Tony Gott, chairman and chief executive of Rolls-Royce,resigned yesterday unexpectedly after more than two years guiding the German owned company.

Gott is to be replaced by Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, architect of BMW's takeover of Rolls-Royce between 1999 and 2002 before it gained official ownership on January 1st 2003.

BMW sources insisted Gott was leaving for personal reasons and the business was in good shape, with production likely to be close to the planned 1,000 annual target this year.