I was searching through austin-rover.co.uk and I found an article which is so true. I expect many of you have seen this if so I aplogise, but for those which havn't please read this.
Why don't Britons buy British cars?
A journey on British roads soon provides the answer. The private buyer usually goes for a UK-built Japanese brand, for a runabout, but for something with prestige, they buy German. And Britain is addicted to German cars big time. I have often cynically remarked that the Brits would buy an overflowing septic tank if it had a VW badge on it, and though that is an exaggeration, I sometimes wonder.
And the number of BMWs on the road is astonishing; not just recent models. It has become the prestige car of choice for Britain's growing 'chav' culture. The bottom line is that BMWs are percieved by many as "cool" and fashionable.
Another perception is that German cars are more reliable than British models. This is probably about as true as the perception that the 1968 Tet offensive was a defeat for the USA in the Vietnam war. Yet Britons seem very willing to believe that British cars are inferior, helped by a media that seems to revel in reporting problems with UK-built cars, and giving scant coverage to faults with foreign models.
I feel that a Rover 75 or a Jaguar has much more individual flair and style than any BMW. BMW styling is bland and always based on the 3 box format with no sense of originality. The cars always look like upmarket Ford Cortinas, however BMW try and dress them up.
And now back to the subject of fashion. It maybe that in the long term we are going to have to kiss goodbye to both Jaguar and Rover. The values these brands epitomise no longer exist. Britain has changed a great deal since the Sixties and Seventies. Back then Britain still thought of itself as a major player in world affairs; Britain still had a major share of world markets, and successful people drove British cars - while the younger generation aspired to follow in their footsteps.
However the bitter industrial disputes of the Seventies shattered consumers' faith in UK made goods, and although all that is now a generation ago, the sales lost were never recovered. There has also been a revisionist re-writing of many aspects of British history, such as the empire, which question the values of previous generations.
Against this background, Rovers and Jaguars are seen as staid and boring, and driven by "squares", by a society obsessed with youth. The two terrible recessions of the early Eighties and early Nineties shattered British society, creating schisms which have never been healed. From ruling half of the globe, Britain is now a society of two halves.
John Major once visualised Britain as warm beer and cricket. His vision was one from the past, it should read lager and football. So, in short the brand values of both Rover and Jaguar are from a Britain that no longer exists, no matter how good the cars are, and the cars are good.
And so the only conclusion I can come to is that Britons want to keep the £ and use it to buy foreign cars. I hope and pray that in the future that maybe some British marque will be ressurected successfully like Triumph motorcycles has been.
. Since March I got the Fiesta and the car is free of rattles and squeaks and despite a flimsy alloy-look foil on the center stack there are no quality issues with the car.
