Wish

iTrader: (2)

It might have been raped and dumped by BMW. But thats still no excuse.
The paper are reporting a £400m hole in its pention fund, feel sorry for the people affected.

PCatWork

I don't think it was a great wheeze for BMW, but sad to see it go in any case. It's a shame they didn't make many decent cars.

chiark

Good to see our Trade Secretary doing her bit to really bolster the attractiveness of the company to any potential bidders. FFS, why not just have her announce that they're utterly doomed?

Just whose side is she supposed to be on?

scoobkev

so practicly it got humped by bmw

corradoboy

I'm no business guru, particularly in the car trade, but ever since BMW dropped them like a smelly turd they've done nothing but the wrong thing. At the time of the big BMW dumping, the UK was alive with bitterness about EU imports and car pricing. Countless thousands were crossing The Channel to buy cars and bag huge savings along with import companies setting up left, right and centre doing the job for you. So, along comes the Phoenix Group heading Britains only major car company and what do they do ? Put up prices in the UK, their biggest market by far, and further alienate the very people whom will give them any chance of success. They could have lead by example and given the UK buyer not so much a bargain, but pricing in line with our EU neighbours and stolen sales from the other majors but in typical greedy British blindfolded business policy they thought everyone would support them without any incentive. We aren't the French, and they ain't Renault ! Then they blow God only knows how much on an expensive, low volume, niche supercar wannabe. For the price can anybody really say the MG SV is really a great car, good value or even one of the better cars in it's class ? No ! It's a donkey ! So instead of enticing in buyers with keen pricing and researching ways to revive their ageing line up, they have just ripped people off and ponced about trying to be supercar builders, and people wonder where it all went wrong. The 75 is OK for the middle to old age businessman, but why try to give it street cred by injecting V8 engines, rear wheel drive and Max Power looks, when it is never going to sell in enough quantities to justify the R&D costs, whilst all the while your large volume selling supermini starts to draw it's pension and buyers disappear in search of something interesting and fresh. A new 25 would have been a much wiser idea than a 75 with muscle, and just who thought a 75 two door would be appealling The old 800 2door was bland enough, and hardly sold. They also devalued like Hell as even taxi drivers wouldn't want them for the obvious reason. Then there was the pinnacle of Rover stupidity, the Streetwise matched only by the equally appauling business decision to rebadge a 3rd world POS as a credible supermini and price it similarly to the best out there from Toyota/VW/Renault et al.

I'm sorry, but a line needs drawing under this sad, sorry catalogue of ridiculous mismanagement. It is sad to see the last bastion of major British car making die, but it deserves to crash and burn in a spectacular ball of fire for the sheer ineptitude by which it has been run. Farewell, you won't be missed, unfortunately.

mart360

wait for the told you so comments!!!

it was wildly tipped (and now true) that the take over and 5 years approx afterwards would be relativley ok, the concern would come when the current crop of vehicles was due to be replaced.

facelifts dont change the inevitable, and given the huge r&d and development cost, it isnt surprising what has happened.

unfortunatly a lot of other companys will also suffer because of this,

Mart

Horico

MG-Rover will be here for some time to come.......The press are simply jumping on the bandwagon as the press do and it seems that the public are doing the same which explains your post.

Your entitled to your view, so I'm not going to bang on in defence of MG-Rover, but as 'the british public' we need to support them simply by ensuring we have all the facts to hand rather than following the lead of sensationalist press reports.

I'd rather take the stance that the next year will really see whether they're done for or not.....

Oh, but the MG SV - a donkey? I take it you've driven one and also all of the other cars in it's 'class'? Please don't take this as confrontational but I just like to read factual, informative opinions rather than unsupported assumptions and sheep like trolling.

Wish

iTrader: (2)

LOL .... Putting a Union Jack on a City Rover Dont make it a good car !

The likes of Skoda and Seat and Kia have just swallowed up there market share. Rover will never survive.

I worked to a company that gave Rovers as company cars .... It was a joke. Mine was never with me, it was always in the garage. It was a complete pile of ****e.
The company then took the step to dump the lot of them all in one go. Take a HUGE Loss and start again.


Bye Bye Rover

Horico

i agree, the city rover isn't **** hot....

sounds like your experience is one that any number of people can have with any manufacturer, it's just a lot easier to say these things about a company like MG-Rover as the press has given Joe Public a license to do it....

I guess we'll see in the end.....my guess is that they will survive....

David Lock

So the Chinese will squeeze out the £100m promise from HMG knowing that it's mostly an election bribe and then buy out Rover for £10 a la BMW. Keep on a few key workers for technology transfer and then in a couple of years we will have Chinese built reliable Rovers at half the current UK price?

Dieseldog

Always felt sorry for BMW in this whole affair. They were villified for throwing in the towel, yet no-one recognises the intransigence and obstinacy of the Rover Management that contributed to their decision, nor the generous £500m divorce settlement/dowry they gave the Phoenix Four.

BAe should have sold Austin Rover to Honda who had worked closely with Rover over many years, but they chased the money on offer from BMW instead. Since this point Rover Management and the Phoenix Four have been the architects of the companies downfall. IMO

Horico

Felt sorry for BMW?

BMW didn't give the money, this is still on loan and is to be paid back....

The P4 have been solely responsible for keeping the company going since BMW left....

