RIP MG Rover

[Wimster]

Any comments?

[Roswell]

6,000 redundancies.

[Wimster]

only in the UK ? or worldwide?

[Roswell]

All at main the Longbridge factory near Birmingham.

[JaB]

Apperntly the Chinese company that pulled out of the deal already own the rights to to use the "MG-Rover" name...

So watch out for chinese rovers soon

Oh and this whole fuss is just because labour have a bunch of marginals in the midlands, if it were deep in conservative country they'd be shrugging their shoulders saying "so what?"

cynical? moi?


JaB

[p17sut]

It is a shame to loose the British Rover,
I really thought they were doing ok now with all the MG sales

[Punts]

Well it is a big shame for everybody involved or associated with MG Rover but what can you expect when the product is so poor? You can't polish a turd and all that and re-badging and be-spoilering ancient cars was never going to be enough to keep them going.

I feel depserately sorry for the workers because they are innocent in all of this. It hasn't been their individual faults that have seen the company lurch from crisis to crisis for some time now.

I can't see why, though, the Govenrment have loaned the company 6million odd for wages only for the company to tell the staff they can go home for the rest of the week. If you are paying them, they may as well be there doing something. This way they have a week to protest and do something or maybe that is what the Execs at MG Rover hope for so that official bodies are pressured to intervene further somehow.

I do think that the police etc should use Rovers. We should be re-investing the tax payers money in this fashion as a matter of course.

[Fraser]

I think the government and public bodies (including the police) are hidebound by EU rules, although I don't doubt for a minute that the French would find a way around it if it happened to PSA or Renault (i.e cheat).

I think it's a great shame that the closest UK equivalent to Alfa will disappear, or become a Chinese badge. As for the workers, well, what can you say

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by Fraser

As for the workers, well, what can you say

Poor *******s in my opinion......

Underinvested, underated and therefore forced to under-achieve.

The finger should point at the a.holes that thought the 'city rover' would be a viable alternative to a Panda and such like......

Too many big mistakes by too many people. A great, great shame IMO.

[Green Cloverleaf]

This is very sad news , not least for the poor 6,000 workers and all the other small businesses in the area.

I really liked Rovers (hell, my previous two cars before the 156 were a Rover 200 and 25, both bought brand-new).

However, I think they were poorly marketed (and over-priced) with too little investment in new products. After all, it was Rover engineers/designers who came up with the new Mini, which is currently reaping in shedloads of money for BMW

Let's face it, they were shafted when BMW jumped ship and kept/sold all the best parts of the company

[Green Cloverleaf]

Originally Posted by JaB

Apperntly the Chinese company that pulled out of the deal already own the rights to to use the "MG-Rover" name...

So watch out for chinese rovers soon

I think the Chinese have the rights to certain technologies, but I don't think they have the rights to the brand names. Apparently, Rover still own the MG brand name, which is now it's most valuable asset (worth approx £50 million).

Everything else has already been sold by BMW, or were sold off recently to shore up the business.

(see the BBC news site )

[badgers_nadgers]

It's shocking that the guys who took over were allowed to do the financing part themselves. As I understand it, that's the only profitable part of a lot of car manufacturers, and Rover would have struggled (and indeed failed) to recover without that useful source of revenue.

[Spiderman]

Interesting article in this weeks SundayTimes.Alchemy who were going to buy it rather than Phoenix had a plan which involved selling off the volume/Rover bit and downscaling to concentrate on building more profitable MG sports cars.
Hindsight `s a wonderful thing,but you can`t but help think that it was the better business plan.

[Scudetto]

Rover has made some nice cars, and probably it still does. But I don't think it'll be a great loss to the automotive industry. I can't think they've ever led with a product or an idea that has somehow changed the face or thinking of the industry, apart from the asymmetrical split seat on the Metro. Thanks for coming, thanks for the past...but no great loss as a brand, product or technical innovator.

g

[alfaholic]

Originally Posted by Scudetto

But I don't think it'll be a great loss to the automotive industry.g

I can't believe you said that g . I don't understand why some so-called car enthusiasts are happy to see over 100 years of heritage go down the toilet. The British public are obviously happier to see the roads getting clogged with cheap shyte from the Far East (Hyundai/Kia etc)? Rover, and the other obsolete British brands have contributed their fair share of innovation (have you been to Gaydon...you'll know what I mean if you have).
I realise that the current Rovers are based on rather old designs, but a couple of years ago I drove an MG ZS180. Didn't have high expectations to begin with, but that really is a fun and good car to drive. It actually reminds me of my 155 in that it feels light and responsive, unlike so many of todays heavy machines.
In my opinion,the rot started when they deserted Honda. Imagine a current range of Roverised Civics,Accords,Jazzs (all cars that have a damn good reputation). They should have never been sold to BAE, who had no connection with cars to start with. Then came the BMW debarcle and now the end. Optimistically, I can see the MG brand being sold to a larger corporation...although this will also be foreign (the image and heritage is almost on a par with Alfa, so it'd be some buy). As for Rover, who knows. I'd be surprised if the public wanted Chinese built Rovers. So this great illustrious brand goes the same way as many others have done in the past.

