30 replies to this topic

[njathind]

Have been doing some research into the demise of MG Rover group recently and think it's a real shame MG Rover has gone. Just think what could have been if Leyeland got things right and was still going strong today. What could have happened if the workers saw through "RED ROBO" the union leader and got him out? If Maggies hardnuts hadn't sold off everything good about the group, Jaguar, Triumph Landrover would all be british built and british owned today and still running, and what if the managment got things right? I appreciate British Leyland was probably a little too big to manage properly but I just cant help but think, what if Rover had a little more time to fix things in 2005, what if the nanjing company had invested, would we have a 75 coupe today, the BMW mini could possibly have been built at longbridge like it was supposed to have been ad all of these advanced concepts for the time could have saved Rover from administration, it also could have helped in the reccession, there would be thousands of jobs provided for the UK, If only the government had injected the money they gave to northern rock had been injected into MG Rover group, Longbridge would still have been here today, as something to be proud of.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

But the rover production line would have needed so much changing in order to make it fit for producing the MINI. Compare Oxford and Longbridge before it was knocked down and the different is huge.

[njathind]

But the rover production line would have needed so much changing in order to make it fit for producing the MINI. Compare Oxford and Longbridge before it was knocked down and the different is huge.

But wurely it would have been cheaper to adapt the classic mini production line than to build a whole new factory for the BMW mini?

[Stevee]

to be honest

we need a british car company again

if you look back some of the car we made we're beautiful & some we're ugly.

yeah fine we didnt get it right frist time but after few more adtempts we did

the austin 7 was one for the greatest british cars ever made!

land rover one of the best selling 4x4 in the world and there british made

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

to be honest

we need a british car company again

if you look back some of the car we made we're beautiful & some we're ugly.

yeah fine we didnt get it right frist time but after few more adtempts we did

the austin 7 was one for the greatest british cars ever made!

land rover one of the best selling 4x4 in the world and there british made

We still have Lotus and Caterham and the likes that are doing very well in motorsport... But i do agree it would be great if we could start mass producing cars again.

[njathind]

to be honest

we need a british car company again

if you look back some of the car we made we're beautiful & some we're ugly.

yeah fine we didnt get it right frist time but after few more adtempts we did

the austin 7 was one for the greatest british cars ever made!

land rover one of the best selling 4x4 in the world and there british made

I know, a proper british mass production car company is what we need to fix everything wrong in this country, it would create a lot mor jobs, and we all would have something to be proud of, the one thing that annoys me is the fact the government did stuff all to help it recover, sure they covered wages but that was baout it, from all the research I've done there were some cracking concepts in the pipeline, they had some great looking MPV's, a 75 Coupe which looked stunning and a whole host of others, theye were looking at outsourcing the K-series engine to Kia, It's sad to look at what could have been, I think if they had the resources they would have turned the companie round by the end of 2005. It's so sad its inspired me to spend the £2000 to repair my cooper and I have vowed to only buy british cars, be it classic or modern.

[njathind]

Rover 75 Coupe Videos

God, what I'd do to get my hands on one of these prototypes.

MG 7, The new 75

Apparently Ford own the rover name, and brought it for £10, if i'd have known I'd have brought the name just to have saved it, so much for Rover coming back.

Edited by njathind, 30 May 2010 - 04:52 PM.

[njathind]

Rover 75 Coupe Videos

God, what I'd do to get my hands on one of these prototypes.

MG 7, The new 75

Apparently Ford own the rover name, and brought it for £10, if i'd have known I'd have brought the name just to have saved it, so much for Rover coming back.

Sorry they did own Rover, but they sold it allong with Land Rover and Jaguar to TATA.

