rover

[godskitchen 0]

Its a MASSIVE blow for Birmingham, having worked there and having some good friends (as well as ex's) living in Brum i know just about everyone in that city will be effected! If you didnt know someone that worked in the Rover plant, you knew someone that worked in a place that had something to do with Rover.

 

Birmingham has always had a bad rep IMO and it was just starting to pull itself into the 21st century, this has to be a big knock back!

[chubbybrown 0]

I cant fault the 75 series of cars and its Bmw engines.

 

Other models have thier faults but what doesnt,

I would buy a no warranty car as long as you know the characteristics of the vehicle.

 

Bottom Line,it was sold to BMW for a £1 and they took what they wanted and sold the rest to the managers,Ironic it was called PhoeniX

 

As for maggie,she Stole my Milk.

I saw a nice bit of kids tv the other night where some kid was slating maggie and asking where she would be in a nuclear war*lol*

The thatcher Years turned everybody into a 'I'm olright jack attitude'

and it still goes today.

Personally I mourned The Death of ERF the last British truck maker,spookily now owned by Germans as well and Built in Poland I think.

Sandbach as far as I know just shifts parts and Assemble ?

Anyway I asked the Boss For a new ERF rather than a DAF because as crap as they are they are viable,cheaper,better warranty and hopefully will last as long as my Last ERF.but if it helps keep some Brits in work,so be it.

If You buy trucks to pose your in the wrong game.

[chubbybrown 0]

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.

 

Nice post Kev

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Why thank you sir.

 

Yes I remember Maggie swiping the little milk bottles away from us, too! Was the highlight of my primary school days!

 

Still, we can't bash England too much..... we're still world leaders in F1 and Rallying technology :wink:

[godskitchen 0]

Britan, the forth biggest economy in the world, it can build good cars but it seems not when the company is british, just look at how well the Nissan plant in sunderland is doing! IIRC its the best performing car plant in europe???

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah I think they hold the record for assembling a car.... I'm sure they can build a Micra in an hour or something silly like that? Anyone confirm?

 

The thing with British industry is we very much have the ability and know-how, but seldom apply it, well, certainly not like we used to in the 'good old days' and as ever, the government quash any good ideas and don't back/finance them. The silent road surface being one such example I can think of right now....

 

We invented a rubberised tarmac in the 50s which was hard wearing and near silent....the government snubbed it and the Germans bought the patent and use it on their roads instead. There must be loads of British inventions that never came to fruition due to our draconian government?

[coolrado 0]

britain still make the best handling and looking sports cars though tvr, westfield, lotus, morgan, aerial, ginetta, marcos, ac and plenty of unique kit car manufacturers. i think we should stick to what we are good at, britain has never really been that good at managing mass production when it comes to cars

[godskitchen 0]

The Brits turned away Albert Einstein, the US took him in................. the rest as they say is history!

[Jim 2]

Being a Coventrian, lets not even get me started on the British government and its attitude to Sir Frank Whittle and the jet engine.

 

Its no wonder he wanted nothing to do with the country after the war really.. and what amazes me is how we STILL don't have a statue to celebrate him or something in this city..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Wasn't the mega talented Brunel British?

 

His work is everywhere, but seldom acknowledged.

[shaung60 0]

Lots of history here:

 

http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/

[G60Jet 1]

shall we buy the plant for £1 and start building a new corrado.

 

seriously i bet that eastern motor group buy rover for £1 and cherry pick the bit they want. lets face it if you were a business man what would you do?

[godskitchen 0]

you know the "CITY ROVER" looked such a great little car!!! i was thinking about getting one but i am not so sure now, how can a company with such a great little car go bust????? HUmmmmmm just dont get it!

 

i mean if rover were making bad cars for the last 10 years i would understand!

 

LMAO

[oxfordpaul 0]

Funny actually, just past a City Rover (the first i've seen on the road i think!) and it was an 04 reg broken down with a puddle of fluid underneath it - says it all really!

[godskitchen 0]

As a child i was often seen crying.................... this is the reason why!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I still to this day get weepy when i see this car!

 

worst looking car ever IMO!!!!

[Jim 2]

Wasn't the mega talented Brunel British?