Apologies for the mini rant, but this does make me sad.

[Ralf S.]

Yeah.. Rover have been let down by the Phoenix bosses. I read they mat get investigated. Stuffed £Millions into their pensions while cutting the pensions of their oiks... no investment in new models.. flogging anything of value to the Chinese ... it all reeks of the most cynical asset stripping.

It's not just the 6000 employees... all those components had to come from somewhere...!

Ralf S.

[Scudetto]

Alfaholic - it's precisely because I'm a car enthusiast that I'm not that bothered about Rover - as a brand - going. I did say that they have made some nice cars over the years, but so's Toyota...

And Heritage is the same as history but with just the junk and clunkers stripped out and the rosy gloss of nostalgia applied to what's left...and after all these years of mismanagement, what is left?

I guess there's two things here - the cultural loss (which is significant, with Rover's Britishness etc - I don't doubt that) and then the loss to the automotive world (which -IMHO - is less significant).

Or put it this way. If Alfa, Fiat, Lancia and Rover, Skoda and Seat were in an ailing hotair balllon, which would you push out? As we have seen with Alfa, you cannot build a brand - never mind a business model - based on a past glory. And if you strip away Rover's past, what remains?

Let's be clear - I'm not 'pleased' Rover's going, but it's been bleeding for so long now and mistreated by so many, that maybe for its own sake it's time it went, and we sat back and reflected in the warm glow of its heritage. That will remain, even if the brand doesn't.

g

[THROTTLEMAN]

Originally Posted by Green Cloverleaf

Let's face it, they were shafted when BMW jumped ship and kept/sold all the best parts of the company

Same opinion here.

[ajcarter]

Tis a shame, hope the MG brand gets saved somehow...

[Stori]

Well with the rumour mill in over drive it appears that the Chinese Consortium that had its eyes on Rover-MG has turned them towards FIAT www.italiaspeed.com

[alfaholic]

Originally Posted by Scudetto

Or put it this way. If Alfa, Fiat, Lancia and Rover, Skoda and Seat were in an ailing hotair balllon, which would you push out? As we have seen with Alfa, you cannot build a brand - never mind a business model - based on a past glory. And if you strip away Rover's past, what remains?

g

SEAT. No heritage to speak of, just rebodied Volkswagens which replaced rebodied Fiats.

You're right, you cannot build a brand solely on past glory. But it's a damn appealing 'extra' once the product is right. Rover, unfortunately has been starved of the funds to develop the right product. This is due to mismanagement and the actions of different governments. Should a brand die solely due to these? I have total faith in the Rover employees to do good cars if they had the backing. the fact they've kept ageing cars going so long is testament to what they can achieve. Sadly it seems they now won't get the chance.
As good as some 'new' brands are, for me,a car enthusiast, they have absolutely zero appeal above being efficient. Take Lexus, fine cars, but are there owners clubs/forums/museums/race victories(and losses ) to talk about,search online about, attend meetings about. Truely characterful marques like Alfa,Lancia,Rover,MG,Fiat have an undefinable attraction which is lost on the proletariat. The world will be a poorer place without Rover, I can only hope MG is saved and they can produce cars to make this country proud.

[AlfaBoxer145]

Originally Posted by JaB

Apperntly the Chinese company that pulled out of the deal already own the rights to to use the "MG-Rover" name...

So watch out for chinese rovers soon

Oh and this whole fuss is just because labour have a bunch of marginals in the midlands, if it were deep in conservative country they'd be shrugging their shoulders saying "so what?"

cynical? moi?


JaB

What, like the citirover?

[Steve20]

Rover should be saved . I believe their downful was not building on the success of the 216 and 213 to a lesser degree. The Metro reincarnation was fine at first but the inevitable tinkering led to a poorer product. The 25 was never really sure what category it sould occupy. As for todays offerings unless you have a MG 75 is there really anything you fancy. I think not. The sportscar sector is more popular for the old MG's which you still see by the bucketload.

[Chris M]

Before my 145 Cloverleaf and current 156, I owned a 1978 MG Midget for near enough 10 years. I am gutted that the MG marque, let alone Rover, is going down the pan, or even worse going to the Chinese.

The Government should step in and try to save one of the few manufacturing businesses left in this country

[Stori]

Well no Warranties now for existing Rover-MG owners so bad goes to worse or so the UK Telegraph says