BMW coup on Rolls-Royce

BMW pulled off a stunning corporate coup yesterday, sealing a £40 million sterling deal to build Rolls-Royce cars from 2003, …

BMW pulled off a stunning corporate coup yesterday, sealing a £40 million sterling deal to build Rolls-Royce cars from 2003, leaving Volkswagen with Bentley to show for its £479 million investment. Under a breakthrough tripartite agreement, Germany's BMW will pay the British aerospace-engine maker Rolls-Royce Plc £40 million for the rights to use the Rolls name. But BMW also secured a separate deal with VW, giving it ownership rights from 2003 of the Rolls' front grille and "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot - the two features which make a "Roller".