| BMW has plans to produce a new Rolls-Royce limousine in Britain in 2003 according to the German automaker. The new Rolls will marry the brand’s traditional elegance with a look to the future, said a senior BMW official.
BMW will build between 800 and 1,200 limousines a year that will compete in the ultra-expensive $150,000-plus limousine niche, whose annual sale are estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000. Volkswagen is currently making several hundred Rolls-Royce limousines a year under an odd arrangement that resulted from the two German companies’ bitter fight over Rolls-Royce in 1998.
VW won the Rolls-Royce and Bentley factories, but BMW acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce name from aero-engines maker Rolls-Royce Plc, of which BMW owns 10 percent. VW is licensed to use the name until the end of 2002. |
