Rover (marque)
Owner | Jaguar Land Rover (since 2013)[1] |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Introduced | 1878 |
Discontinued | 15 April 2005 |
Markets | Automotive |
Previous owners |
|
Rover is a British automotive brand that was used for over a century, from 1904 to 2005. It was launched as a bicycle maker called Rover Company in 1878, before starting to manufacture autocars in 1904. The brand used the Viking longship as its logo. The rights to the brand are currently part of Jaguar Land Rover, which continues to produce Land Rovers, but no Rover automobiles are currently in production and the brand is considered dormant.
Despite a state-controlled absorption by the
The Rover brand then became the flagship brand of the newly and eponymously renamed Rover Group in 1988, which included the actually stronger and more valuable brand names Land Rover and Mini as it passed first through the hands of British Aerospace and then into the ownership of BMW Group. Sharing technology with Honda and financial investment during the BMW ownership led to a revival of the brand during the 1990s in its core midsize car segment.[3]
In 2000, BMW sold Rover and related
BMW sold the rights to the Rover brand to Ford in 2006 for approximately £6 million, the latter exercising an option of first refusal to buy it dating back to its purchase of Land Rover in 2000. Ford thus reunited the original Rover Company brands, primarily for brand-protection reasons.[4] In March 2008, Ford reached agreement with Tata Motors of India to include the Rover brand as part of the sale of their Jaguar Land Rover operations to them. Legally the Rover brand is the property of Land Rover under the terms of Ford's purchase of the name in 2006.[5]
Ownership
Rover Company
British Leyland
In 1970, Rover combined its skill in producing comfortable saloons and the rugged Land Rover 4x4 to produce the Range Rover, one of the first vehicles (preceded by the Jeep Wagoneer and IH Scout) to combine off-road ability and comfortable versatility. Powered by the licence-built ex-Buick V8 engine, it had innovative features such as a permanent four-wheel drive system, all-coil spring suspension, and disc brakes on all wheels. Able to reach speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) yet also capable of extreme off-road use, the original Range Rover design remained in production for the next 26 years.
The company's other major project at this time was the P8, a successor, styled by
As British Leyland struggled through financial turmoil and an industrial-relations crisis during the 1970s, it was effectively nationalised after a multibillion-pound government cash injection in 1975. Michael Edwardes was brought in to head the company.
The Rover SD1 of 1976 was an excellent car,[citation needed] but was beset with so many build quality and reliability issues it never delivered on its great promise. Following the closure of the Triumph factory at Canley, production of the TR7 and TR8 was moved to Solihull; soon after, a savage programme of cutbacks in the late 1970s led to the end of car production at Solihull, which was turned over for Land Rover production only. The TR7/TR8 was discontinued while SD1 production moved to Cowley. All future Rover cars would be made in the former Austin and Morris plants in Longbridge and Cowley, respectively.
In 1979, British Leyland (or as it was now officially known, BL Ltd.) began a long relationship with the Honda Motor Company of Japan. The result was a cross-holding structure, where Honda took a 20% stake in the company while the company took a 20% stake in Honda's UK subsidiary. The deal was thought to be mutually beneficial: Honda used its British operations as a launchpad into Europe, and the company could pool resources with Honda in developing new cars.
Austin Rover Group was formed in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of BL, with the separate Rover Company becoming effectively defunct.
In the 1980s, the slimmed-down BL used the Rover brand on a range of cars codeveloped with Honda. The first Honda-sourced Rover model, released in 1984, was the
Rover Group
By 1988, Austin Rover had moved to a one-marque strategy, using only the Rover brand. Its parent, BL, was renamed as the Rover Group, with the car division becoming Rover Cars.
In 1986, the Rover SD1 was replaced by the
Rover exported Rover 800s, badged as
British Aerospace ownership
In 1988, the Rover brand went back into private hands when the Rover Group was acquired by British Aerospace.
BMW ownership
The Honda partnership proved to be the turnaround point for the company, steadily rebuilding its image to the point where once again, Rover-branded cars were seen as upmarket alternatives to
, who had begun to see Rover-branded cars as potential major competitors.Under BMW, the Rover Group developed the Rover 75 and was launched in June 1999, as a retro-designed car influenced by the earlier Rover P4 and P5 designs. It proved to be a success for the brand, gaining positive critics, although it failed to outsell the BMW 3 Series.
In May 2000, BMW split up the Rover Group, selling
MG Rover licensees
A specially assembled group of businessmen, known as the
In 1999, the Rover Group had sustained losses of an estimated £800 million – largely due to the declining sales of its existing 200 and 400 family cars and initially slow sales of the Rover 75. The four businessmen who took control of the newly formed MG Rover Group are reported to have received around £430-million in a dowry from BMW that included unsold stock.
