Bulldog...

 

B*W I am pretty sure own the Riley name. And I think Wolseley UK (i.e. Plumb Center; Build Center; Tool Centre etc.) now own all rights to the Wolseley name

Regards

John

 

http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/namesf.htm

Riley is indeed BMW-owned, but Wolesely is owned by MG-Rover.

 

there won't be any renaming!! It cost more than developing a new car!!
So what is the point?

 

No point, it doesn't need renaming.

 

The end product would most likely be identical, so it would be a pointless act because people would know that it would be the same thing.

The only value in renaming the car would be if it were to be rebodied as well.

 

None of the above - just sell it as the ZT variants

 

After the recent debacle and the plummeting sales (and the contributions of nice Mr Clarkson and his ilk) I think a fresh name and a fresh start ( with no old redundant designs) is the order of the day. Rover may soon be associated with cars mass produced in China - surely an insult to a beautiful quality motor car like the 75.

 

Can't happen unless SAIC allow MGR to do it. SAIC own the intellectual property rights.

 

SAIC own the intellectual property rights to what?

John

 

SAIC own the CHINESE rights to the design of the car. Not the whole thing.

If they lose the Rover name, which they will (can't see BMW being happy if they lose their £500m!) then it should be a Morris. It would fit perfectly with MG and its a mass market name with a quality edge to it. 'Quality First' was their slogan for 40 years or so!

 

SAIC own the intellectual property rights to what?

John

Most of the 75, 25 and 45 designs (except the Honda bits). I assume ths means that these designs can only be made use of under license from SAIC. It's a bit like Honda being asked by PVH if they could license the intellectual property rights to Honda designs used in the 45.

 

SAIC own the CHINESE rights to the design of the car. Not the whole thing.

If they lose the Rover name, which they will (can't see BMW being happy if they lose their £500m!) then it should be a Morris. Its a mass amrket name with a quality edge to it. 'Quality First' was their slogan for 40 years or so!

Nope BMW sanctioned SAIC to use it already. No doubt SAIC have signed a long term lease from BMW on the contract.

 

Any agreement for production of 45 would surely need to be between Honda and SAIC, with MG-Rover only involved because it would be their own licenced version of the Honda Civic that SAIC would be producing.

I also suspect that BMW wrote off that £500m back in May 2000, and probably only sold Rover to Pheonix because they were worried that if they were to have closed Longbridge, their reputation in the UK would have been severely tarnished.

 

Wolseley Sterling

 

I voted Morris, the way i see it is that the Rover brand is damaged beyond repair (in the eyes of Joe Public, not with enthusiasts) and can't now be used.

Call it a Morris, while at the same time emphasising the "Morris" part of "Morris Garages" when advertising the ZT variant

 

I say come up with a new name for the car. New name, new identity, new segment in the market.

 

See, we used to give our cars proper names like 'Avenger' or 'Hunter' or 'Impaler' or 'Spitfire' (God forbid!), but the countries that lost the war all moaned. This is actually true - if you started a war and went on to later lose, it was considered bad form to give your cars even remotely agressive names so number nomenclature became the norm for the axis manufactures. BMW 750, MB C230, Fiat 130, Datsun 120Y are all examples of this, but their host governments actually had the gall to complain about the provocative names we were giving our home grown product, so softer names like 'Allegro' and 'Maxi' became the norm. This is actually true, though i suspect few will believe me.

DD

 

I say "Sterling", What a wonderfully British name. :cloud9:

 

I say come up with a new name for the car. New name, new identity, new segment in the market.

...how about the "Churchill"


...probably wouldn't help sales in Germany much.... but if they ever get to sell it in the Sates it would go down a storm

 

"WHAT ABOUT PLAIN OLD ROVER 75"

May be in UK people think ROVER name is tainted, I personally don't believe this is the case....

For markets outside the UK "ROVER 75" can be seen as a solid British car that has British style and British Luxury, maybe even a baby Bentley?

IMHO, Ford should give Rover 75/MG ZT a look, drop the X-Type range and replace with Rover 75 it would be a great fit between Ford Mondeo and Jaguar S-Type range.

I know it's a dream but Rover Motor Company including those great Morris sports car "MG" should be linked back with Land Rover :cloud9:

I'm sure something good will happen for Rover and MG to survive. :minxy:

Yah gota luv British Cars.

"Morris Quality First"
"MG Safety Fast"
"Riley for Magnificent Motoring"
"Buy Wiseley Buy Wolseley"
"Austin - you can depend on it"
"Rover one of Britain's fine Cars"
"Jaguar Grace, Space and Pace"
"The Lively, Likeable Lanchester"
"Land Rover Best 4x4xFar"
"Daimler By Appointment"

 

Since Rover 75 is such a good car & is designed,built by the B.M.W. people,B.M.W. should ''buy'' back the production of the 75's,ship it back to Germany,built it there,& rename it as" B.M.W.--R75".!Look at MINI,they can sell very well,under the sales of the B.M.W. people.!Esp in SINGAPORE.!

 

Since Rover 75 is such a good car & is designed,built by the B.M.W. people,B.M.W. should ''buy'' back the production of the 75's,ship it back to Germany,built it there,& rename it as" B.M.W.--R75".!Look at MINI,they can sell very well,under the sales of the B.M.W. people.!Esp in SINGAPORE.!

When exactly is your brain surgery scheduled for?? lol! BTW To sell the R75 as a B*W it would require extensive and expensive sheet metal changes to make it look like a garnished turd, just like the X3, 1 series, 5 and 7 series and the Z4.

 

Either Wolseley 25/75

or Wolseley 6/75

 

My preferred option would be to offer a 'cooking' version badged Princess 1800, Princess 2500 and so on. Also upmarket Wolseley and 'Vanden Plas' versions with the full length V8 nose Any 'photoshop' experts like to produce these for us? To appeal to different markets and justify the range of names Wolseley could be revived with a focus on becoming a 'luxury and sports' range as Riley and Triumph were in the 60s and 70s. For a younger generation of motorists the name has no current associations which may well be a good thing to exploit.
Oddly enough, while I was cleaning my 45 yesterday I started wondering how it would look with an illuminated radiator badge!!