MAN buys UK importer from Lonrho for £20m
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• MAN in Germany is to buy the UK MAN-VW truck and bus import business from industrial giant Lonrho for £20m, but MAN's 28-strong dealership network will not be affected.
MAN-VW Truck and Bus was set up in 1979 to market MAN Volkswagen middleweight trucks and MAN HGVs.
Since 1984 it has been 80% owned by Lonrho and 20% by MAN Nutzfahrzeuge.
MAN Nutzfahrzeuge will take over responsibility for distribution, sales and service of MAN trucks, buses and spare parts from MAN-VW's Swindon HQ.
The move is seen as the prelude for a major assault on the British market, where MAN believes it could do better. MAN took eighth place in the league of truck sales last year, with 1,366 registrations.
Robert Dunlop, deputy chairman of Lonrho, says: "We believe that funds currently deployed in the truck business could be better utilised elsewhere in Lonrho's operations." The group owns the %server newspaper as well as a range of agricultural, retail and manufacturing operations worldwide.
The Volkswagen commercial vehicle business is unaffected by the move.