 

His work is everywhere, but seldom acknowledged.

 

Both Brunel and his son were men of exceptional genius.. I was off work a few months back and as you do in a morning, grab a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea and vegetate in front of the TV for a few hours. There was a history program on about both of them and it was genuinely fascinating.

 

I barely knew anything about the Brunels before that program but i'm now well aware of what they achieved!

[vr6storm 0]

Funny actually, just past a City Rover (the first i've seen on the road i think!) and it was an 04 reg broken down with a puddle of fluid underneath it - says it all really!

 

.......well not really.......City-rovers are actually made in ...........INDIA!!!!

[samm_cvr6 0]

that city rover is so bad, especially in this day and age. I think it may well become the fastest depreciating car on the road today! lol. The Honda car plant in Swindon is also seeing record numbers built and expansion plans so yes, something doesn't add up. I think it's the top/fat cats who have messed up the co.

[Guest]

MG Rover in the UK IS effectively dead - SAIC, in paying an interim £67M last month bought all the rights to the MG name, Rover name, the 25, 75 and K series engine range so we may well continue to see MG Rovers - ableit made in China. I may be wrong but I believe MG X Power who manufacture the SV was effectively made a seperate company who have to pay SAIC to use the MG brand.

 

I honestly don't what can be salvaged - MG Rover don't own the Longbridgre site as this was sold and leased back in a deal done in 2004 - so that leaves them with the CityRover, 45 / ZS and MG TF plus whatever loose change they find down the side of the sofa - feel very sorry for the workforce who in the last couple of years have done a superb job

 

Incidentally, was contacted by MG Rover Park lane (Phoenix owned dealer) this afternoon and offered a brand new SV from £40k - not a bad discount from the £75k list but you'd haqve to be brave

[godskitchen 0]

I wpuld like to bet £1000 that sales of Rover cars go UP next month, if a deal is struck!

[Guest]

I did consider an MG ZT V8 but even with the 40% discount I was offered I was nervous about the future of the company. What has killed sales is not that the cars are old fashioned. its more to do with a lack of customer confidence - theres going to be some bargain new cars around for the brave in the next few months

[chubbybrown 0]

Nothing personal to Rover but I'd rather your car Andy

[Guest]

Sums up why MG Rover are in their current position - we'd rather be driving 8 - 14 year old cars than anything that they produce. I reckon skip hire companys could replace all of their current skips by taking all the CityRovers with sunroofs that are available

[vr6storm 0]

Sums up why MG Rover are in their current position - we'd rather be driving 8 - 14 year old cars than anything that they produce. I reckon skip hire companys could replace all of their current skips by taking all the CityRovers with sunroofs that are available

 

 

believe me skip companies wouldn't want to go too downmarket for their skips :-P :-P :-P

[Storm 0]

Rover was screwed from the moment BMW dumped it off on Pheonix, it was business genius dropping a pup onto some VC backed guys with the crown jewels (Land Rover & Mini) stripped out. £10 for the company and £500m in working capital sounds like a good deal, until you saw the cash burn. BMW made a big mistake buying Rover and got out before it seriously hurt them. It turned into a great deal if you look at the success of the Mini.

 

Without serious money and risky return the company never had the financial clout to both improve infrastructure and develop new cars. The Citi Rover was an example of how desperate things were, beyond sheeeee-ite. Can we sell a few units and sod the consequences please?

 

Some would say that in any eventuality there is over capacity and the industry needed a casualty. I really hope I'm wrong, there are alot of famillies who's lives are going to be turned upside down as a result of this, although at the rate of knotts Gordon Brown is burning cash there are plenty of Pubic Sector Jobs to go round. Bottom line is that its goodbye to Birmingham, it would be cheaper to build a new plant than put money into Longbridge. A Govt bailout only serves to prolong the inevitable.

 

As for the brand it has value, look at the rebirth of Skoda. The future depends on the value of the brand. VW can sell a golf badged as: VW, SEAT, Skoda or Audi. GM Can sell a platform in the UK as Vauxhall or Saab. Fraud have Volvo, Mazda and Land Rover. My money is on VW, they know the most about badge engineering. :-P