什么是劳斯－莱斯公司

英国飞机引擎及其它动力技术产品制造商。在20世纪很长一段时间内，该公司都进行豪华汽车生产。汽车和飞机驾驶的先驱查理.斯图尔特.劳斯和工程师兼起重机制造商亨利.莱斯於1906年成立了劳斯－莱斯公司。该公司制造的外型美观，设计完美的轿车包括银色幽灵（1906年推出的「40/50马力」型）、幻影系列（1925）、银色黎明（1949）、银云（1955）、银影（1965）和银色天使（1998）等车型。1931年劳斯－莱斯公司购得一家上等汽车制造公司，班特利汽车公司。以1914年鹰式引擎的生产为开端，该公司也生产了一系列螺旋桨飞机和喷射飞机所使用的引擎。它的涡轮式引擎最终成为其销售额的主要部分。由於与洛克希德飞机公司（参阅lockheed Martin Corporation）签订了一分固定价格的合约，生产装置在L-1011客机上的引擎，迫使劳斯－莱斯公司在1971年宣告破产。之後，公司被拆为两部分：生产飞机引擎的一部分由英国政府接管，後被私营化，成为劳斯－莱斯上市公司，生产汽车发动机的一部分被重组为劳斯－莱斯发动机股份公司，後也被私有化。後者於1980年被Vicers公司购得，它将劳斯－莱斯发动机股份公司於1998年转卖给福斯汽车公司，合约中规定宝马汽车厂将於2003年起，用劳斯－莱斯之名生产轿车，而福斯汽车公司则获得班特利公司的生产线。

Rolls-Royce PLC

British manufacturer of aircraft engines and propulsion and power systems and, for much of the 20th century, a maker of luxury automobiles. Charles S. Rolls, a pioneer motorist and aviator, and Henry Royce, an engineer and carmaker, incorporated Rolls-Royce Ltd. in 1906. The firm's handsome, immaculately engineered cars included the Silver Ghost (introduced 1906 as “40/50 hp” model), a series of Phantoms (1925), the Silver Dawn (1949), Silver Cloud (1955), Silver Shadow (1965), and Silver Seraph (1998). In 1931 Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley Motors Ltd., another maker of fine cars. Rolls-Royce also developed a series of notable piston and jet aircraft engines, beginning with the Eagle (1914); eventually its turbine-engine operations accounted for the largest part of its sales. A fixed-price contract with Lockheed Aircraft (see Lockheed Martin Corp.) to produce an engine for its L-1011 TriStar jetliner drove Rolls-Royce into bankruptcy in 1971. It was split into two companies: its jet-engine division was taken over by the British government and later privatized as Rolls-Royce PLC, while its automobile operations were restructured into Rolls-Royce Motor Holdings Ltd. and privatized. The latter was acquired in 1980 by Vickers Ltd., which sold it to Volkswagen AG in 1998 as part of a novel agreement in which BMW AG would take over the manufacture of cars with the Rolls-Royce name in 2003, while Volkswagen retained the Bentley line.