if they made decent cars in the first place… 
hey thats not fair. scania make naff trucks but people still buy em 
dave:
hey thats not fair. scania make naff trucks but people still buy em
That should shut him up for a while 
i think rover is a good as car as any but regarding the work its a shame but working in a car plant is like working in a steelworks… your job is constantly under threat now if its excellent money well stay as long as you can and pocket enough cash so when closeure comes you can always go to another job with a couple of quid in your pocket.
also its the knock on effect for car plants for when one shuts its all the little companys that supply them that suffer.
The sales figures for Rover say otherwise though.
The problem with all the UK based manufacturers was the same, they didnt invest in new technology or designs. they relied on out of date vehicles.
British Leyland, MG Rover should have been allowed to die peacefully, by removing the feeding tube
It happened in the truck industry, Leyland Seddon and Atkinson were still building trucks with no power & driver comforts when the Dutch and Swedes were selling the new generation trucks.
In 1972 a Volvo F88 was on sale at similar prices to an Atki Borderer
A Scania 141 was sold to companies while Foden built S26’s
It happened in the motorbike industry too, BSA ,Triumph and Norton just didnt keep up with the investment and technology used by the Japanese, although now the new Triumph range can compete against the best Italian and Japanese bikes
some of the blame has to lye with the workers i remember when rover or what ever it was called had to employ a team of wag men 3 people i know got caught fishing down the cannal when they had phoned in sick the day before and they were all going on strike cos the germans wouldnt let them watch the cup final one year (england v germany ).
BL, it’s predecessors and Rover whether as a state run dinosaur or as a private venture have never really stood a chance, many of the reasons contributing are posted on here already but mostly because it has always been a political football.
When Edwards was running it it could have made progress if Maggie had kept her nose out.
CM:
BL, it’s predecessors and Rover whether as a state run dinosaur or as a private venture have never really stood a chance, many of the reasons contributing are posted on here already but mostly because it has always been a political football.When Edwards was running it it could have made progress if Maggie had kept her nose out.
And it still is the same football.
Why else would TB and GB turn up on Friday after the funeral?
If the people fall for this and vote these losers back in, im George Bush
Michael Edwards was interviewed on Radio 4, and he said that it should have closed down after the sale to BMW
Wheel Nut:
CM:
BL, it’s predecessors and Rover whether as a state run dinosaur or as a private venture have never really stood a chance, many of the reasons contributing are posted on here already but mostly because it has always been a political football.When Edwards was running it it could have made progress if Maggie had kept her nose out.
And it still is the same football.
Why else would TB and GB turn up on Friday after the funeral?
If the people fall for this and vote these losers back in, im George Bush
Michael Edwards was interviewed on Radio 4, and he said that it should have closed down after the sale to BMW
Yes! I heard the same interview, he also said that his instruction was to close it and use the Government money for redundancy payments instead of investment in the company and new proucts. Clearly an instruction from the political masters.
It’s a fantastic dilema for the government isn’t it?
If they bail the company out there will be voters all over the place saying “look at them, throwing our taxes down the tubes again and they’ll be coming to us for more soon too no doubt”. On the other hand if they let the company fold they will lose just about every vote within 50 miles of Longbridge.
Qhunter:
It’s a fantastic dilema for the government isn’t it?If they bail the company out there will be voters all over the place saying “look at them, throwing our taxes down the tubes again and they’ll be coming to us for more soon too no doubt”. On the other hand if they let the company fold they will lose just about every vote within 50 miles of Longbridge.
Quite right, but successive Governments and therefor successive Managements have been papering over the cracks for years and failing to address the problem instead of making decisive plans and sticking with them, they deserve all they get, the unfortunate thing is it is not the Goverment or management that suffer, its always the workforce, those in the least position to benefit pay the highest price. 
