MG Rover - tis a sad day |
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therealmccoy
Really Senior Member II Joined: 27-April-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 552 |
Posted: 19-April-2005 at 14:29 | |
Genuine asylum seekers don't have mobile phones, designer clothes and lots of Jewelry! Paid for by me! |
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Work Harder! A Million Benefit Claimants Depend On YOU!
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Peter Fenwick
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-August-2003 Location: Lost somewhere in time... Status: Offline Points: 6484 |
Posted: 19-April-2005 at 10:50 | |
They've probably all had their heads in the sand. |
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Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.
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rubberknees50
Really Senior Member II Does it have chrome bumpers? Joined: 26-July-2004 Location: Telford, Shropshire Status: Offline Points: 1074 |
Posted: 19-April-2005 at 06:41 | |
Sorry to see Mg Rover go, interesting about russians, is that likely to mean a bid for company or parts of it? Last I heard chinese and russians weren't too fond of each other. I had an SD1 till local vandals put it beyond economical repair, I liked it, but it's well known that build quality and all the strikes caused no end of trouble in the late 70's, and they had struggled to recover. Feel sorry for all the workers, but amazed at some of the TV reports saying how they were all shocked to be made redundant, did anyone with a TV NOT see this coming weeks/months, maybe years ago? |
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IanT
E28 528, E23 735 |
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Peter Fenwick
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-August-2003 Location: Lost somewhere in time... Status: Offline Points: 6484 |
Posted: 19-April-2005 at 03:15 | |
I thought the millenium dome was paid for with lottery money or am I mistaken? Alowing genuine asylum seekers into the country is the right thing to do. I don't consider spending tax payers money on genuine asylum seekers a waste. |
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Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.
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therealmccoy
Really Senior Member II Joined: 27-April-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 552 |
Posted: 18-April-2005 at 15:58 | |
I think we pay enough to get good public service, but instead, the govt fritter it away on Millennium Dome's asylum seekers and other such tat!
I believe that a couple of years ago a business man offered to buy out Rover MG. He was going to scrap Rover but keep MG going as a specialist sports car manufacturer. People complained he was a "Capitalist" and he was going to gut the company. The irony was that the workers would have got far more of a pay off than they currently do! The reason they weren't successful is that they were poorly made, they fell apart. Rover seemed to throw away any sort of quality and instead give leather seats etc. What do you expect from a £12k car that has full leather interior?? We had a couple of MG's at work, they fell apart - even more than the Peugeot's! The Met Police drive 5 series BMW's and E Class Mercs! It is a shame, none the less. James |
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Work Harder! A Million Benefit Claimants Depend On YOU!
E30 M3, The REAL McCoy! 89 M3 Now Sold 99 323i *FOR SALE* PC Probs?? Click here! |
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Horsetan
Really Senior Member II Say Neigh to Gatsos Joined: 11-April-2003 Location: Please let it be Ireland Status: Offline Points: 6381 |
Posted: 18-April-2005 at 14:24 | |
...so we get "kwalitee" instead..... |
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Peter Fenwick
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-August-2003 Location: Lost somewhere in time... Status: Offline Points: 6484 |
Posted: 18-April-2005 at 08:29 | |
I agree. It's the same as taxation. We all want the quality in public services but don't want to pay for it. Also people don't realise that buying British is about more than just being patriotic, it's about supporting the British economy (Mind you I can't talk since I don't own a British car, although my last car was made over here) |
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Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.
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Nigel
Moderator Group Joined: 09-November-2002 Status: Offline Points: 6941 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 10:05 | |
Volvo police car ! That sums it all up. There was a time when you didnt see a west mids police car that wasnt something to do with the austin. Ah well its gone, anyone want to employ my brother in law ? |
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Best Wishes
Nigel |
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Dergside
Really Senior Member II Joined: 16-May-2004 Location: Mid West, Ireland Status: Offline Points: 4000 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 09:44 | |
Nigel, I agree with your sentiments but its not impossible for quality, efficiency and productivity to coexist in British industry. However, it does take a willingness embrace change, economic realities, etc. to succeed. Take Nissan as an example. Their UK operation is an example to all of Nissan as well as the British manufacturing industry. The difference is that Nissan were able to start with a clean sheet of paper and design a business that incorporated the flexibility and efficiency needed to be successful and weren't carrying decades of baggage in terms of work practices, demaraction, management practice, etc. |
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Dergside
Really Senior Member II Joined: 16-May-2004 Location: Mid West, Ireland Status: Offline Points: 4000 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 09:37 | |
Therein lies the key I think. Rationalization was needed from as early as the late 60's and it never really happened. Instead of having several independent brands, they same brands existed in the exact same form under a single umbrella, with an additional layer of bureaucracy added to manage the combined entities. The reasons it didn't happen, in my opinion, were a combination of a management that couldn't come to grips with the concept of rationalization and didn't have the drive to make it happen, a highly unionized workforce that spent a lot of time fighting (i.e. striking) for unsustainable working conditions (while conceding little by way of change or productivity) and a government that would foot the bill. Coincidentally, I listened to an interview with Arthur Scargill recently on the radio over here and even 20 years later he couldn't acknowledge that the demise of the coal industry was an economic inevitability and that the fight to improve conditions and pay, while admirable in the sense of the conditions of the workers, only added to the inevitability. Edited by Dergside |
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Now: BMW 523i SE '00, 318i SE - e91 '07, 325i Coupe '93.
