[TR] Classic names are part of Tata deal

[rfeibusch1 at earthlink.net]

Classic names are part of Tata deal

Tony Lewin

Automotive News | March 27, 2008 - 6:46 am EST
Tata Motors will get the right use three classic British auto-brand names as
part of its $2.3 billion deal to buy Jaguar and Land Rover.

Included in the deal are the Rover name and the Jaguar-owned names of Daimler
and Lanchester.
Ford bought the rights to the Rover brand name from BMW in September 2006 for
an undisclosed sum to ensure no other automaker could use it and cause
confusion with the Land Rover brand.

"We acquired the Rover trademark in the interests of protecting Land Rover,"
said Ford of Europe spokesman John Gardiner. "So it's also in the interests of
the new owner of Land Rover to have it."

BMW obtained ownership of the Rover name when it bought the Rover group in
1994. In 2006, BMW refused a request from China's SAIC to use the Rover brand
name under license. SAIC had bought some assets of the ailing MG Rover group
and now builds cars called Roewes in China.

Jaguar acquired the rights to sell cars badged as Daimlers in 1960 from the UK
Daimler car company that was founded in 1896 and licensed by Gottlieb Daimler
to use his internal combustion engine. The UK Daimler car company also owned
the Lanchester brand name.

You may e-mail Tony Lewin at autonews at crain.com

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Daimler finally ditches Chrysler following name change

New brand name is confirmed as Daimler AG

DaimlerChrysler has expunged the memory of its ill-fated merger with the
American carmaker Chrysler after finally agreeing on a name change.

Following months of debate, shareholders yesterday approved changing the
manufacturer's name to Daimler AG.

Despite chief executive Dieter Zetsche's insistence that the company take the
name, shareholders, who had wanted to include Benz in the company's masthead,
were satisfied by a compromise.

Benz name

Co-founder of the German company Karl Benz will be honoured by changing the
name of the company's premium division Mercedes Car Group to Mercedes-Benz
Cars and renaming the van unit Mercedes-Benz Vans.

DaimlerChrysler Bank will also be renamed Mercedes-Benz Bank.

The changes will see the remaking of corporate material, including letterheads
and websites, and will cost between b,50 - 60m (B#34.6 - 41.5m).

The decision to use Daimler complies with an agreement struck between the
German manufacturer and Ford in August, which gave DaimlerChrysler permission
to use the Daimler name.

The Daimler name is currently owned by Jaguar.