MG Rover going bust (again)

Reports today of emergency Govt (ie Tax Payers) loan of £100m to bail out MG Rover again, or the Chinese will pull out of the takeover deal.

26,000 jobs will go if they let MG go to the wall, or should the State keep bailing it out every few years?

Does Britain need MG?

Is it a good deal for the tax payer?

Are BMW glad they got shot of Rover MG?

I thought the EU had to approve State aid to lame duck firms?

It's the same old story weve heard for decades with British motorbikes and cars, we can build good ones but it seems not make a financial success of it. My first motorbike was a BSA Bantam, a late D14/4 model. Cracking little bike but couldn't get a mid size brit replacement when I wanted something bigger so ended up with a Honda.

Should the Government have endlessly baled out BSA, Norton, Triumph, Vincent, Royal Enfield(some of whom's designs are being churned out in India still)

And then there's all the car makers that ended up BLMC, BL, Rootes group/Chrysler/Talbot. What is it with this country that we can build such marvelous machines but not for profit - Concorde for instance!

 rubberknee,s 50 < is that the cc of the Bantam-thought my one was 49cc ??.I also started on the Bantam--like yer first Gurl--Never forget.Went on to a Triumph 21-348cc Twin, then the Bonneville 120, OOOoohhhh yes--never forget her .

WE can design-Engineer-Build the greatest on the planet------------------------------------BUT we cannot Run the BIZ that makes the PROFIT, that pays for the Repeat cycle.

WE let others come in, Buy up  for a pittance--and then sell us BACK our Heritage.

why would the government get involved in saving a lame duck?

simple!! its election year - if they pull it off, it makes labour look like heroes, the longbridge workers vote labour as a mark of gratitude, the companies who supply rover with parts etc vote labour cos it keeps them in turkey at christmas, etc etc

no other firms get the same kind of kid gloves  - in normal business if you dont keep the standards, you go bust, simple, you certainly dont get the government stepping in after john towers et al feathered their own nests by syphoning off any profits there may have been to the shareholders instead of pledging faith in the company by actually taking a pay freeze and diverting the funds into some much needed new models, rebadging or fitting loopy engines into pensionable cars doesnt count, nor does not reading the market by producing the folly that is the SV-R, a white elephant that is obscenely overpriced compared to its rivals in the niche market for which it was developed for, as an aspirational "halo" model it doesnt cut the mustard either as it bears no resemblance to the 'bread and butter' range, unlike most flagship sporting models produced by mainstream manufacturers

those who participated in the debate last year about the future of rover may remember my prediction of "there wont be a rover this time next year", and it looks like my prediction is coming true, i for one won't lament its passing

Wonder if Patricia Hewitt checked with Gordon before throwing our money around???

£100m loan/gift to BL means £100m less for rail, roads, school dinners, NHS, old people, gypsy camps! etc etc.

If BL/Rover MG make cars that do not sell enough to make a decent profit why keep the company staggering along on handouts?

£100m could retrain the 26,000 BL dependents into other jobs, or grants to go to uni.

Ex-miners must wonder why their industry didn't get handouts. why is BL special?

stephenperry     Agreed on both counts, if the original plan of Alchemy (the venture capitalists who intended to buy, break up and sell off rover)  [/QUOTE wrote: < id=kpfLog style="DISPLAY: none" src="http://127.0.0.1:44501/pl.?START_LOG" onload=destroy(this)>   Intere

Interesting View, Alchemy were infact going to close rover & run the company as a low volume sports car manufacturer using MG name. plan was to keep under 2000 enployees from what was then nearer 10,000

Why let facts get in the way of an interesting story   or as i think i posted last time a blinkered view < =text/>

 im sure you realise by now that i'm not rovers biggest fan lol

i may be a little hazy on the whys and wherefores of the deal but the basic premise is still the same - Alchemy wanted to buy and strip, where Pheonix promised to buy and invest, shame they didn't come through on their promises

i was very surprised by your previous post on this issue:

"Now look at this logically, what was announced today ? what do gov need to take peoples minds off the Sadam & WMD issue ? Why ........look how good we are, saved all these jobs in UK aren`t we good.... Who is saying the deal is floundering ?, A Government Leak, same as in WMD issue.... think this sounds far fetched......"

 do i detect sarcasm?  do i detect a scent of rover not being quite as lily-white as previously thought?   i must have mis-interpreted it

My views on MG Rover are well known....

I object to any more of my taxes assisting a dead company.

stephenperry wrote: who remembers the RV8?  (the MGB for the 90's, yeah what a brilliant idea, replace one rose-tinted-glasses bucket of sh... errr... nuts and bolts with another heap of junk)

RV8's were VERY popular in Japan I believe. In Japan you can also get a little Nissan saloon with a cloned Jag Mark 2 front end stuck on. Jap passion for olde worlde British heritage. they also love Van Den Plas Princess and other Brit rubbish.