[Cooperman]

You could write a very thick book and the failures of BMC/BLMC/Austin-Rover/Rover, etc.
Compared to Ford and GM they were an absolute shambles from about 1963 onwards.
There were too many models, too many different engines (there were even 2 types of 1275 A-series), poor manufaturing technology, militant unions who thought the world owed them a living, weak management.
All this as a negative, but as a positive super design technology and innovation.
I used to run an independent engineering design company and we did a lot of work for BLMC from about 1976 onwards. There were so many models that each one made a loss and the QC was skimped in an effort to improve margins. This left no profit available for future development and the policy was to sell what they made and not to re-invest in rationalised future model development.
Ford and Vauxhall competed model-for-model against each other. BLMC also competed with itself, e.g Rover 2000 against Triumph 2000 against Princess 1800/ 2200 - same market sector. For the same money you could get a Ford Granada with better performance, ride, handling and quality - I had a Granada 3000 Coupe at that time and when a BLMC manager drove it he said, "If only we made something like that". His company car was a Princess 2200.
So little was spent on new model engineering that they even had to manufature a Japanese car and call it a Triumph Acclaim.
All Thatcher did was to try to make the company stand or fall on its product profitability. Since there were no profits it failed. Jag was best sold off as their products declined in every way once BL got their hands on them. I had a pre-BL Jag XJ6 and it was great. Then I had BL Jag XJ6 Coupe and it was very poor and unreliable. I swapped it for a 7-Series BMW and have had BMW's ever since then (1980).
They brought their demise on themselves by total incompetence, unionisation and bad management.

[Stevee]

Yeah ford only brought it cause they could

and

only reason the classic mini went out of production was cause it wasnt meeting EU Regultions On Emissions and Safety

But to be honest Stuff The EU no matter who's in power the EU runs this county

i want us out of the EU! so we can be inderpented again! everything went down hill when we joined Them!!

our car factorys should come back!

even if its Austin, Morris, Mg, Triampy, i dont care who!

we should be proud of what British leyland built!
and should be made in this country!

sorry but i hate goverments at times, if i had the cash i'd buy Austin and make new cars!

[njathind]

You could write a very thick book and the failures of BMC/BLMC/Austin-Rover/Rover, etc.
Compared to Ford and GM they were an absolute shambles from about 1963 onwards.
There were too many models, too many different engines (there were even 2 types of 1275 A-series), poor manufaturing technology, militant unions who thought the world owed them a living, weak management.
All this as a negative, but as a positive super design technology and innovation.
I used to run an independent engineering design company and we did a lot of work for BLMC from about 1976 onwards. There were so many models that each one made a loss and the QC was skimped in an effort to improve margins. This left no profit available for future development and the policy was to sell what they made and not to re-invest in rationalised future model development.
Ford and Vauxhall competed model-for-model against each other. BLMC also competed with itself, e.g Rover 2000 against Triumph 2000 against Princess 1800/ 2200 - same market sector. For the same money you could get a Ford Granada with better performance, ride, handling and quality - I had a Granada 3000 Coupe at that time and when a BLMC manager drove it he said, "If only we made something like that". His company car was a Princess 2200.
So little was spent on new model engineering that they even had to manufature a Japanese car and call it a Triumph Acclaim.
All Thatcher did was to try to make the company stand or fall on its product profitability. Since there were no profits it failed. Jag was best sold off as their products declined in every way once BL got their hands on them. I had a pre-BL Jag XJ6 and it was great. Then I had BL Jag XJ6 Coupe and it was very poor and unreliable. I swapped it for a 7-Series BMW and have had BMW's ever since then (1980).
They brought their demise on themselves by total incompetence, unionisation and bad management.

I know it's a real shame, and I can understand the fact they just over complicated things, it's just a shame that MG Rover group couldn't have been salvaged as they seemd to get it right, they shared engines and drivetrains and many other parts, as I said its as shame to see what could have been, and as I said if they had a little more time I think the ywould still be here today with their cracking MPV concept and 75 Coupe

[njathind]

Edited by njathind, 30 May 2010 - 05:30 PM.

[Stevee]

MG Rover Had a lot Of Biddings With Honda In The 90's

what happened with al that?

