Rover brand sold to China for £11m

15 August 2006

MG Rover's last brand sold to Chinese firm
BMW denies sale of Rover name
Reports of new badge for Rover brand

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The final part of the MG-Rover brand - the Rover name - appears to have changed hands for just over £11 million.

A report in The Birmingham Post says the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has struck an £11.5m deal with BMW for the name.

The German manufacturer kept the Rover brand when it sold off the remainder of the company in 2000.

Despite denials from BMW, the Post says that a press conference confirming the sale of the Rover name - and a new badge for the brand - is scheduled for August 22.

SAIC is said to have fought off competition from Nanjing Automobile by offering around over 20 times more money for the Rover name.

While Nanjing has the assets of Longbridge and is planning to restart limited MG production there, SAIC owns the intellectual property rights to the Rover 25 and 75.

SAIC is likely to use the Rover name to relaunch modified versions of these cars on the international market.