Hopes of a new BMW being built at Cowley were raised and dashed in the space of minutes, writes David Duffy.

A speech by BMW chairman Prof Joachim Milberg yesterday appeared to confirm that the German car maker planned to build a BMW-badged car at the Cowley car plant.

The speech appeared to suggest the four-wheel-drive X5 would be built alongside the new Mini, which is due to go into full-scale production at Cowley next April.

But within minutes of reports of the arrival of new model spreading, the company denied the move.

A spokesman said the misunderstanding had arisen from a poor translation of one paragraph of Prof Milberg's speech.

The paragraph read: "The figure must then also be seen in the light of the assets remaining with the BMW Group. Inter alia, these include the fully modernised Oxford Plant where we will be building the new Mini as well as the BMW X5 which benefitted in its development from the experience we had gained with Land Rover."

The spokesman said the omission of a comma had led to the confusion.

The X5, which was unveiled at the London Motor Show last October, first went on sale in the United States and will go on sale in Germany later this month.

Prices and specifications have not yet been established for the X5 in the UK the right hand drive launch will be in the autumn.

Prof Milberg also revealed that the Phoenix consortium, which has taken over the Longbridge factory in Birmingham, has bought the MG brand as well as the Austin healey, Morris and Wolseley brands.

But BMW has kept ownership of the Rover brand, for which it plans to grant a licence as well as the Mini, Riley and Triumph brands.