rover

[chrishill 0]

[schild=16 fontcolor=000000 shadowcolor=C0C0C0 shieldshadow=1]R.I.P[/schild]

 

real kick in the teeth since a couple of mates won the contract to do the whole of the pheonix groups websites not that long ago. slightly conflicting reports in the news about whats going on, but it looks like they're going under.

[Blue_Joe 0]

We've just supplied millions of pounds worth of kit into all there sites

[Jim 2]

Thats quite a shocker.. and i'm frustratingly torn about this.

 

On one side they've had so many bail out attempts by various companies, the government etc - this means they would probably never be profitable so perhaps best that they go under from a FINANCIAL point of view.

 

But on the flip side.. this is the livelyhood of thousands of working men and women, and the last completely British car manufacturer.. this is basically a disaster :(

[craigowl 0]

Greed, strikes which held the country to ransom, and smug complacency started the dismantling of the once revered British car and motorcycle industries in the 1960s and 1970s.

[chrishill 0]

I read through the website proposal they gave my mates, quite frankly it was amaturish and really badly thought through. It crossed my mind at the time that if thats an example of how they work its no wonder they're in trouble.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Does that mean Rover will now dissapear for ever (hurrah! no more metros) or will someone else buy or rebrand them?

 

Quite a shame really as I quite liked the MG Z range, especially the mental £87,000 V8 ZTR or what ever it was called.

[Jim 2]

The MG-ZT with the V8 engine was a bit interesting.. one pulled away from some lights next to me the other day, and by crikey did that engine sound serious!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Rowan Atkinson has bought one and is reporting about it in Evo's 'Fast Fleet'. It's pretty mental according him and they invite you to the factory during it's build (or did!) to choose the interior style and materials!

Not cheap at £87K though!

[Jim 2]

I think we might be getting our wires crossed.. are you on about the MG SV X-Power thing?

 

I was just on about the regular MG saloon that they dropped a de-tuned version of that V8 lump into :)

[chrishill 0]

the dealers were offering 40% discounts last week, get yourself one of the v8's almost half price! shame you'll be getting no warrenty and there'll be no dealers to service the thing...

 

MG SV is a mental beast, they do an option for factory fitted NOS, IIRC the top model with the NOS pushes almost 1000bhp!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Sorry, yeah I was talking about the SV X rated EG TR reverse bias NOS V8 V Power thing! I never could remember all of Rover's MG Z this that and the other....

 

I think it's 500 brake in standard form and looks superb, bar one or two minor tacky external additions.

[coullstar 0]

Pity it looks shit and if you pay £87k for what is basically a Rover you are mad. Think what else you could get for the money.

They were just so stuck in the past as a company, thats where the problem lay. They should have just gotten rid of Rover, downsized and concentrated more on the MG.

 

Its sad that thousands will be out of work but I for one wont lose any sleep that Rover will be gone.

 

Look at Triumph. They have adapted to what the market needed bringing out new bikes and diversifying in the market even after there plant burnt down.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

In your opinion.....and in 1993 people said "£20K for a volkswagen, think what else you could get the for the money".

[coullstar 0]

I can gurantee that it wont age well like the Corrado does.

[craigowl 0]

Many British car workers of my generation contributed to the downward spiral of quality and the industry themselves.

 

In 1969, my wife's British Leyland 1100, bought new in instalments from her hard-earned shift work pay only 3 years previously, collapsed on the tyre jack because of rotten sills. These are the things that colour your prejudices in life.

 

A neighbour when we lived in the west of Scotland worked at the last major car factory in this country. He cited instances of workers cycling out of work after shifts with all manner of components - even car batteries - under their coats. Further, at an appointed time at an appointed factory gate, new tyres could be obtained from the back of a swiftly unloaded van.

Workers like me, a scientific civil servant who only went on strike on 2 days in nearly 40 years in an era when major British strikes were in the news every day for years, can only say "Hell mend you" when companies like Rover go under. I know such companies are British in origin, but the facts are that greedy individuals (England-based union leaders of Scottish birth among them) led to the terminal decline of some of our best industries and employers.

