MG Rover Group
MG Rover are the largest independent manufacturer of cars in the British motor industry. They came from the de-merger of the two historic marques of MG and Rover from BMW in 2000. They are based in Longbridge in Birmingham, on a site that has been a car factory since the Austin company was founded there in 1905.
MG Rover are the heirs of the British Leyland Motor Corporation, which was formed in 1968 as the result of mergers between many British car firms. In 1975 British Leyland was nationalised due to financial difficulties. In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group. Subsequent history was as follows:
- 1986 Leyland Trucks subdivision sold to DAF; Split into two with the Van side became independent LDV in 1993, and the Truck side sold to Paccar of the USA.
- 1986 Leyland Bus floated off; bought by Volvo 1988
- 1988 Rover Group privatised; sold to British Aerospace
- 1994 Rover Group sold to BMW; 17-year collaboration with Honda ends
- 2000 Land Rover sold to Ford
- 2000 Mini retained by BMW
- 2000 Remainder of company now independent as the MG Rover Group
- 2001 MG Rover bought Qvale of Italy
- 2002 MG Rover agrees to collaborate with Tata of India
When BMW sold off its interests, MG Rover was bought for a nominal £10 by a specially-assembled group of businessmen known as the Phoenix Consortium. The consortium was headed by ex-Rover Chief Executive John Towers.
The links with other companies developed since 2000 presumably draw on MG Rover's history. Qvale was once the primary US importer of MGs, a relationship that started back in 1947 [1]. British Leyland had links with India going back to 1948, but Tata was associated with Daimler of Germany until 2001.
Models
The model line in 2000 was the MGF sports car (now the TF), plus the Rover 25, 45 and 75 - small, medium and large family cars. Since then there has been some diversification - MG badged versions of the Rovers (ZR, ZS and ZT respectively) with sportier performance and handling, then (bizarrely) a MG van (the MG Express), followed by the Rover Streetwise (a 25 with off-road styling), the bottom-of-the-market Cityrover made by Tata in India, and the exotic Qvale-derived £75,000 MG X-power SV sports car. This may spearhead a return to the US markets abandoned in the 1991.
In 2001,2002 & 2003 the company raced in the light LMP675 class at the Le Mans 24-hour race with special cars designed in collaboration with Lola.
Brands
Many car brands that were formerly the property of British Leyland have passed on to MG Rover. The brands of Alvis and Jaguar (including Daimler and Lanchester, as well as the American rights to Vanden Plas) were sold off by British Leyland before it became Rover Group, and Land Rover was sold to Ford in the BMW days.
These brands are owned by MG Rover:
These brands are owned by BMW:
- 1959 Mini originally used as a sub-brand on the Morris versions of the car (the Austin version was called the Austin 7). Made a brand in its own right by British Leyland in 1969
- 1898 Riley
- 1904 Rover (This is licensed to MG Rover)
- 1923 Triumph as a car brand - the motorcycle brand owned is by Triumph Motorcycles
These brands are owned by Ford:
These brands are owned by others:
- 1??? Alvis Alvis Vickers Ltd (makers of Tanks for the British Army)
- 1903 Standard (Unaccounted for)
- 1924 BSA used as a car brand. (Retained by Birmingham Small Arms, on sale to Jaguar in 1960. Current owner BSA Regal Group)
The dates given are those of the first car of each name, but these are often debatable as each car may be several years in development.
See Also
Sources
- Model-by-model history & brand-name ownership http://austin-rover.co.uk/
- Official site http://www.mg-rover.co.uk/
- http://www.team.net/www/morgan/history/linage.html
- http://www.mgxtreme.co.uk/history/history.php
- http://www.alvis.plc.uk/
- http://www.ownajag.com/jaguar-history.html
- http://members.fortunecity.com/routeman68/history.htm - Leyland Truck & Bus
- http://www.dloc.org.uk/main.htm - Daimler, Lanchester and BSA
Referenced By
Birmingham | Birmingham, England | Birmingham, UK | Birmingham City Council | British Leyland | British Leyland Motor Corporation | British Motor Corporation | British Motor Holdings | British companies | British motor industry | Brummie | Brummies | J. K. Starley | List of British companies | MG (car) | Rover | Sterling (car)
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