I think I'll pretty much let this thread go cos I'm starting to sound like a preacher...lol

corradoboy

They might be half the current UK price elsewhere, not a chance of seeing those prices here

Diablo

LOL

Rover has cost BMW millions already.

Should have been sold to Alchemy Partners, but they only offered a £1 for it. They would have binned the management and turned it around. May have involved some harsh cuts, but that's what Rover needed.

Instead what happened was that BWM were sold a pup and taken for a ride over what they had bought. To be fair, they must share an element of the blame for a lack of due dilligence.

The only people to profit from this have been the Phoenix 4.

For the record, the above is neither press rumour or speculation.

Dieseldog

Yeah, it's a "loan", but do you really think BMW expected to get it back??? It's obvious that £500m bought a fuse that lasts 4 or 5 years and then - BOOM - the inevitable happens. £500m enables BMW to get a long way from the scene. It wouldn't surprise me if the Phoenix 4 realised this also, and pay themselves as much as they can grab whilst they count down...

When you compare what John Towers and his pals have taken from the company with what the future holds for Rover engineers and track workers it is shocking and disgusting

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Let's not forget that the Exec's are still getting enormous bonus's and share deals! They don't need their pension funds?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Do you lot really think we will get away with it that easily ?, the Rover 25/45/75 will be around another 20 years with updated lights and bumpers every 2 years. I am still a Rover supporter in that its British industry but to be honest even though the cars arent as bad as some on here make out, they aint that good either.

Tim-Grove

Good riddance I say. Boring cars, built badly and bad after sales, always have been. The only people that I feel for is the people who have managed to be lumbered with a job at the place, bad management over many years will eventually lead to thousands of people’s life’s made a lot harder.

This it not just confined to British car manufactures by any means. The management of most large UK company’s since the early 80’s has been totally selfish, decisions and company directions have only been made to maximise profit at all costs and to give management bigger bonus's and perks. No consideration at all has been given to the workforce of these company’s, the very people who keep these company’s running day to day and attempting to make good all the bad ideas and decisions that they’ve been given to work with. Why punish loyal workers for bad planning by someone that they’ve probably never even met, I say raid the directors pensions, share save schemes and wages to put back into the pension fund, I know it would only be a drop in the ocean compared to what they have robbed out of it in the first place but it would be more of a deterrent to directors that don’t really care because even if the company does go under they will be looked after.

Tim-Grove

Just the thinking i was just talking about, screw the workforce.

Petem95

Rover have betrayed their customers in a way. Many people 'want' to a buy a British car, and so get a Rover to support the company.

As a result Rover has simply played these people by adding 'union jack flags' etc onto their hopeless range of outdated cars.

Feel sorry when I see an old grandad in a CitiRover - spent 7k of his savings on some pile of **** rebadged Tata which will lose 60% of its value in 2years because he wants to support UK industry.

Dieseldog

You've seen him as well!?

Luan Pra bang

Rover can't afford the R+D costs to build new cars so they re-badged old stuff to try to keep things going it diddn't work but all in I think I would have tried to do the same. Launching the MG badge to improve image would have been a good move if the British press had not taken every opportunity to savage the company. BMW took what they wanted; the Mini badge and then off they went having secured one of the best brand names in British motoring history. This country is the home of the worlds motor sport and has produced fantastic cars ie Rolls Royce, Bentley , Aston Martin Jaguar etc. The problem is that no one with the right amount of cash has ever taken advantage of these names instead other firms have taken over all these top brands and made proper use of them. There can be no short term win in the automotive industry Triumph make some fantasic motor bikes but still invest more money than they take out 17 years after reforming with out that level of investment Rover is guaranteed to fail. VAG, GM , FORD etc dominate the worlds motor industry and can afford to invest and wait for results Rover just can't compete on that level.

Luan Pra bang

The 75 is a good car at what it does. A friend has one and offers build quality and reliability alot cheaper than any of the German competition. 70K miles from new and no problems outside usual servicing.

mart360

erm,
i think not...

ask several of my colleagues who went to work for twr on the rover projects... they were made redundant as were all of twr .. the rover projects were canned by rover.

prehaps you ought to ask any tier one supplier what new business they have had from rover in the last five years...... as i said facelifts dont stall the inevitable.. the MG SV was in at our place some time before its release, we said then that its pricing strategy was all wrong... its no good having eye candy , you need to deliver the goods.

still it may put an end to the k series engine once and for all

M

mart360

unless its the v6... ask your local dealer how much for a plug change!!!

M

Horico

yes, as soon as MG-Rover make a profit, they start repayments....funny how they're still technically a loss making company isn't it.....

Sorry, that was a direct question so I had to reply....i'll stop now..

Dieseldog

So what you're suggesting is that, actually, they're making shed loads but through creative accountancy they're hiding this, thus avoiding having to repay BMW's loan. Sorry Horico, I don't buy that.

Daz34

Agreed. I always felt they treated Honda badly after they had introduced Rover to modern working practices & quality control & introduced new technology, like the K Series engine, to replace the outdated designs.

P_v_G

My God!!! Dont let Red Robbo hear you say that!!

paul.

ps. actually is RR still around, last I saw of him was on a docu about trade unions and "enemys of the state" a couple of years ago.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I suppose the Germans have got their way, they have tried before but I suppose they have won, the whole country now wants a BMW/Audi/Merc, would have been nice if the boot were on the other foot, but they were too far behind due to strikes and ropey product, people dont forget that quickly, what goes around comes around.