Iran no longer interested in Rover purchase: minister

AFP: Iran has decided against making an offer for bankrupt British car manufacturer MG Rover, because Chinese firm Shanghai Auto already has the right to manufacture the Rover 75 and Rover 25, Industry Minister Eshagh Jahangiri said in comments published Saturday. AFP

TEHRAN – Iran has decided against making an offer for bankrupt British car manufacturer MG Rover, because Chinese firm Shanghai Auto already has the right to manufacture the Rover 75 and Rover 25, Industry Minister Eshagh Jahangiri said in comments published Saturday.

“As China already bought the rights from Rover (last November), Iran is no longer interested in purchasing the firm,” Jahangiri said.

“Rover’s value lies not in its equipment but in its manufacturing rights which have already been bought by the Chinese.

“We have no need of the firm’s equipment and our advisers have counselled us not to buy it.”

Shanghai Auto Industry Corp, Shanghai Auto’s parent firm, paid 67 million pounds (127.7 million US dollars) to MG Rover for the right to manufacture the Rover 75 and Rover 25.

The Rover 75, which was first produced for the British market in June 1999, was the firm’s best-known model and a key reason why SAIC was interested in buying the company.

Talks for a joint venture between the two, in which SAIC would have held a majority stake, collapsed last month after which the British company was put into administration.