8 replies to this topic

[Tanya]

10 years today, MG Rover ran out of dashboards and the lines stopped, and that was the end of both MG Rover and volume motor manufacturing in Longbridge.  It's a sad day.  

 

Sorry for being lazy, but I am very busy at the moment so I have just cut and pasted my thoughts which I posted on my Facebook page earlier today.  

 

It's not very often (in fact I think this is a first), where I write a sad, reflective post.  However, today isn't like any other day and marks 10 years since the lines stopped at MG Rover, Longbridge and the end of volume motor manufacture in Longbridge. Yes, MG Motor are there assembling some cars and the area is being regenerated, but today isn't about that.

 

Today is about the sadness and loss that community felt, and still feel about the loss of MG Rover and the loss of volume motor manufacturing.  6,500 people lost their jobs overnight (tens of thousands more in the supply chain) but those people lost more than that.  These factories have their own communities and for many this was all they knew.  Those who they saw day after day, year after year they suddenly didn't see anymore.  The laughs, jokes and camaraderie stopped - all that they knew had gone.  The wider community of Longbridge and the surrounding areas had to change - you cannot lose that number of jobs without significant hardship and inevitable, and some times painful change.  

 

The Pride of Longbridge (18th April, for those not in the know) is an opportunity for those who once worked at Longbridge and built the cars that many of us love, to come and see these cars, chat to those who own them and also chat to others who also once worked at Longbridge.  This in not just another car show - this is about remembering the dreadful events of 2005, sharing the love of the cars with others and celebrating all that is great about the once mighty Longbridge.  So, while you're queuing to get into Cofton Park, queuing for food, toilets, whatever, not being parked where you thought you should have been or want to be, not parked next to your mates, please stop and remember why we are all gathered.  We are gathered because MG Rover collapsed, because of the job loses and huge hardship suffered by the Longbridge (and wider) communities.  

 

Please spare a few moment's to read Andy and Gemma​'s interview - http://www.birmingha...ID=FB-Birm-main

 

To my friends in Longbridge, and the Longbridge community in its entirety, I send my love and share your sadness.

 

[Tanya]

There is also this clip too - http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/p02nm7ll

[Miniminx71]

My Dad worked for Rover for many years at the Swindon factory and we used to love going to their family open days in the summer. I remember going in when they unveiled the new Tri-Axis press which was just awesome to watch. It was devastating when they announced Rover had collapsed - in a way I'm glad my Dad wasn't around to see it. I went along the day of the closure in the Mini and had it photographed in front of the Rover Group Swindon sign on the main gate and there were two guys waiting to take the sign down so I cheekily asked them if I could have it and they yes. It now takes up most of the right hand wall in the garage and I'm so proud to have it.

[mab01uk]

My Dad worked for Rover for many years at the Swindon factory and we used to love going to their family open days in the summer. I remember going in when they unveiled the new Tri-Axis press which was just awesome to watch. It was devastating when they announced Rover had collapsed - in a way I'm glad my Dad wasn't around to see it. I went along the day of the closure in the Mini and had it photographed in front of the Rover Group Swindon sign on the main gate and there were two guys waiting to take the sign down so I cheekily asked them if I could have it and they yes. It now takes up most of the right hand wall in the garage and I'm so proud to have it.

 

Is the Swindon BMW MINI Plant of today the same factory site and workforce as during the Rover era?

 

"MINI is the latest chapter in Plant Swindon's fifty-nine year history. About 90 per cent of the pressings and almost 80 per cent of the sub-assemblies, such as doors, bonnets and tailgates for MINI, are produced in Swindon. From 2004 to 2006, around £60 million was invested in the preparation for MINI production. Another £25 million is being invested for further building and press line refurbishments.

And now Plant Swindon has hit two more landmarks - the world premiere of the new MINI Hatch on 18 November 2013 and a production first for Swindon with the start of production of the 5-door Hatch on 1 July 2014."

http://www.miniplantswindon.co.uk/

[Miniminx71]

Yes, same site. Not sure about the workforce though. I think a lot went to Honda about a mile away.

[TheOriginalSkunk]

who owns the new MG brand? am i correct in thinking its the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation

[Mini 360]

 

[NuFab]

It was very sad indeed.

There were lots of reasons behind it, and they hadn't made much worth buying for a while, but that's not the fault of the workers or the community, the investment was lacking.

I live nearby and when I was in sixth form, my three closest mates' dads all either worked for Rover or in the supply chain. My dad drives car transporters and delivered the cars. We all felt it when the place closed, and it was very sad to see the bridge over the Bristol Road, which carried the production lines, get torn down.

I definitely think I see more Rovers around the area too... Maybe that old company scheme that made them cheaper to buy for the workers has left a legacy in Birmingham...

[Cooperman]

The problem was that Rover came from BMC and whilst they had some brilliant innovators the company management as a whole had no idea about production engineering for profit, optimisation of floor pans and power plants, proper financial control or forward product planning. The unions had far too much influence & power. There was a lack of investment, but what investment there was got side-tracked into pay rises for a workforce making products which were generally inferior to their competitors. e.g. Marina v Cortina. In fact, they don't seem to have realised who the competitors were and spent their time competing against themselves, e.g. Triumph v Rover, MG v Austin-Healey v TR range, Morris v Austin (A60 v Maxi). They never understood produce rationalisation nor realised that buyers were becoming more selective. And look at some of the junk they tried to foist onto the market; (Allegro, Marina, TR7, Princess, SD1, etc), whilst the competitors were making the Escort, Viva, Cortina, Granada, VW Golf, BMW 2002, Opel Ascona, etc.. 

The supplier chain was taken advantage of by them taking 180+ days to pay their bills, unlike Ford who settled in 30 to 45 days.

Then they became just Rover. They produced some super cars, like the Rover 200 range, but still the market sector was ill-defined.

It couldn't last really, sad though that may seem.

After the end of the '70's they had missed the chance to be a major player as the international manufacturers took the right products to the market place. If they had invested in a rationalised product range in around 1980 they could have survived, but the management was incompetent and the unions were intransigent.