Now Ford has bought the right to make Rovers, are the classic British car names due a comeback?
Rover is a name associated with a very British motor, but also with automotive business failure. Little wonder that Ford, the maker of the luxury 4x4s Land Rover and Range Rover, should be first in the queue when the rights to make Rovers came to be sold. The American automotive giant has now paid up on a long-held agreement with BMW for first refusal on the name. Is it the signal for nostalgia-lovers, who hark back to the joy of driving other classic names like the Vanden Plas, Triumph or Morris, to anticipate their return? No, say industry insiders. Rather this case is a canny move by Ford to protect the reputation of its own Rovers. The firm is likely to consign its new acquisition to the scrapheap, says Ian Henry, of consultants Autoanalysis. “Ford owns Land Rover and has the Range Rover car. It sees the word Rover as integral to the value of the brands. It doesn’t really want somebody else using that word on cars which are not 4x4s and are not luxury cars.” On the shelf Buying – a
