Shanghai Auto to buy Rover name
16 August 2006
German carmaker BMW will sell the Rover brand to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. The acquisition completes the cut-rate takeover of the failed British company by the Chinese manufacturer. SAIC will pay US$21 million for the name, the Financial Times reported, quoting people close to the transaction. It has already paid US$126 million for the designs of several Rover cars. The purchase of the name gives the Shanghai based company everything it sought from the company for a fraction of the US$380 million takeover price discussed before the Birmingham-based automaker collapsed last April. The deal puts the MG and Rover names in competition for the first time in 40 years.