Rover With Ford; Mazda Adding "Zoom-Zoom?"

[YSSMAN]

First, the origional news:

Ford has exercised its right to acquire the Rover brand name from BMW. When the American automaker purchased Land Rover from BMW, it obtained the right to buy the related Rover name if BMW ever elected to sell it. When BMW announced it had come to an agreement to sell Rover to Chinese automaker Shanghai Automotive in late August, Ford was given 90 days to intervene and make the acquisition itself. While most industry observers didn't expect Ford to buy the brand, the company says it did so in part to protect the Land Rover name. Ford does not intend to resell the brand to another automaker. It's unclear if there are any plans to build cars under the Rover name. The acquisition is being handled by the Premier Automotive Group.

Good, good...

In a article published shortly after Ford's acquisition of the Rover brand, Automotive News writer Edward Lapham suggests Ford might pass the nameplate over to Mazda to use for a premium division. 14 years ago, Mazda considered launching its Amati channel in North America, but plans were scrapped. Lapham suggests Mazda could sell premium cars under the Rover badge instead. Of course, such a plan would depend on whether Ford intends to sell Land Rover and Jaguar. Another possibility is Ford wanted to secure the Rover name to make a sale of Land Rover and Jag easier. Ultimately, we suspect Ford isn't necessarily decided one way or the other, so Lapham's proposal might hold some potential.

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So Ford buys Rover, and the future of the company still seems to be in limbo. But with Mazda at the helm, is it really any better?

I can't say that I'm completely happy about the news. On the one hand, I'm glad that a company that has money to deal with a task such as this has taken the brand over... But on the other side of the token, Ford has a lot to screw up here.

My plan (thus far):

Have Mazda retune the next-gen Mondeo once it arrives, adding a few sporty and luxury touches to seperate it from the two brands themselves. Design and modify the car to be a worldwide product, and push it in places like the US and Canada.

...That way, the Rover stays out of Mercury's hair, and kinda shoots for the way Saturn is going right now, with that quasi-luxury-sport brand.

 

[Tornado]

I like how this can only hurt Ford. Unless they are only going to sell cars in America, they won't be able to be sold anywhere else. In addition, I want to know what this means for the British factory workers that were the bargaining chip for Shanghai to get the brand. It does, however, make Rover completely irrelavent as there is no reason for it to be branded by Ford. They will sell them for a year (tops) before the crappiness spreads and people stop buying them. As much as I hate to say it (and I personally still wouldn't act on this), I would rather have a Saturn.

 

[YSSMAN]

I'm sure that if Ford was to use the brand they would probably dump most of the old MG/Rover designs as quickly as possible. My guess is that they would opt for the more "world chassis" designs that are being shared these days, probably the Mazda 6/Atenza chassis, or maybe the Mondeo chassis.

Or, maybe if Ford gets on a bit of a Bizzaro path and actually does something that makes sense, they sell the Rovers in the US (and maybe the world?) as rebadged and re-tuned Ford Falcons???

 

[red70mach1]

Brand survival starts to look complicated.

 

[harrytuttle]

I like how this can only hurt Ford. Unless they are only going to sell cars in America, they won't be able to be sold anywhere else. In addition, I want to know what this means for the British factory workers that were the bargaining chip for Shanghai to get the brand. It does, however, make Rover completely irrelavent as there is no reason for it to be branded by Ford. They will sell them for a year (tops) before the crappiness spreads and people stop buying them. As much as I hate to say it (and I personally still wouldn't act on this), I would rather have a Saturn.

I agree: a Ford Rover isn't the same as a Rover Rover, but it is much better than a Chinese Rover. I don't think Ford is really going to do anything with the Rover brand. I see them doing one of two things (and this only holds up if they don't sell Aston Martin or Jaguar): they sell Land Rover to someone with the Rover name, which can only be a Good Thing if Ford were to sell LR. Or they auction off the Rover name, something I'm sure the Chinese really want now, and just make some much-needed money off it. This would do nothing but screw over Rover and totally piss off a few million British people.

I'm sure that if Ford was to use the brand they would probably dump most of the old MG/Rover designs as quickly as possible. My guess is that they would opt for the more "world chassis" designs that are being shared these days, probably the Mazda 6/Atenza chassis, or maybe the Mondeo chassis.

My understanding is that Ford only bought the brand name, while the Chinese bought the rights to the designs & models (including the model names). Ford can sell Rover cars, but not the 75/ZT, nor can they use actual Rover designs without paying the Chinese. On top of that, isn't the TF somewhere in limbo? ...or is that all wrong?

 

[niky]

Didn't Ford merely buy the name, as BMW did, to protect Land Rover?

I don't really see them doing anything with a name people don't associate with good cars anymore.

With Ford flip-flopping on whether or not to unload Jaguar, they're not really serious about buying another European nameplate with a view to producing anything for it, I'd think.

 

[YSSMAN]

It is fairly evident that Ford has no idea what they are doing anymore, atleast thats what I'm taking from some of this...

 

[Tornado]

And we can't really blame anyone but Ford for that. They gave Billy free reign over the company simply because of his name, and he nearly runs the company into the ground. This is just Ford getting desperate. They desperately need and Iaccoca/Ghosn right now, and I can't see them getting either of the actual 2 either.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, lets see how Mr. Boeing does things running the company. I don't have a lot of confidence in him personally, but from a business perspective, he did turn Boeing around before...

They need a Lutz at the head of the company... Someone who knows, loves, and actually drives their cars around town. Why have a businessman or businesswoman run a company when they can't even relate to the products they sell?

...Sadly, they won't let car guys like us run Ford...

 

[TheCracker]

I can't really see anyone under pensionable age giving two hoots what happens to the Rover brand, its been a tarnished brand for decades. I agree that Ford have bought the rights solely to protect the Land Rover image.

 

[Scaff]

My understanding is that Ford only bought the brand name, while the Chinese bought the rights to the designs & models (including the model names). Ford can sell Rover cars, but not the 75/ZT, nor can they use actual Rover designs without paying the Chinese. On top of that, isn't the TF somewhere in limbo? ...or is that all wrong?

Its right.

The actual rights to the designs and models were sold to the Chinese; the brand 'Rover' (and we are basically just talking about the name here) is what Ford have the option on.

Interestingly as far as I am aware this does not cover the MG brand, which is in theory separate and this does mean that 'Rover' and 'MG' could end up as separate brands once again, just as Rolls Royce and Bentley are now.

Regards

Scaff

 

[YSSMAN]

...I belive the MG portion of Rover is 100% controled by Nanjing, and according to the Wiki, Nanjing owns 100% of Rover as well. It is the name itself that comes into play here, so technically it is similar to the split that happened between Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

 

[SkylineObsession]

In my ideal world Ford would not sell Land Rover, Jaguar, its share in Mazda, Aston Martin or any other car company it owns. I love the fact that the Astons and Jags are all Ford owned.