Ford to Purchase Rover Name

Ford Motor Co. will purchase the Rover name from BMW AG, a Ford spokesman confirms.

“What we’re doing is exercising our right from BMW,” the spokesman says. “It’s something we negotiated six years ago.”

When Ford purchased Land Rover from BMW in 2000, it retained first-refusal rights to purchase the Rover name. Last month, BMW said it had a buyer for the name but would not reveal its identity.

The spokesman says Ford decided to purchase the Rover name because it was in the “best interest of Land Rover to do so.

“We’re not ready to say what we’re going to do with it (Rover name),” he adds.

Chinese auto maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. reportedly had made an offer for the Rover name, forcing Ford to make a take-it-or-leave-it decision. SAIC acquired design rights to two Rover models, which it purchased from British auto maker MG Rover before the company collapsed.

The reports fueled speculation SAIC could build its own line of SUVs with the Rover badge, potentially leading to marketplace confusion for Ford’s Land Rover.