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Rover was a British automobile manufacturer and later a marque based at the former Austin Longbridge plant in Birmingham. In recent years it was part of BMW and the MG Rover Group. However, in April 2005, production stopped when the company became insolvent. In July 2005 the Nanjing Automobile Group acquired physical assets/tooling, although SAIC already owned certain intellectual property, with plans to resume production in China and at Longbridge, in 2007. On September 18, 2006 Ford bought the rights to the Rover name from BMW for approximately ?6 million. Ford had acquired an option of first refusal to buy the Rover brand as a result of its purchase of Land Rover from BMW in 2000. 
The first new car to be launched after the formation of MG Rover was the estate version of the Rover 75, which went on sale later in 2000. In 2003, MG Rover launched the CityRover - an entry-level model which was produced in a venture with Indian carmaker Tata, but failed badly to sell as it was overpriced for the level of equipment if offered. Had MG Rover re-engineered and 'Roverised' the Indica to a higher degree and priced it more sensibly, it may have been much more sucessful. Several concept cars intended as eventual replacements for the Rover 25 and 45 were shown in the early 2000s, but never went into production. The company continued as MG Rover but production ceased on April 15th 2005, when it was declared insolvent. On 22 July 2005, the physical assets of the collapsed firm were sold to the Nanjing Automobile Group for ?53m, who indicated that their preliminary plans involved relocating the Powertrain engine plant to China while splitting car production into Rover lines in China and resumed MG lines in the West Midlands (though not necessarily at Longbridge), where a UK R&D and technical facility would also be developed. On May 30, 2007, Nanjing Automobile Group claimed to have restarted production of TF sports cars in the Longbridge plant; with sales expected to begin in the Autumn. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, who held the intellectual property of Rover 75 (bought for ?67m before Rover collapsed) and was also bidding for MG Rover, announced their own version of the Rover 75 in late 2006. On July 2006, Shanghai Automotive announced their intent to buy the Rover brandname from BMW, who owned the rights to the Rover marque. However, due to Ford's contract with BMW (as it relates to the Rover name), Ford took up their option on the company name and bought it on 18 September 2006, in part to protect their right to the use of the name Land Rover. The Rover name will become part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group (PAG), but Ford has no immediate plans for producing any cars with the Rover badge. Due to Shanghai's inability to gain the Rover name, they created their own brand with a similar name and badge, known as Roewe. Roewe was eventually launched in early 2007. 
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