[njathind]

Yeah ford only brought it cause they could

and

only reason the classic mini went out of production was cause it wasnt meeting EU Regultions On Emissions and Safety

But to be honest Stuff The EU no matter who's in power the EU runs this county

i want us out of the EU! so we can be inderpented again! everything went down hill when we joined Them!!

our car factorys should come back!

even if its Austin, Morris, Mg, Triampy, i dont care who!

we should be proud of what British leyland built!
and should be made in this country!

sorry but i hate goverments at times, if i had the cash i'd buy Austin and make new cars!

I know what you mean, It's a shame us sensible lot didn't club together to buy MG Rover group and continue with the projects the groub embarked on to try and save themselves, such as stunning MPV concept they had which was way ahed of it's time, the 75 Coupe. and they were looking at outsourcing the K-series engine to KIA, infact when longbridge closed they found a KIA pride with I think iranian plates on it, it was open and had a K-series engine in it, they had to move the inlet manifild and whatnot to get it to fit though, in fact the releas form found int the car was dated 3 or 4 days after the closure of MG Rover group.

Sometimes it's better to live in dream land

[Cooperman]

You could write a very thick book and the failures of BMC/BLMC/Austin-Rover/Rover, etc.
Compared to Ford and GM they were an absolute shambles from about 1963 onwards.
There were too many models, too many different engines (there were even 2 types of 1275 A-series), poor manufaturing technology, militant unions who thought the world owed them a living, weak management.
All this as a negative, but as a positive super design technology and innovation.
I used to run an independent engineering design company and we did a lot of work for BLMC from about 1976 onwards. There were so many models that each one made a loss and the QC was skimped in an effort to improve margins. This left no profit available for future development and the policy was to sell what they made and not to re-invest in rationalised future model development.
Ford and Vauxhall competed model-for-model against each other. BLMC also competed with itself, e.g Rover 2000 against Triumph 2000 against Princess 1800/ 2200 - same market sector. For the same money you could get a Ford Granada with better performance, ride, handling and quality - I had a Granada 3000 Coupe at that time and when a BLMC manager drove it he said, "If only we made something like that". His company car was a Princess 2200.
So little was spent on new model engineering that they even had to manufature a Japanese car and call it a Triumph Acclaim.
All Thatcher did was to try to make the company stand or fall on its product profitability. Since there were no profits it failed. Jag was best sold off as their products declined in every way once BL got their hands on them. I had a pre-BL Jag XJ6 and it was great. Then I had BL Jag XJ6 Coupe and it was very poor and unreliable. I swapped it for a 7-Series BMW and have had BMW's ever since then (1980).
They brought their demise on themselves by total incompetence, unionisation and bad management.

I know it's a real shame, and I can understand the fact they just over complicated things, it's just a shame that MG Rover group couldn't have been salvaged as they seemd to get it right, they shared engines and drivetrains and many other parts, as I said its as shame to see what could have been, and as I said if they had a little more time I think the ywould still be here today with their cracking MPV concept and 75 Coupe

It would appear that the money given to the 'Phoenix Four' went to some extent into the pension funds of the individuals conerned! The 25 & 75 were excellent oncepts but, unfortunately, no better than what the competitors were offering for the same or slightly less. I still have a Rover 214Si which is my Endurance Rally car and it is excellent.
BMW had no option but to pull out as the historic losses were damaging them in the same way that the junk being produced by Chrysler damaged Daimler Benz during their ownership. Rover never got their production engineering right or their market sector defined and target pricing correct.
Yes, it is sad that we don't make cars any more, but both unions and management have to take their share of the blame. It's not so different in Detroit where Ford and GM have had to make some serious decisions following their inability to produce cars that Americans wanted to buy. The penny should have dropped when imports into the USA were over 50% of total cars sold.
As I said, someone could/should write a thick book about the failures of BMC/Rover.