VW'S $710 MILLION BID TOPS BMW'S TO BUY ROLLS-ROYCE.Byline: Bloomberg News Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (VW) Major German automobile manufacturer. It was founded in 1937 to mass-produce a low-priced “people's car” (Volkswagen). After World War II the company was rebuilt with Allied help, and within a decade it was producing half of West Germany's agreed to buy the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a BMW subsidiary responsible for the manufacture of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. History In 1998, owners Vickers decided to sell Rolls-Royce Motors. division of Vickers Plc
in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. AG as it seeks to break into the luxury car market. Eight days after Vickers agreed to sell the prestigious luxury carmaker to BMW for $560 million, the U.K. company said in an unexpected statement that it would now advise shareholders to accept the VW bid at a meeting June 4. The battle for the 92-year-old car company reflects a larger fight among manufacturers to cover a full range of cars from hatchbacks to luxury sedans, underlined by Daimler-Benz AG's agreement Thursday to buy Chrysler Corp. for $43 billion. While some analysts expect BMW to come back with a higher offer, others have said BMW intends to go no higher. BMW spokesman Joerg Dinner declined to comment. BMW had been favored to win Rolls-Royce, which also makes Bentleys, because it supplies the Rolls engines and threatened to stop delivery if it loses. Under the contract with Rolls-Royce, however, BMW would have to give a 12-month notice to stop supplies and that time could be used to seek an alternative. VW, maker of the legendary mass-market Beetle beetle, common name for insects of the order Coleoptera, which, with more than 300,000 described species, is the largest of the insect orders. Beetles have chewing mouthparts and well-developed antennae. model, said it wants engines for the $250,000 Rolls-Royces and Bentleys to be made in Britain and has mentioned the possibility of Vickers' Cosworth unit making the engines. |
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