The four men who own MG Rover today came under renewed pressure after BMW's UK boss called them the "unacceptable face of capitalism".
Jim O'Donnell lambasted the quartet behind Phoenix Venture Holdings, the holding group for Rover, for awarding themselves big salaries while the car firm was continuing to bleed cash.
Mr O'Donnell delivered his harsh verdict on the "Phoenix four" at BMW's annual press dinner in London on Wednesday.
He said: "I think it is a disgrace. The Rover board pay themselves more than the BMW board if you include the pensions. I think it is the unacceptable face of capitalism. BMW gave them a real opportunity for £10."
BMW sold MG Rover to Phoenix Venture in May 2000 for just £10 after deciding that the British firm was too much of a drain on the total group. MG Rover, Britain's last independent volume car maker, last year made a £75m loss, down from a £95m loss in 2002.
Despite the losses, the four Rover owners and Kevin Howe, the chief executive, paid themselves an average of £3m each in 2002 - more than double the pay of management board members of BMW, which is profitable.
The House of Commons' trade and industry committee earlier this year criticised MG Rover's finances. The committee's chairman, Martin O'Neill, accused John Towers, the Phoenix chairman, and Peter Beale, the vice chairman Peter Beale of "financial sleight of hand".
But the committee's report earlier this autumn cleared MG Rover bosses of allegations of financial mismanagement and asset-stripping. It also rejected claims that Phoenix was secretly planning to close the Longbridge factory. But MPs warned that Phoenix had to be more open about its business dealings.
Phoenix said it disagreed with Mr O'Donnell's comments, but declined to go into any detail. It said it had addressed the subject before and that more comment now would fuel the debate.
In the past, the Phoenix quartet have argued that they took a big risk when they bought Rover because each put up £60,000 to do the deal.
Mr O'Donnell said in hindsight, MG Rover would have been better off with Alchemy, the private equity group that also bid for MG Rover. Alchemy's bid was turned down because its plans to shrink MG Rover.
