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I've been on Radio 2 today supporting MG Rover

1K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  iaan 
#1 ·
I was invited to appear on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 today to talk about the MG Rover Crisis. I was on with Sir Digby Jones who doesn't appear to support putting government money into the company. I tried to stand up for the workforce and the products without critisizing the directors, although they are taking quite a hammering in the press at the moment.
If you want to hear the interview it is on the BBC radio 2 website here http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/vine/ click Fri and fast forward 35 mins, the interview starts at about 37 mins.
If anybody wants to suggest points that should be raised, add them to this thread in case I get invited on any other shows in the coming days.
Regards,
Ian Darby
Rover Owners' Club
 
#7 ·
Good man! MGR needs to receive positive publicity onto the BBC. Listened to both 'PM' and the 6 o'clock news last night on Radio 4. Positive praise of Rovers from Roger King, CEO of the Road Haulage Association, who when asked the now ubiquitous question 'and what car do you drive?' replied that he drives an R75, his wife drives an R25. Described his R75 as 'if it is indeed the end [the R75] is the finest car to finish with'.
Back to the usual BBC standpoint on the 6 o'clock news. An anlysis of the current range by Jeff Randall described the R75 as 'a decent enough car'. He went on to say 'The company's smaller models look tired and outdated...The cars were...not good enough.'
Randall also said of B*W that 'the German giant's famous engineering and design skills' were not enough to make Rover viable.
Strange, I thought the Germans shafted MGR, put little in, (development of the R75 excepted), took the front wheel drive technology and raft of brand names they wanted, then walked away from the wreckage.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I listened to that programme and it was quite depressing, of course.

Some of the callers said things like the company hadn't launched anything new since the 75, and most people couldn't get the company name right (including Jeremy Vine, the programme host).

Worst of all, Digby Jones of the CBI pointed out that Nissan in Sunderland made twice as many cars with half the number of people. He wasn't challenged on this, but afterall, Longbridge is the world HQ of MG Rover, whereas Nissan Sunderland is purely a manufacturing site.

To be honest, if MGR did anything wrong, it was in the handling of it's image and publicity. There is so much confusion and ignorance among the general public.

The only good point made, apart from Ian Darby's comments of the owners' club, was that SAIC wouldn't have spent months negotiating if MGR is as worthless as its supposed to be.
 
#11 ·
Digby also said that the only model that could really be made at Longbridge was the high-end MG models - the MG SV?

Shows how much he really knows about this.

Every interview seems to be with bloke-down-the-pub.

Oh, MG Rover? Old, dull cars, Longbridge too old, management enriching themselves, good money after bad, inevitable that it should close...

Yes, inevitable that England does nothing to protect its jobs. It's inevitable.

Then why, among the major economies is it only Canada and the UK that will have no major car company? Why aren't MGR cars the default choice like they would be in Germany, France, Japan, the US...?

History? No, it's the disease called 'being English'.
 
#13 ·
Friends MG ZR went in to have its CD player fixed, they said a weeks wait.

so have a courtesy car a 1.1 metro from 1991 with its ash tray full..

This service sadly lets Rovers name down badly.

But what can be done??

If the people at the top cant see this!

Ian
 
#16 ·
I heard it too. I also noticed the old chestnut about Nissan being so much more efficient. There is a world of difference - although there is no denying the efficiency of Nissan, or the fact that more stuff is actually made there than used to be the case. The way I tried to explain it to my young daughter was thus: Imagine a factory that assembles Lego models. And one that makes the bricks, packaging, does all the marketing and ships the bits out - as well as the models. Not quite the same, are they?

Oh - and I've been away on holiday last week. What a week for a holiday!!
 
#18 · (Edited)
ChrisD said:
Friends MG ZR went in to have its CD player fixed, they said a weeks wait.

so have a courtesy car a 1.1 metro from 1991 with its ash tray full..

This service sadly lets Rovers name down badly.

But what can be done??

If the people at the top cant see this!

Ian
Following replacement of all locks on my new MG ZS - all locks never really lost their newness stiffness after several months of use - as I drove the car away the CD started track jumping then showing a fault in the display! IT WAS PERFECT PRIOR TO MY LEAVING IT WITH THE MAIN DEALERSHIP. Did someone sod it up whilst in the workshop or a crooked staff member swap it for his worn unit? Who knows? However, I soon pointed it out and they changed the unit for a new one whilst I waited ... even gave me a cuppa ... which was nice. That was a year ago and the CD is still perfect. By the way, they needed the car for a few days when changing the locks and we were given a fairly new R45. You know, the one everybody believes is the same car as the ZS with different badges on! Must be something odd about me because I much prefer that same car with the Badge engineered ZS on the back ;) ... It's in a different league handling wise and nowhere near being the same car as the 45 ..... If only mechanical thickos like 'Germany' Clarkson had enough mechanical nouse to appreciate such things and relay an accurate appraisal of same....... Sadly his harmful influences are a contagen with the majority of the car buyers in the UK many of which share his failings .......... a paucity of mechanical nouse!

Still if Clarkson says they're carp, they must be ... stands to reason init M8. Now where's those superior krautmobile brochures..... Never go wrong apparently ... sky high residuals too ...

hmmm 3 series 318 0-60 ... in how much! ... My Montego had better figures than that 20 years ago! ... and look at those prices....Forget it..... and they form queues to pay over the odds to buy the things ... DOH!

Include me out!

By the way, my son has a 1.1 Metro which my cousin passed to him when she replaced it. It's a superb little car and the K series power unit is a little gem, very willing despite small capacity. She wanted another Rover Metro or 100 but .... no longer had that option thanks to you know who! So she had a new Saxo instead. That was two years ago.... she kept her previous new Metros for 7-10 years and they gave excellent service. Now, after two years she's thinking of getting rid of the Saxo. I wonder why so soon because, being foreign as everyone knows they must be superior - stands to reason - ask cushioned against reality Clarkson!

P.S. ZS door and steering locks ..... made in Guess where?

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France! .... more DOH!
 
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