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Peter H
Really Senior Member II Joined: 03-January-2004 Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern Status: Offline Points: 927 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 09:24 | |
Think that sums it up, Top Quality & as cheap as possible but can I earn a fortune as well please
Went & watched XPF convoy come in to Longbridge at lunchtime, Volvo police car leading them !
< =text/> < id=kpfLog style="DISPLAY: none" src="http://127.0.0.1:44501/pl.?START_LOG" onload=destroy(this)> > < =text/> Edited by Peter H |
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO |
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Nigel
Moderator Group Joined: 09-November-2002 Status: Offline Points: 6941 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 04:53 | |
Hmmm. Its all academic, although not very pleasant. I don't suppose it matters much to my brother in law and his mates now, they just don't have jobs anymore. In many ways the workers have themselves to blame for their outdated working practices, and brain dead attitude to working in the 21st century. Our unwillingness to pay for anything in this country needs to be addressed. We seem to want the best of both worlds, we want to earn a lot of money, making producimg anything here expensive, but we then want to buy as cheaply as possible, making our own products too expensive for us, so we buy goods from the far east, our home produced products don't sell, the factories close, and the jobs and expertise are lost. |
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Best Wishes
Nigel |
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Peter H
Really Senior Member II Joined: 03-January-2004 Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern Status: Offline Points: 927 |
Posted: 17-April-2005 at 04:44 | |
< id=kpfLog style="DISPLAY: none" src="http://127.0.0.1:44501/pl.?START_LOG" onload=destroy(this)> > Reading this it sounds like a Setup !
From Todays Telegraph
Russian carmaker to raise £85m in the City A Russian carmaker with strong links to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), the Chinese firm whose decision to end talks with MG Rover last week led to the final collapse of the British company, is planning to raise $160m (£85m) in London. < = src="/core/NetGravity/mpu.js"> < = src="http://ads.telegraph.co.uk/js.ng/site=money&spaceid=mpu&logstatus=f&transID=1113722893375&Section=money/city_news&view=details&=/money/2005/04/17/cnstal17.">SeverStal Auto is looking to offer UK institutions about 9m shares, around 30 per cent of the company, for sale at up to $17.80 each. The fund-raising values the company at $533m and the shares will be listed in Russia with trading expected to start later this month. SeverStal Auto is the car and engine manufacturing division of the huge SeverStal steel and industrial group, Russia's largest steelmaker. The company has appointed Deutsche Bank, which has a joint venture with United Financial Group, the Russian bank, to raise the funds. A roadshow including senior executives from SeverStal has been meeting potential investors in London and the fund raising is due to complete this week. SeverStal Auto owns the Ulyanovsk Automotive Plant (UAZ) and the Zavolzhsky Motor Plant (ZMZ) in Russia. Both UAZ, a leading maker of four-wheel drive vehicles, and ZMZ are well-known Russian automotive brands. In December last year, the company agreed a $500m deal with SsangYyong Motor, a South Korean carmaker owned by SAIC, that will see it assemble more than 26,000 of Ssangyong's sports utility vehicles at its Ulyanovsk plant. < =text/> |
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO |
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Doive
Really Senior Member II Joined: 09-February-2005 Location: Clinging to a turbine, Hexham Status: Offline Points: 1212 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 19:29 | |
There was talk a few years back about Mr Pischets....err...thingy
wanting to revive one or more of these old brands. As said he was the
nephew of the great Issigonis and has a fascination with old British
cars and the sense of 'Britishness' you used to find in the likes of a
Rover P5 or P6. He wanted to recapture some of this and rebrand it for
the 21st century. At the time the smart money was on Riley, but some
also favoured Triumph. IMO the Dolly range was the 3 series of its day,
while the Dolly Sprint was a fantastic piece of kit. Even today it
still looks crisp and somehow modern, try saying that about a focus in
twenty years time.