Trouble is that creates another issue, that of disafected Labour voters who by trying to punsh TB and GB will allow a Tory Government back in with Howard at the helm and return us to the high unemployment days of boom and bust politics, why, so the have’s can have some more. 
i had a rover 214 it wasn’t built that well when i put it in that ditch and hit that gate post at 40 mph it fell apart 
might sort out the supposed driver shortage in the west mids with 7000 bods to train as hgv drivers
jon
jonboy:
i had a rover 214 it wasn’t built that well when i put it in that ditch and hit that gate post at 40 mph it fell apartmight sort out the supposed driver shortage in the west mids with 7000 bods to train as hgv drivers
jon
Surely that would mean a large amount of unemployed eastern european drivers?, thats just not politically correct is it?.
Giving jobs to the Brits? Nah cant see it.
If Rover had got rid of the unions they might have stood a chance.
So that just leaves 1 mass producer of British cars in the Uk then i guess?.
So that just leaves 1 mass producer of British cars in the Uk then i guess?.
Who pray, might that be?
I think if they had got rid of the unions earlier, there may still have been a car industry in Britain
manganese.com/ its still a car and as far as i know they are the ONLY British company still making cars in Britain (owned by a British company).
jammymutt:
http://www.manganese.com/ its still a car and as far as i know they are the ONLY British company still making cars in Britain (owned by a British company).
True but its not mass production. Are TVR, another low volume manufacturer still British owned?
Wheel Nut:
I think if they had got rid of the unions earlier, there may still have been a car industry in Britain
Flipping hell! I’ve been slagged off left, right and centre for my opinion of Rover. I come here and you all share the same views!
Wheel Nut and others are right, it was the unions that started this. Nobody seems to remember the continuous strike action during the 70s and 80s and everybody has forgotten the infamous “Red Robbo”.
I used to live 100yds from “U” gate in the East Works, most of the kids I went to school with ended up getting apprenticeships there or working on the track. I used to sell the Birmingham Evening Mail on one of the gates, after school. Over the years, I’ve delivered everything from forgings to interior trim to dashboards etc. into various parts of the plant.
I could tell you stories you wouldn’t believe about the workforce in Rover, lazy bunch of [zb]! My mate used to fit windscreen wipers to cars, got paid nearly £20k per annum (excluding shift allowances, bonuses for this, bonuses for that), working a 7 hour shift per day (+ 1 hour for breaks), and he’d still moan that working conditions were awful - can you believe it?
The only people I feel sorry for are employees of companies that supply Rover. They’ve never had the premium pay and reduced shifts. Most of them will find themselves out of work because of these bunch of [zb]'s.
Got to end the rant here or I’ll end up giving myself a coronary! the only good thing to come out of this is that they’ll see what conditions the rest of us have to put up with then they’ll realise how easy they had it!
Nice try, but WAY too obvious! L.
brummie:
Wheel Nut:
I think if they had got rid of the unions earlier, there may still have been a car industry in BritainFlipping hell! I’ve been slagged off left, right and centre for my opinion of Rover. I come here and you all share the same views!
Wheel Nut and others are right, it was the unions that started this. Nobody seems to remember the continuous strike action during the 70s and 80s and everybody has forgotten the infamous “Red Robbo”.
I used to live 100yds from “U” gate in the East Works, most of the kids I went to school with ended up getting apprenticeships there or working on the track. I used to sell the Birmingham Evening Mail on one of the gates, after school. Over the years, I’ve delivered everything from forgings to interior trim to dashboards etc. into various parts of the plant.
I could tell you stories you wouldn’t believe about the workforce in Rover, lazy bunch of [zb]! My mate used to fit windscreen wipers to cars, got paid nearly £20k per annum (excluding shift allowances, bonuses for this, bonuses for that), working a 7 hour shift per day (+ 1 hour for breaks), and he’d still moan that working conditions were awful - can you believe it?
The only people I feel sorry for are employees of companies that supply Rover. They’ve never had the premium pay and reduced shifts. Most of them will find themselves out of work because of these bunch of [zb]'s.
Got to end the rant here or I’ll end up giving myself a coronary! the only good thing to come out of this is that they’ll see what conditions the rest of us have to put up with then they’ll realise how easy they had it!
Couldn’t agree more, especially the last paragraph.