The first new Rover-branded car to be launched after the formation of MG Rover was the estate version of the
MG Rover production ceased on 15 April 2005, when it was declared
On 30 May 2007,
Land Rover
Ford purchased the Land Rover company from BMW in 2000, and the deal included the option to purchase the Rover brand name if MG Rover ceased trading. This right was exercised on 18 September 2006 and effectively meant the brand was transferred to Land Rover.[8][9]
Jaguar Land Rover
Ford sold their Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors in 2008, along with the rights to the Rover brand.[10] In 2013, the operations of Jaguar Cars and Land Rover were merged into the single car manufacturing company Jaguar Land Rover along with the rights to the Rover brand.[9]
Models
Launched by Rover Company (1904–1967)
- 1904–1912 Rover 8
- 1906–1910 Rover 6
- 1906–1910 Rover 16/20
- 1912–1923 Rover 12
- 1919–1925 Rover 8
- 1924–1927 Rover 9/20
- 1925–1927 Rover 14/45
- 1927–1932 Rover Light Six
- 1927–1947 Rover 10
- 1929–1932 Rover 2-Litre
- 1930–1934 Rover Meteor 16HP/20HP
- 1931–1940 Rover Speed 20
- 1932–1933 Rover Pilot|Rover Pilot/Speed Pilot
- 1932–1932 Rover Scarab
- 1934–1947 Rover 12
- 1934–1947 Rover 14/Speed 14
- 1937–1947 Rover 16
- 1948–1978 Land Rover (I/II/III)—In 1978, BL established Land Rover Limitedas a separate subsidiary; it took over Land Rover production.
- 1948–1949 Rover P3 (60/75)
- 1949–1964 Rover P4 (60/75/80/90/95/100/105/110)
- 1958–1973 Rover P5 (3-Litre/3.5-Litre)
- 1963–1977 Rover P6 (2000/2200/3500)
Launched by BLMC/BL (1967–1986)
- 1970–1978 Range Rover—In 1978, BL established Land Rover Limited as a separate subsidiary; it took over Range Rover production.
- 1976–1986 Rover SD1 (2000/2300/2400/2600/3500/Vitesse)
- 1983–1985 Rover Quintet-Australian market
- 1984–1999 Rover 200 (211/213/214/216/218/220)
- 1985–1989 Rover 416i—Australian market
Rebrands by Rover Group (1986–2000)
- Mini/Supermini cars
- 1986–2000 Rover Mini – Originally called the Austin Seven/Morris Mini Minor in 1959, but renamed Rover Mini in 1986.
- 1990–1998 Rover Metro, Rover 100 (111/114/115)– Originally called the Austin Metro. Rebranded as a Rover three years after Austin's fall.
- Family cars
Launched by Rover Group (1986–2000)
- Family cars
- 1992–1998 Rover 200 Coupe (216/218/220/220 Turbo)
- 1990–1999 Rover 400 (414/416/418/420)
- 1993–1999 Rover 600 (618/620/623 and 620ti)
- 1992–1998
- Executive cars
- 1986–1999 Sterling
- 1999–2005 Rover 75
- 1986–1999
Launched by MG Rover (2000–2005)
- Mini/Supermini cars
- Family cars
- 2000–2004 Rover 25
- 2000–2004 Rover 45
- 2003–2004 Rover Streetwise
- 2004–2005 Rover 25Mk II
- 2004–2005 Rover 45Mk II
- 2004–2005 Rover Streetwise Mk II
- 2000–2004
- Executive cars
- 2000–2004 Rover 75/Tourer
- 2004–2005 Rover 75/Tourer Mk II
- Van
- 2003–2005 Rover Commerce[11]
- 2003–2005
See also
References
- ^ "Trade Mark Number UK00000035242". Intellectual Property Office. Crown (UK Government). Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ^ "Case details for Trade Mark 35242" (PDF). Intellectual Property Office. Crown (UK Government). Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ISBN 0-273-70653-5.
- ^ Doran, James (19 September 2006). "Ford pays £6m for Rover marque". The Times. Retrieved 19 September 2006.
- ^ Kirill Ougarov (28 March 2008). "Tata gets trio of Brit marque names as part of JLR buy". Motor Trend. Source Interlink Media. Archived from the original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Mortally wounded ... by Jaguar: Rover would probably be in a much healthier state today if it had not received a massive blow from Jaguar 30 years ago...". CAR: 100. December 2000.
- ^ "BMW agrees to sell Rover brand to SAIC". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2006.[dead link]
- ^ "Ford buys Rover brand name from BMW". Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ a b "[Rover] Trade Mark Details as at 2 April 2013" (PDF). Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "5 for 2 special: Tata acquires 3 other British brands in Jaguar, Land Rover deal". Leftlane News. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
- ^ "Austin Rover Online". Austin-rover.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2010.