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1987 BMW 525e Lux Auto (sadly deceased)
Get Firefox - Ditch Hopeless Inertnet Exploder www.doive.co.uk |
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Von Paulus
Banned User Cruisin the Reeperbahn Joined: 17-March-2005 Location: Hamburg and UK! Status: Offline Points: 118 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 19:14 | |
There is an 1100 in the BMW museum in Munich -
well, it's down in the car storage area where all the weird stuff and prototypes are kept. Berndt Pischetsrieder was Alec Issigonis' nephew and the car (along with a few of the original Minis) was collected probably because of this. BMW also own the Austin Healey, Triumph and Riley names. A bit like collecting dead bodies......... |
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Horsetan
Really Senior Member II Say Neigh to Gatsos Joined: 11-April-2003 Location: Please let it be Ireland Status: Offline Points: 6381 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 13:08 | |
...which is ironic, seeing as we're saying "tata for now" to Rover..... |
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Peter H
Really Senior Member II Joined: 03-January-2004 Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern Status: Offline Points: 927 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 12:47 | |
< id=kpfLog style="DISPLAY: none" src="http://127.0.0.1:44501/pl.?START_LOG" onload=destroy(this)> > 6R4 to metro is like comparing a 320i to andys WTCC car totally different
City rover can have badges changed and is TATA again, < =text/> |
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO |
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Horsetan
Really Senior Member II Say Neigh to Gatsos Joined: 11-April-2003 Location: Please let it be Ireland Status: Offline Points: 6381 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 12:14 | |
WCUK management. And government. And good old WCUK bloody-mindedness thrown in. Still, I'm sure Tesco can afford to buy up the site Edited by Horsetan |
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NOISUFNOC
Really Senior Member II Joined: 27-September-2004 Location: Sunny Greenock by the Sea Status: Offline Points: 1473 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 10:54 | |
Sorry for the workers losing their jobs, but rover seems to have an attitude that the public would just buy whatever they put off the production lines, for years they have been associated with cars that rust quickly and bots fall off, no longer the rover of old with a passion for making the cars. Look at IBM, attitude there was well you will pay extra for the name, not that the quality is any better, result HP/COMPAQ Dell walk all over them and IBM get trounced. Metro could have been just as popular as the Saxo, but quality and image was dubious, yet Metro 6R4 was raved about and still is, Maestro Turbo, stupidly quick car but joke about the sills going faster than the cars was too true unfortunately. Ive owned several rovers and I dont think anyone can really slag off the MG ZR range, they seem to be able to get their niche cars right, but when it came down to bread and butter cars they just didnt care. Just my tuppeny's worth. |
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528 for now
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Doive
Really Senior Member II Joined: 09-February-2005 Location: Clinging to a turbine, Hexham Status: Offline Points: 1212 |
Posted: 16-April-2005 at 10:49 | |
The 1100/1300 range of family cars were the measuring stick of their day, front wheel drive, interconnected suspension and huge amounts of interior space - more in fact than the current Ford Focus. They were also one of the last cars designed and built by BMC before Leyland came along. BL tried to unify everything under one umbrella and ended up with a huge and unwieldy range of cars. So rather than rationalise the range into distinct sizes under one brand name, they split the resources and built different cars for every brand - Austin Allegro and Morris Marina being a case in point. The problem was never a lack of design talent - just look at the Range Rover and the SD1 - but unbelievable mangement and poor worker relations. When the SD1 was being designed, mangement faffed around for two years before signing the car off for production - imagine if the SD1 had come along in 1973 rather than 76? Also management operated and encouraged a 'them and us' attitude with the workforce, never a good thing for building quality cars. When the SD1 was launched in Europe, people thronged the showrooms to buy the cars. Because of strikes they had none to sell, so buyers simply went off and bought alternatives and have done ever since. Sadly the company has never recovered from this era, and their reputation has always been a bit suspect too. Shame. |
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1987 BMW 525e Lux Auto (sadly deceased)
Get Firefox - Ditch Hopeless Inertnet Exploder www.doive.co.uk |
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