Ford to Acquire ‘Rover’ Name

Ford Motor Co. plans to acquire the Rover name from BMW to prevent another automaker from using the brand, a Ford spokesman said Monday.

Ford told BMW that it would exercise its right to buy the name, said Simon Warr, a spokesman in London for Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, which includes the Land Rover brand. BMW obtained the Rover car and Land Rover sport utility vehicle units through the 1994 purchase of Rover Group of Britain. BMW sold the SUV unit to Ford six years later.

“There is a close linkage in people’s minds between Rover and Land Rover,” Warr said.

Terms were not disclosed.