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Rover , and now aptly , 'Over'
Rovers mission statment, was it to sell automobiles, to employ thousands, or to enrich the famous four ?
It's interesting to note that the fiasco encompassing Rover, which was the only remaining British automobile manufacturing company of scale ,has not generated any debate on this forum.
Perhaps the subject is 'insufficiently trivial as to intrigue ' ?
Not in the same league as 'the wedding' ?
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It's a puzzle Alan. If 100's of millions were poured into saving Rover, would it be a success or would it just delay what's already happening?
It's certainly given the opposition parties an excuse to bleet but would another government have done anything different?
Martin ~
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After the government's failure to prop up L&B why should I care about Rover?
It means nothing to me.
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The fact is, as too many cars are being produced businesses world wide demand government pour more public money into their private operations.
Here in Ontario, Ford GM. Chrysler and other companies no longer ask for public money, rather,with the backing of the union they demand it, under threat of taking factories overseas !
These companies are losing money on most of the vehicles they produce, what money they do make is from their respective financing operations!
Years ago, to make life easy for themselves and escape union confrontation, management agreed to excesive wage and salary demands together with highly generous retirement and benefits packages , subsidised often free vehicles for extended families even free computers , management mostly MBA's then aspired to higher levels of management leaving the financial consequences of what they created for future generations to deal with ,as is the way MBA's operate worldwide. These companies made big money in their heyday, distributed it rapidly as prudence isn't reported on financial statements !
Similarities abound within many large industries worldwide, indeed within government bodies civil and public services , everywhere a strong union exists this form of extortion can only be overcome with a strong responsible government saying 'no' !
Government assistance for these companies /services come only from people within society who are usually not so priveledged !
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I'm afraid MG-Rover has blundered and mis-managed its way into oblivion. They produced poor quality cars that were badly designed and engineered and didn't hold up when compared to the Oriental competition (no matter where the Hondas and Toyotas are actually made!)
I haven't owned a recent Rover, but did have a late-60s 2000TC. As one of my US colleagues summed up, "Is it called "Rover" because it's such a dog?"
A friend who had a Sterling from new had so many problems he basically gave it away at three years old. Despite having a Honda drive-train, the Rover and Lucas bits were abysmal.
One one of my visits to Leyland, when I owned the 2000TC, I met a British Leyland senior manager at a Rotary lunch I attended with my father. I tackled him on the reliability issue. His response was "Rovers don't break down, therefore we don't have a problem".
It's a pity so many folk will be out of work, but their management and engineering/design teams let them down.
The government should not subsidise any more. Enough money has been pured down that particular rat hole. It's time to admit the rats have won.
Frank Damp
Frank Damp (wife Eileen, nee Nixon)
Leyland resident 1941-1965, emigrated to the US in 1968,
retired to Anacortes, Washington State, USA in 1999.
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I agree with Frank. Some years ago I purchased a new Maxi & later a new Pricess 2000, both were poorly made and were worth nothing after a short period.
The following is from an article by Kevin Eason, Times Motoring Editor ;
"Make no mistake, the whistle was blown on Rover’s coalition with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) the minute the ink dried last September on the deal to sell the Chinese the intellectual property rights to build the Rover 75 saloon, the 25 hatchback and the K-series engine that has powered the latest generations of Rover cars. With the blueprints locked safely in a briefcase, canny SAIC executives trotted off home safe in the knowledge that this was the best Chinese takeaway ever ordered anywhere in the West Midlands".
"For a measly £67 million, they can now go ahead and produce as many Rover cars as they like, although they cannot call them Rovers. And why on earth would they? Compare and contrast which business is on the up and which one was always on the way down in this shambles of a deal: SAIC — government-owned, 50 factories, sales of about $12 billion (about £6.4 billion) annually and 65,000 workers; Rover — a busted flush since the day BMW walked out of the door and Longbridge’s own Gang of Four, its directors, took over".
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So, will McDonalds wages be adequate to purchase the Chinese version of a Rover ?
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On the bigger field how will the rest of the manufacturing industry stand up to China. Already fuel prices are rocketing because of the huge amounts the Chinese are buying. To quote the scottish gentleman from Dad's AArmy, " we're all doomed, doooomed I say".
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I was listening to the radio one morning over the weekend and heard this:
The Longbridge plant turned out 16 cars per worker per year. The Nissan plant in Sunderland turns out 320 per worker per year. Is it any wonder Rover went under?
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Last time I visited England I rented a Rover estate car, and paid dearly for the priveledge.It was no better than previous rentals, such as Vauxhall, or Ford, and was very much run of the mill. Rover were always a top class luxury vehicle which were very good indeed, remember the Rover 90, 100, and 105? The Rover 2000 and 3500 were still in the luxury class even though the V8 3500 engine went into everything else, Range Rover, MGB GT V8 and Morgan to name but a few. It's actually a Buick design that BL bought in the 60's.
Rover have been building very average cars for a long time, relying on the name to sell them, not surprising they've gone under. Chrysler had the same problem in the early 80's and the US government had to bale them out. Lee Iacocca took over and invested heavily in new designs and they were successful, Ford had to pump hundreds of millions into Jaguar to make it pay or they would have gone bust as well. There does'nt seem to be the same will about Rover. Why? Is MG going to be saved? They seem to have a good range of cars, I saw loads of MG F's on my last visit and they seemed to be built well, is this so?
John
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