Alvis History:
Alvis was started way back in 1920.It manufactured cars between 1920 and 1965 when it became part of the rover group. This subsequently marked the end of car manufacturing by Alvis. This allowed it to concentrate in the manufacture of armored vehicles. Together with Rover, Alvis was incorporated into the Leyland Motor Corporation and later became British Leyland. However, the Alvis business was sold off to United Scientific Holdings plc by the then nationalized British Leyland. It was sold off for 27 million pounds. By then, United Scientific was a manufacturer of military sighting products. The name Alvis plc was adopted by United Scientific in 1992 and in October 1997, Alvis plc bought Hagglunds Company to form Alvis Hagglunds AB. Alvis also acquired GKN plc, a Company that deals in armored Vehicle business. In this deal, GKN took a 29.9% stake in Alvis. However, BAE systems purchased GKNs share holding in 2003 for 73 million pounds. In the early 2000s, Alvis again sold a share of its Avimo Group optronics subsidiary to Thomson-CSF and sold all of its remaining shareholding to Thales Group (the renamed Thomson-CSF) in 2001. Alvis again acquired Vickers Defense Systems form Rolls Royce in 2002.In 2004, the board of Alvis approved a £309m takeover bid by the American defense company General Dynamics. Within 3 months BAE Systems, which already had a 29% stake in the company, outbid General Dynamics by offering £355m. The action was seen as a defense of the home market from a foreign rival. David Mulholland. The bid was accepted by the majority of shareholders. In September 2004, BAE announced the creation of BAE Systems Land Systems, a new company bringing together the BAE subsidiaries, BAE Systems RO Defense and Alvis Vickers. Alvis Vickers became BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles) Limited, a subsidiary of BAE Systems Land Systems. In 2005, the acquisition of United Defense led to the creation of BAE Systems Land and Armaments.

Alvis Overview:
Alvis became part of the rover group in 1965 after the latter purchasing it. Leyland Corporation acquired both Rover and Alvis. It later decided to sell its Alvis business to United Scientific Holdings plc. Alvis plc was formed when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalized vehicle manufacturer British Leyland plc in 1981.In October 2002, Alvis plc then acquired Vickers Defense Systems from Rolls-Royce and formed Alvis Vickers. However, Alvis Vickers was also purchased by BAE systems in 2004 and subsequently became BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons and Vehicles) Ltd which is also part of the BAE Systems Land and Armaments operating group.

Other Alvis Details:
Alvis cars were produced by the manufacturer Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd of Coventry, United Kingdom from 1919 to 1967. The company also produced aero-engines and military vehicles, the latter continuing long after car production ceased. The company has changing hands to several corporations and businesses over the years but the brand Alvis some how remained intact. Currently, it’s a division of BAE systems.