So Farewell then MG Rover…..

So it’s the end of the road for MG Rover to coin a hackneyed old cliché. To be honest the writing has been on the wall since the unions crippled the company, mainly via the Derek Robinson sponsored wildcat strikes in the 70’s. Thatcher was always going to ensure that no more taxpayers money would prop it up, nor would the workers be allowed to hold the government to ransom. In some ways it’s a shame because I never thought I’d see volume car manufacturing from a wholly British company disappear entirely, but it seems this is inevitable. I am a socialist at heart (albeit on the Champagne side) and sympathise with the genuine hard working people there, but the facts remain, the company is entirely privately owned and as such I don’t think the government should get involved. The money they’re putting in is after all taxpayers money, and we effectively have no stake in the company after it was privatised. The consortium that took it over have made quite a few quid from the last few years, with bonus schemes and inflated pensions and they seemed to think they could strike the relevant deals to move the range and technology on. I know they effectively saved it from liquidation after BMW pulled out, but surely most realised that if a company like BMW couldn’t turn it around then barely anyone would be able to. Still, at the very least they gave 10,000 plus employees some employment for a few years, and some hope.

No, the real culprits are back in time, the people who sold it to BMW – a company called BAE. At the time Rover had a strategic relationship with Honda, who basically supplied the engines. The designs were old but Honda were interested in taking the relationship further, but despite the overtures from Honda, BAE decided to sell Rover to BMW. They purchased the whole Group for £800,000,000, then sold Land Rover alone for £1,800,000,000. That is a £1bn increase on its own. £1bn that would be a vital lifeline for Rover today if it still had Land Rover to sell. Don’t forget that MG Rover saw fuck all of any proceeds from the sale of Kand Rover, no that money went staright to BMW shareholder. The Japanese company were outraged and pulled out of the technology arrangement immediately. Far be it from me to accuse BMW of asset stripping, but it’s hard to see what else you could call their involvement – one new model in 5 years is hardly a sign of meaningful investment.

And so a sad day for an honourable marque, destined to go the same way as other great British car names such as Austin, Morris, Triumph and Hillman. I remember the days when Fiats were laughable, SEAT was a novelty car you only saw in Spain, Skoda was the butt of all jokes and everyone laughed long and loud at the thought of Japanese or French cars ruling the Automotive industry. Another sorry tale of Britain not being able to see the job through and maintain a successful manufacturing industry or product. Another one to join names such Norton, BSA Motorbikes and Concorde.

Another failure.

Later , Grocerjack