Byers in the dark over Rover selloff

Under fire trade secretary Stephen Byers said he had no chance to act because BMW gave no warning of the sale.

Byers was heavily criticised for failing to avert the sale of Rover cars and the likely loss of thousands of jobs. But during two hours of questions by a parliamentary select committee he claimed the German firm played its cards "very close to its chest" in the months before deciding to sell it's loss-making subsidiary.

BMW had given the impression that it was "business at usual" at Rover despite losses of £2 million a day last year and that it was continuing with planned investment at its Longbridge Plant in Birmingham, where 8,000 jobs are now at risk. The livelihoods of many more people in the Midlands region are tied to the fortunes of Longbridge.

BMW announced in mid-March its plan to sell Rover to a group of British venture capitalists, Alchemy. The group has no experience with car making, and has acknowledged that job losses are inevitable as the plant becomes a niche producer of sports cars under the name MG Car Co. Alchemy hopes to post a profit within three years and sell the company within seven.

Union leaders fear Rover will be allowed to die and thousands of jobs will go. They have been trying to find another buyer for the car group, but there has been little interest.

Byers told the cross-party committee about private conversations with BMW and Rover chiefs, saying the German company never raised the prospect of a sale until days before it was approved.

Rover chairman Walter Samann outlined a plan to stem mounting losses when he met Byers on March 10 - six days before the BMW board voted to sell Rover.

"We were not given information that BMW were considering breaking up Rover and selling Longbridge," Byers said.

Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle said the German firm should help Rover workers and he suggested the planned R30 model, to have been built at Longbridge, could still be manufactured in Britain.

Byers said: "BMW recognises they need to make a gesture to rebuild their relationship with the U.K. car-buying public. They could take a number of steps. It could be that allowing the R30 to be built in Britain could be a suitable gesture.

"We are in discussion with BMW about the sort of steps they can take," he added.

The select committee is expected to publish its report on the Rover sale before Easter.