ARO (short for Auto Romania) is an off-road vehicle manufacturer located near the town of Câmpulung-Muscel, Romania.
It started production in 1957 and has manufactured over 360,000 vehicles, 2/3 of which were exported in some 110 countries (before 1989 about 90% of the ARO production was exported).
In September 2003, the Romanian state sold, for a price of 180,000 USD, 68,7% of ARO to an American company called "Cross Lander", owned by John Perez. The contract said that the company had to invest 2 million USD in the company, but, allegedly, none of this investment was done and instead, the industrial equipment of ARO was sold off (according to the privatization contract, he was not allowed to do that).
The Romanian state sued in 2006 John Perez for using false documents which helped him to buy the company.
The ARO 244 model was planned to enter the US market as the Cross Lander 244X, but funding ran out in February of 2006.
The company Cross Lander USA Inc fired all its employees, sold its headquarters and closed down in February 2006.