Ford Buys Rover Name for £6 million

Ford has bought the Rover brand name from BMW for £6 million, raising hopes that the marque could yet rise from the ashes. Ford was granted an option of first refusal to buy the Rover brand when it acquired Land Rover from BMW for $2.7 billion in 2000. Although Ford did not comment on the future of the Rover brand, sources told The Times that the company wanted to build further upon its successful Land Rover brand in North America and has plans to design a so-called “crossover vehicle” using the Rover brand.