ROVER-BMW: from shotgun marriage to quickie divorce

This paper discusses the reasons why the German luxury car maker BMW purchased the ailing British volume car producer Rover/Land Rover and why it disposed of both after only six years. This merger went against the trend in the industry as normally it was volume producers that acquired luxury brands, but being vulnerable to potential predators, BMW sought size. The paper demonstrates how BMW failed to turn its UK protégé round to the extent that Rover’s downwards spiral was thought to threaten BMW’s own long-term viability. The end result was that, under severe pressure from BMW’s main directors, the company sold off its British subsidiaries with Rover being sold to Phoenix and Land Rover to Ford.