Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the demerger of the Rolls-Royce car business
from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in
1971 due to the financial collapse of the company caused in part by the development
of the RB211 jet engine. In 1973 the British government sold the Rolls-Royce
car business to allow Rolls-Royce Limited to concentrate on jet engine manufacture.
In
1980 Rolls-Royce Motors was acquired by Vickers. In 1998
Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. The leading contender seemed to be
BMW, who already supplied engines and other components for Rolls-Royce and Bentley
cars. However their final offer of £340m was outbid by Volkswagen, who offered
£430m.
However Rolls-Royce plc, the aero-engine maker, decided it
would license certain essential trademarks (the Rolls-Royce name and logo) not
to VW, but to BMW, with whom it had recently had joint business ventures. VW
had bought rights to the "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot and the shape of the radiator
grille, but it lacked rights to the Rolls-Royce name in order to build the cars.
Likewise, BMW lacked rights to the grille and mascot. BMW bought an option
on the trademarks, licensing the name and "RR" logo for £40m, a deal that many
commentators thought was a bargain for possibly the most valuable property in
the deal. VW claimed that it had only really wanted Bentley anyway, and in sales
terms this was the stronger brand, with Bentley models out-selling the equivalent
Rolls Royce by around two to one. |
