With Ford having bought the Rover name to protect their own Land Rover brand, SAIC - who bought the rights to the Rover models - have had to reconsider their plans to start producing the cars with the Rover badge. The answer is, apparently, Roewe, apparently "Rong Wei" in Chinese. According to Autocar Rong Wei means "glorious power" in Chinese, but given the troubled past of Rover it is bound to be misconstrued.Would we still have Rover in Britain if it hadn't been for the hideous Models produced by that worst of corporate excesses, Leyland. Even before they heard that they could bend them by towing them, or that the rear window could pop out if you opened the other windows at speed, who would want to buy an Austin Allegro?Square steering wheel anyone? The Austin Allegro, another nail in the coffin of what became Rover.This story somehow (can't imagine how) reminded me of the story of General Motors wanting to use the British name Nova (the predecessor of the Corsa) for wider markets... until someone pointed out it meant "doesn't go" when translated!
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