MG Rover are the heirs of the British Leyland Motor Corporation, which was formed in 1968 as the result of mergers between many British car firms. In 1975 British Leyland was nationalised due to financial difficulties. In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group. Subsequent history was as follows:

1986 Leyland Trucks subdivision sold to DAF; became independent LDV in 1993

1986 Leyland Bus floated off; bought by Volvo 1988

1988 Rover Group privatised; sold to British Aerospace

1994 Rover Group sold to BMW; 17-year collaboration with Honda ends

2000 Land Rover sold to Ford

2000 Mini retained by BMW

2000 Remainder of company now independent as the MG Rover Group

2001 MG Rover buy Qvale of Italy

2002 MG Rover collaborate with Tata of India

When BMW sold off its interests, MG Rover was bought for a nominal £10 by a specially-assembled group of businessmen known as the Phoenix Consortium. The consortium was headed by ex-Rover Chief Executive John Towers.

The links with other companies developed since 2000 presumably draw on MG Rover's history. Qvale was once the primary US importer of MGs, a relationship that started back in 1947 [1]. British Leyland had links with India going back to 1948, but Tata was associated with Daimler of Germany until 2001.

Models

The model line in 2000 was the MGF sports car (now the TF), plus the Rover 25, 45 and 75 - small, medium and large family cars. Since then there has been some diversification - MG badged versions of the Rovers (ZR, ZS and ZT respectively) with sportier performance and handling, then (bizarrely) a MG van (the MG Express), followed by the Rover Streetwise (a 25 with off-road styling), the bottom-of-the-market Cityrover made by Tata in India, and the exotic Qvale-derived £75,000 MG X-power SV sports car. This may spearhead a return to the US markets abandoned in the 1991.

In 2001,2002 & 2003 the company raced in the light LMP675 class at the Le Mans 24-hour race with special cars designed in collaboration with Lola.

Brands

Many car brands that were formerly the property of British Leyland may have passed on to MG Rover. The brands of Alvis, Jaguar and Daimler were sold off by British Leyland before it became Rover Group, and Mini and Land Rover went in the BMW days. But following do not appear to have been sold:

1895 Wolseley
1896 Lanchester
1898 Riley
1903 Standard
1904 Rover
1905 Austin
1912 Morris
1913 Vanden Plas
1923 MG created by Morris
1923 Triumph used as a car brand
1924 BSA used as a car brand
1952 Austin Healey created by Austin
1987 Sterling created as a separate brand in the US by the Rover Group

The dates given are those of the first car of each name, but these are often debatable as each car may be several years in development.

Sources

Model-by-model history
Unofficial site
www.team.net/
www.mgxtreme.co.uk/history/history.php
www.alvis.plc.uk/
www.ownajag.com/jaguar-history.html
Leyland Truck & Bus Daimler, Lanchester & BSA