Car industry in tatters

[rov1200]

Is this another nail in the coffin of the car industry?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7952701.st m

[sp1214]

Yes, it probably is. Britain is slowly slipping from an industrial nation that makes things into a service industry. Thats why so much interest has been put on the banks and the financial sector. Without this we'd be broke! Even the aero industry is collapsing and makes you wonder if the Air Show at Farnborough will also be cancelled.

[jake-the-peg]

Wasn't aware that we still had a car industry well nobody making over 500 cars a year

I thought British car manufacturers had long ago shot themselves in the foot from their incompetance and lack of investment.

Plenty of foreign car companies using British plants and workforces but British owned and ran? No.

And yet the French have Peugeot, Citroen and Renault.

Seems like proof positive that stroppy workers can't kill a motor industry but rubbish management can double quick!

[R1Geezer]

Mmm......British Leyland.....mmmm Red Robbo? Who killed the British car industry? You can't blame the management, the Union law at the tme made it impossible to manage. Come on Jake, you're a nuclear physicist FFS!

[R1Geezer]

To answer the question. I assume you mean world wide car industry, as jake points out we ain't got one of our own.

Some suit from the motor builders assoc summed it up quite well I thought. He said that the manufacturers cannot see the point on spending gazillions on concept cars and show etc when no one is buying cars. I doubt the UK show will be the only one cancelled.

[jake-the-peg]

Really Geezer?

So how do explain three major manufacturers in France (where industrial harmony is not exactly legendary) and numerous sucessful foreign run car planys in the UK?

Look at Rover - bought by the phoenix group who put no money into developing proper new models and ran it into the ground walking away with fat pensions.

You really need to wake up and check out that
Unions -bad/ Management-Good stereotype you so predictably trot out every time such subjects come up.

Try thinking about it for a moment rather than just knee jerking

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

Robbo was 30 years ago, the the Rover Group went into administration 4 years ago.

Since Robbo was sacked in 1979, Rovers fortunes did not improve:

John Major flogged (gave away) Rover Group to British Aerospace, who flogged it to Ford and BMW, who flogged it to the Phoenix Consortium (Asset Strippers), who sold it to Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation, who flogged it to the Indian car manufacture Tata. If all that isn't mismanagement and a recipe for failure, I do not know what is.

A more apt headline for this question would have been

Car Industry in Tatas

[R1Geezer]

Yes I know Leyland was ages ago and generally I accept your points about Rover etc since. But even you lefty sympathisers must acknowledge the part played by Red Robbo and co in the demise of Leyland in the 70's. I mean all out brothers at the drop of a hat. When they did turn out a motor it was a pile of sh1te, just don't get one made on Friday!

You must remember the famous case when the night shift where all caught sleeping in their bed attire, it turns out that they all had day jobs too. Of course they got fired but hey guess what? The rest went of strike. Now even in socialist union mentality that must be trying to defend the indefensible! Nope, all out brothers.

As you say though Jake, the froggies are a militant bunch, how have they managed it? Gawd knows! Do you have an explanation?

[craft1948]

Probably through government subsidies to make them competitive even though it's against EU regs.....

[R1Geezer]

Sorry I missed out the "how do you explain the foriegn run plants" bit. Foriegn car plants where only really viable once the union laws were changed to make it more attractive to the Japs et al. They also tended to agree on single union agreements too. This of course upset the indiginous Marxist union leaders and in one notable example, I think it was Toyota, in Dundee, they went and built the factory somewhere in Europe in the end, could have been 2000+ jobs for Dundee, still, we told them capitalist barstewards eh brothers. Still by then our own car industry had already pretty much perished otherwise it may have been able to benefit from the new union laws.

Of course there is/was a lot of bad management, no question, but is doesn't matter how good/bad your management is, the Unions formed a major obstacle that first needed removal.

[R1Geezer]

You mean the Froggy's are breaking the EU regs craft? wash your mouth out with soap, how dare you smear one of our EU partners!

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

The question is about the Motor Show being cancelled, and you are blaming the Trade Unions 35 years ago.

I think you will find the reason is the World Recession. But, never miss an opportunity to rubbish the British working man.

[rov1200]

We may not have a home grown motor industry but their are nearly 1million workers employed in the car industry. If you were a salesman does it matter if your are selling a Jaguar or a mini. Scores of people are involved in each version. In fact the people making the cars are a very small proportion of the 1 million employed.

That is why we should applaud the governments U turn by going for the scrappage scheme soon to be announced.

[R1Geezer]

well Gromit I suppose I was just responding to Jake's rantings about management.

I am a working man myself so I'm not rubbishing them, I'm rubishing the need some seem to have to join a Marxists anti British club and then to blindly follow and blame anyone else when the wheels come off.

I did also actually have bash at the question.