Rover

[jordan]

[The_Craws]

Thats pretty good. To be honest if they werent producing cars that people wanted to buy then it had to happen at some point.

[dunganick]

their sales figures have probably never been so good, they should go broke more often

Edited April 24, 2005 by dunganick

[The_Craws]

Theyre now at rock bottom prices. Build quality is terrible so I heard so you need a warranty.

[donkeymagic]

Rover's downfall was primarily due to having a product portfolio that was well past its sell by date coupled with laclustre marketing

 

Build quality was less of an issue in recent times.

 

The Chinese would have only screwed them over in the long run anyway.

 

The value of the Longbridge site in terms of land for development probably also helped seal there fate.

[The_Craws]

I found it strange that a Chinese company would want to move to Birmingham when the trend is for companies to move to China.

[donkeymagic]

I found it strange that a Chinese company would want to move to Birmingham when the trend is for companies to move to China.

Doesnt make sense does it.

 

I can only presume that there would have been enough £ in it for the Chinese to keep production in the UK running. It turns out that there wasnt in the end.

 

There would almost certainly would have been a production facility in China, im pretty sure Shanghai Automotive would have just produced and sold the Rover brand in the Chinese market.

 

I can certainly understand why Rover would want to enter the Chinese market

 

I doubt we will ever know the true ins and outs to be honest. You can though rest assured that the Chinese and the government will now pick the bones of Rover for all its worth.

[Devilishdave]

I have had a 75 for two years now with no problems atal. all in all it is a good car and both me and the wife are very happy with it normaly after two years i am itching to get somthing new. Last two cars b4 the 75 were freelanders and they were both good cars as well.

 

Dave

[Gemini]

The Chinese never wanted the company…only the name. They never had any intentions of building the company up as their intentions were to take the name and the technology back to China. They are still trying to get around the fact that the Rover name is held by BMW, although I doubt that such a little thing like ethics would ever bother them.

I hear that they want to build them in China and ship to the rest of the world, although if any of the Chinese tools that I have foolishly bought in the past are anything to go by, they will probably fall to bits the first time they are used.

As for Rover wanting a share of the Chinese market…forget it...it’s a myth that there is an unlimited market out there. The Chinese market has been over-producing cars for the home market for years, and they have millions of them stored all over the place, with no buyers. So I don’t see where the market in China was.

I live less than ½ mile from the West Works, and I can tell you that there are a hell of a lot of worried families around here. This isn’t just the death of Rover with 6,000 jobs going, it’s also the death of a possible 20,000 other jobs in the supply sector. I have been told that “Triplex”, the people who make the windscreens, could also go down the tubes due to the fact that Rover are their biggest customer. This is without the little family-run businesses such as chip shops, the newsagents and the sandwich shops around the factory who relied totally on the Rover trade to survive.

Rover-Longbridge was the biggest single employer in the area, and my own son worked there for 12 years before take his VR when BMW took over. But I have friends and family who still worked there, and who are now desperately looking for another job in an area where jobs are thin on the ground, and asylum seekers are moving into all the empty council houses, and being given first choice on what jobs are available.

The country has gone ******* mad :<

G.M.

[Fisherman Mike]

Theyre now at rock bottom prices. Build quality is terrible so I heard so you need a warranty.

No problem with the build quality... have a look at my dads Discovery ( New one) and My Brothers Range rover if you want to see poor build quality...

 

My 75 Classic Se which I had for 5 years never missed a beat had no squeeks or rattles, was never recalled and nothing fell off.

 

I still think its a terrible shame that the Marque will dissapear.

 

FM.

[The_Craws]

Oh well I must have heard wrong then.