Freight Rover was a British commercial vehicle manufacturer based in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham, England.
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 1981 |
| Defunct | April 1987 |
| Successor | Leyland DAF |
| Headquarters | Washwood Heath, Birmingham , England |
| Products | Vans |
| Parent | Land Rover Group |
History
edit_(cropped).jpg)
Freight Rover was created as a division of the Land Rover Group of British Leyland (BL) in 1981, creating a new single brand for BL's light commercial vehicle range, which had previously been sold under the Leyland and Austin-Morris brands - (although car derived vans such as those based on the Morris Ital and Austin Metro continued to be sold under either the Austin or Morris brands). Essentially Freight Rovers were face-lifted, badge engineered 1st gen Leyland Sherpas.
Under later company organisation changes, Freight Rover became part of the Leyland Trucks division of BL.
In 1987, the Leyland Trucks division of, what was by then, the Rover Group (following the renaming of BL in 1986), merged with the Dutch truck company DAF Trucks to form DAF NV (Which in the UK traded as Leyland DAF), which was later floated on the Dutch stock market. The new company has three plants; two truck plants Eindhoven and Leyland, and a van plant in Washwood Heath.
Following the collapse of DAF NV in 1993, the van plant was the subject of a management buyout and a new independent van company, LDV Group, was established.[1][2][3][4]
Vehicles
editReferences
edit- ^ David Bowen (23 April 1994). "Leyland DAF in pounds 8.6m rebound: Management buyout brings a change in fortunes – and name". Independent. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "Van firm in £1.5bn bid". BBC News. 2 May 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "LDV: Countdown to collapse". The Guardian. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ European Commission (7 August 2009). "State aid NN/41/2009 – Rescue Aid for LDV Group Limited" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
External links
edit
Media related to Freight Rover vehicles at Wikimedia Commons