Thatcherism seems to have done for the ego-tripping union leaders and strikes, but generated misery in other ways.

Only honesty, conscientiousness, hard work and general decency by 99% of the population can lead to Utopia. Unlikely to occur in our time.

[mrbeige 0]

Only honesty, conscientiousness, hard work and general decency by 99% of the population can lead to Utopia. Unlikely to occur in our time.

 

I have to agree with that.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Agreed in that it's never likely to happen.....and Laws are only in place for the 5% of the population that don't give a feck.....anyway, moving slightly OT!

[craigowl 0]

My wife and I got a free edition of Saga magazine thro the post a couple of days ago. (Bloody cheek - we still have the mentality of 25 year olds!)

 

This lunchtime, turning to pages 8-9, a double page colour spread of a product described thus:-

"..A heady infusion of wood style fascia, electric sunroof, electric windows, alloy wheels and CD-Tuner.

Pour Homme. Pour Femme. Pour £8995."

The Rover 25 GLi.!!!! :shock:

 

Only those with advanced dementia need visit their local dealer, it should have added.

[chrishill 0]

well, i just heard confirmed reports they've finally pulled the plug and gone into adminstration. The speculations over, rip rover!

[G60Jet 1]

yeah well if rover had done the new mini instead of BMW it would of been a different story i bet

[dinkus 10]

All I can say is, about time.

 

They've been churning out over-priced ancient crap for years. The MG Z incarnations were alright, but as Car Magazine put it "you can't polish a turd" and it was all just way too little, way too late.

 

On the other hand, I do feel for the guys that have now (or soon) lost all their jobs, but if you were working for Rover, then you'd be expecting this sooner or later anyway...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

After BMW took the two biggest sellers from Rover (Land/Range rover and mini), what were they left with? Begger all.

They should not have let BMW have them or highered some lawyers with bigger balls to strap the rest of Rover to the side of the Mini/RR deal.

 

Considering their rescue take over was only a few years ago, they’ve done well to turn out the MG Z range and facelift the other stuff in that time, and with feck all budget.

 

It’s sad….ANOTHER British industry down the toilet. This sodding country will be nothing but Walmart and McDonalds soon.

 

I don’t think another government bail-out would be a good use of tax payers money as the marque has just lost too much credibility amongst badge queen british buyers.

 

It’s a real shame…..Britain once had a heritage of racing and strong engineering skill….can’t think of anything good to say about blightly anymore.

[moneypit23 0]

Maybe the middle lanes on the motorways might get freed up...... i wish

[chrishill 0]

if rover had done the new mini it wouldnt have been as good, therefore not successful!

 

IIRC all bmw held back from phoenix during the sale was the mini name and branding, i could be wrong but i dont think anyone at longbridge had anything to do with the new mini (ie bmw didnt take the designs with them when they upped sticks) knowing rover it would have been branded the mg ZM and looked like the metro with a bodykit on. :)

[craigowl 0]

kevhaywire said

It’s a real shame…..Britain once had a heritage of racing and strong engineering skill…

 

British engineering, hard work, determination and great leadership enabled the RAF, with a lesser volume of material resources to fight the Luftwaffe to a standstill in 1940. The inspiration of that was still around in the early 1960s when I was a teenager. One of our teachers kept on and on about the British shipbuilding industry being threatened by workers in Japan, etc. He kept on and on about it (he was a maths teacher, by the way!) and we wondered what it was all about. As we all know now, he was absolutely spot on.

 

Being the best at one time has oft encouraged smug complacency. The same could happen to companies like VW if they don't take a grip, or unless a car like the Golf MkV resurrects them.

34th in customer satisfaction surveys (a couple of years ago) should have sent out the message loud and clear. Many of our experiences with VW dealerships do not inspire confidence.