opinions on why Rover went under - Page 4

Gigagator · 29th August 2018, 08:41

Also, possibly one of the biggest contributors (only in my opinion of course), is how widespread and easily accessible car finance became - a worrying trend which is still rife today.

Put yourself in the shoes of some boring wannabe sheep in the mid 2000's, if you had a choice of car to show off to your 'friends' and strangers would you choose the Rover or the shiny new Audi or BMW? If you could get the German prestigious brand for next to peanuts on a monthly finance deal the answer is simple.

Unfortunately, this is still the case today. A previous post mentioned his estate was like a German car showroom - mine is too! There was a time when you'd see somebody driving a Mercedes-Benz and you knew they were doing well in life. You can't apply that logic anymore as 'high-end' cars are so easily accessible on finance and PCP deals.

I do believe the whole German car thing is a sham though - you buy only the illusion of quality, conjured up by douches on social media.

It seems a lot of people see life as one big wazzing contest and everyone has to be better than the next. I guess that is why people stopped buying Rovers and MG's

zedhed · 29th August 2018, 09:06

I suppose the reliability issues of the k series engines put a lot of people off though.

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mac61 · 29th August 2018, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevestrat

The attitude with, I think, all the nationalised industries was if there's a problem throw money at it. That was certainly the case with British Rail. I was a traincrew supervisor in the early '80s and it was common practice for managers to authorise 12 hours payment to get someone to work less than an hours overtime.

Absolutely right, but it happened in the private sector as well. The balance of power up to late eighties/early nineties was with the Unions. Weak management and strong Unions meant that the Unions could hold a gun to managements heads. If management didn't pay up, Unions would organise a downing of tools.

I worked in national newspaper industry in the 80's to mid noughties and the difference between unionised workforce and non was like night and day.

However that was not the case in the last few years of MG Rover, poor management and the lack of real investment was the reason.

stevestrat · 29th August 2018, 12:10

More than weak management we had inept management on BR! One case springs to mind, college graduate immediately into the position of yard manager. Absolutely clueless, wouldn't have known a HAA coal wagon if he walked into the side of it

AndyN01 · 29th August 2018, 13:11

For my twopenneth.....

My father was a died in the wool Austin/BL man. In his youth he worked at Longbridge.

A35, Mini, 1100, Allegro etc.etc.

Until he'd had enough of them braking down, needing spannering every other week, utterly useless dealerships who were bordering on grossly incompetent liars (difficult to try it on with a guy who subsequently worked at aerospace tolerances on a daily basis for decades) and an overall lousy experience.

So he changed...... went through a few alternatives including a FIAT which even that was better than BL and ended up with a........Yaris. Did he so much as look at a spanner between services? No? Did it leak oil? No. Did it allow water in? No. Did it start first time, every time? Yes. did it break down - ever? No.

I started my motoring life with a mini, then another one. What did I own recently? A Carina then an Avensis and a Mazda 626. What does my son drive? A Yaris. What's our other car? A Mazda 2 - what's gone wrong with that in 5 years of ownership apart from wear & tear? A brake light switch which cost about £10 to replace.

Why these cars?

Because IMHO reliability is the key. And the Japanese (not the Germans) have it nailed.

And I have a Rover now because it's a large, comfy car with the most awesome forum (

) so I've got a lot of car for relatively little money which shall waft along and when she goes wrong I'll be able to sort it out (I hope

).

Yes, I'm sure there is/was plenty of dubious behaviour going on in the background but to the "buying public" the marque was producing tat and consequently it went under.

As I said, just my twopenneth.

Andy.

LeRich · 29th August 2018, 21:10

One reason MGR suffered with falling sales was the decimation of its international distribution network. Rovers might not have sold in huge volumes overseas but were well respected where they were available. With the splitting up of Rover Group in 2000, Rover left various markets because the dealers and importers went with / stayed with Land Rover. MGR worked to rebuild this network but it wasn't enough.

Other key reasons for MGR's demise:

Too many staff
Poorly managed image and public perception
Failure to secure a strategic partner
Ill-conceived vanity projects

But to their credit they did try by:

Launching the Z cars to capitalise on the value of the MG brand
Developing a halo brand (Xpower) with genuine motorsport credibility
Recycling existing platforms to create new cars
Courting numerous potential suitors and looking to the emerging markets, not just the established ones
Inventing the crossover (I'm stretching this point but the TCV and Streetwise were well ahead of their time)

coab · 30th August 2018, 09:04

This sums it up rather than opinions....
https://insight.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2008/who-killed-mg-rover/

victorgte · 30th August 2018, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by coab

This sums it up rather than opinions....
https://insight.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2008/who-killed-mg-rover/

Totally agree with this article. Like I've said earlier the dye was cast in 1968. Down hill from then on.

breakfastinsmethwick · 31st August 2018, 17:40

Someone on this thread suggests that the Germans have got reliability nailed.

I would beg to differ. They are good at hiding it.

clf · 31st August 2018, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by breakfastinsmethwick

Someone on this thread suggests that the Germans have got reliability nailed.

I would beg to differ. They are good at hiding it.

at the minute, they dont need to hide it! People wont believe they have reliability issues if you told them .

