Rolls-Royce Boss Steps Down After 5 Months

BERLIN October 18, 2004; The A{P reported that Germany's BMW AG said Monday the head of its ultra-luxury Rolls-Royce car brand, Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, has resigned to take up "new responsibilities" outside the company, which has been struggling to meet its sales targets for the superluxury brand.

BMW's chief financial officer, Stefan Krause, will take over management of British-based Rolls-Royce until a permanent replacement is found for Kalbfell, the company said.

Kalbfell, who took over responsibility for Rolls-Royce in May, resigned for "personal reasons," BMW spokesman Linus Schmekel said. He added that the company "very much regrets" Kalbfell's decision, but would not comment on his new job.

His predecessor, Tony Gott, resigned for personal reasons in May.

In the first nine months of 2004, BMW sold 485 Rolls-Royce cars. The company's goal has been to sell 1,000 of the cars per year.

The archetypally British Rolls-Royce has been German-owned since 1998, when Volkswagen outbid BMW to buy the British automaker, its factory at Crewe in northwest England and the Bentley brand for 479 million pounds ($864 million).

However, BMW bought the Rolls-Royce name, which was owned by aerospace company Rolls-Royce PLC. BMW agreed to let Volkswagen continue producing Rolls-Royce cars at Crewe until 2003.

Since Jan. 1, 2003, Rolls-Royce Phantoms have been assembled by a BMW subsidiary in Goodwood on the south coast of England.