again exercised their option, by not letting the Chinese have it and that is why the Roewe name was used by them. When Land-Rover was sold to Tata by Ford, the Rover name went with Land-Rover to keep the integrity of the brand. Tata also acquired Austin, Morris,Woleseley etc., but BMW kept Riley and Triumph.

There are many other registered names floating about, that were associated with the BL conglomerate; somebody in Birmingham recently bought Austin Motor Company, but not the marque.

It is little wonder that people are confused. I am a Rover man through and through. I also worked for BMC, through to MGR, in their dealerships, but quite frankly, I lost interest in the marque after the P series cars. The later cars, although some were quite good, were never in the same league as the earlier cars; that is until R40. Even with R40, I thought it looked good, but even if I could have afforded one, I wouldn't have bought one, because of all that surrounded BMW/MGR at the time. It is only now that I have come to appreciate R40 and realise what a good car it always was.

Roverite.

[Forestgreen]

Originally Posted by scoubix

Nope, Tata is now the owner of the Rover brand name and trademarks, including the Viking (pre-2004) logo imagery. It was part of the Jaguar-Land Rover business unit that Ford Tata acquired from Ford in 2008. Part of the deal between the two parties, and a request from Ford, was that the Rover brand should not be separated from the Land Rover sale.
So Tata possibly could decide to reintroduce the Rover brand in any way they see fit and in any market, should they see any value in complimenting Jaguar and Land Rover with another portfolio using the Rover brand. So far, anytime they've been asked about this by the car press, they've either decline to answer or commented that they have no short, middle or long term plans to reintroduce the Rover brand anywhere.

Edit : check the gov.uk IPO website for confirmation:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmownerid/sear...guar&postcode=

Is this the one:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00002433698

[Roverite]

Originally Posted by Forestgreen

Is this the one:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00002433698

It may be, but I think this only relates to the badge, or logo. It is all very complicated, because trade marks, badges, trading names, etc., can all have a separate registration, and with BMC to MGR, that can run into hundreds, if not thousands of variations.

As things are now, I can't see the Rover name being revived, As much as I would like to see it on a suitable vehicle, too much time has passed for Joe Public to now appreciate the relevance of the Rover name.

Roverite.

[Mattyboy]

Hello, sorry to revive an old thread but does anyone know its current location & if it's still on public display?

I've seen the first & last Rover 75's so it would be nice to round it off with a visit to see this one as well.

[gadget1960]

I wonder if they would consider a part/X on my 75? .

What do you all reckon ...., north of £20,000 if it went up for sale?

Oooo.... lets get into a bidding war ... what would you (realistically) pay for it (top line) if it came up for sale?
I'll start with ... £25,000 max, some might say I'm mad but ... as new, is, new, what else is out there for the same money that I would entertain?... absolutely nothing tbh.

[sworks]

Originally Posted by Mattyboy

Hello, sorry to revive an old thread but does anyone know its current location & if it's still on public display?

I've seen the first & last Rover 75's so it would be nice to round it off with a visit to see this one as well.

It is still located at a Longbridge but not open to the public for Viewing unfortunately.