29th August 2018, 12:10	#34
stevestrat This is my second home ZT260 #243 (resting) Join Date: May 2010 Location: Prestonpans Posts: 22,480 Thanks: 650 Thanked 4,624 Times in 3,358 Posts	More than weak management we had inept management on BR! One case springs to mind, college graduate immediately into the position of yard manager. Absolutely clueless, wouldn't have known a HAA coal wagon if he walked into the side of it __________________ Steve T4 Location Map

29th August 2018, 13:11	#35
AndyN01 This is my second home Toyota RAV4 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Tamworth Posts: 3,076 Thanks: 2,478 Thanked 1,579 Times in 968 Posts	For my twopenneth..... My father was a died in the wool Austin/BL man. In his youth he worked at Longbridge. A35, Mini, 1100, Allegro etc.etc. Until he'd had enough of them braking down, needing spannering every other week, utterly useless dealerships who were bordering on grossly incompetent liars (difficult to try it on with a guy who subsequently worked at aerospace tolerances on a daily basis for decades) and an overall lousy experience. So he changed...... went through a few alternatives including a FIAT which even that was better than BL and ended up with a........Yaris. Did he so much as look at a spanner between services? No? Did it leak oil? No. Did it allow water in? No. Did it start first time, every time? Yes. did it break down - ever? No. I started my motoring life with a mini, then another one. What did I own recently? A Carina then an Avensis and a Mazda 626. What does my son drive? A Yaris. What's our other car? A Mazda 2 - what's gone wrong with that in 5 years of ownership apart from wear & tear? A brake light switch which cost about £10 to replace. Why these cars? Because IMHO reliability is the key. And the Japanese (not the Germans) have it nailed. And I have a Rover now because it's a large, comfy car with the most awesome forum () so I've got a lot of car for relatively little money which shall waft along and when she goes wrong I'll be able to sort it out (I hope ). Yes, I'm sure there is/was plenty of dubious behaviour going on in the background but to the "buying public" the marque was producing tat and consequently it went under. As I said, just my twopenneth. Andy. Last edited by AndyN01; 29th August 2018 at 13:13..

29th August 2018, 21:10	#36
LeRich Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Cont SE 1.8T Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Cheshire Posts: 1,082 Thanks: 215 Thanked 232 Times in 178 Posts	One reason MGR suffered with falling sales was the decimation of its international distribution network. Rovers might not have sold in huge volumes overseas but were well respected where they were available. With the splitting up of Rover Group in 2000, Rover left various markets because the dealers and importers went with / stayed with Land Rover. MGR worked to rebuild this network but it wasn't enough. Other key reasons for MGR's demise: Too many staff Poorly managed image and public perception Failure to secure a strategic partner Ill-conceived vanity projects But to their credit they did try by: Launching the Z cars to capitalise on the value of the MG brand Developing a halo brand (Xpower) with genuine motorsport credibility Recycling existing platforms to create new cars Courting numerous potential suitors and looking to the emerging markets, not just the established ones Inventing the crossover (I'm stretching this point but the TCV and Streetwise were well ahead of their time) __________________ Rover 75 1.8T Contemporary SE Auto Starlight Silver MBB

29th August 2018, 08:41	#31
Gigagator Avid contributor Rover 75 Saloon, Rover 25, Mazda 6 Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Cardiff Posts: 219 Thanks: 143 Thanked 112 Times in 49 Posts	Also, possibly one of the biggest contributors (only in my opinion of course), is how widespread and easily accessible car finance became - a worrying trend which is still rife today. Put yourself in the shoes of some boring wannabe sheep in the mid 2000's, if you had a choice of car to show off to your 'friends' and strangers would you choose the Rover or the shiny new Audi or BMW? If you could get the German prestigious brand for next to peanuts on a monthly finance deal the answer is simple. Unfortunately, this is still the case today. A previous post mentioned his estate was like a German car showroom - mine is too! There was a time when you'd see somebody driving a Mercedes-Benz and you knew they were doing well in life. You can't apply that logic anymore as 'high-end' cars are so easily accessible on finance and PCP deals. I do believe the whole German car thing is a sham though - you buy only the illusion of quality, conjured up by douches on social media. It seems a lot of people see life as one big wazzing contest and everyone has to be better than the next. I guess that is why people stopped buying Rovers and MG's

29th August 2018, 09:06	#32
zedhed Posted a thing or two zt saloon turbo Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Tipton Posts: 1,461 Thanks: 1 Thanked 167 Times in 132 Posts	I suppose the reliability issues of the k series engines put a lot of people off though. Sent from my LG-M160 using Tapatalk

30th August 2018, 09:04	#37
coab This is my second home 2007 57 GOLF GTi EDITION 30 DSG Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Newport Shropshire and Coventry. Posts: 5,138 Thanks: 2,424 Thanked 1,452 Times in 852 Posts	This sums it up rather than opinions.... https://insight.jbs.cam.ac.uk/2008/who-killed-mg-rover/

31st August 2018, 17:40	#39
breakfastinsmethwick Gets stuck in Maintainer of sons ZT M47r Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Shropshire Posts: 624 Thanks: 609 Thanked 124 Times in 100 Posts	Someone on this thread suggests that the Germans have got reliability nailed. I would beg to differ. They are good at hiding it.