48 replies to this topic

[scrog]

just found out that when bmw sold rover back to the rover group for £10 after taking the new mini and other stuff
one of the conditions of the sale was that mini production stopped so they did'nt have any rivals for the new mini

not well known news (well i did'nt know) but was on a buisness program

made me change my mind abit about the company and the new mini

the classic could have been produced for a lot longer maybe now still

it could have saved rover

[JohnGordon]

Very true! but hey, like they say: That's business!

[spaceoctagon]

That is true but the reason for the new mini was because the classic mini wasn't going to meet new regulations which were coming into force.

[Aria Aradhea]

but then again, bmw would've taken all things mini related, wouldn't they? that includes the license for the "mini" name, and the mini shape. so, rover couldn't sell the mini as the "mini" and not in the mini shape as we know it, too. otherwise they'd have to pay hefty royalties to bmw... money that they didn't have...

just my two cents....

[Ouster]

The Mini would never have passed type approval. We all know it would score terribly in NCAP ratings and the such.

[THE ANORAK]

just found out that when bmw sold rover back to the rover group for £10 after taking the new mini and other stuff
one of the conditions of the sale was that mini production stopped so they did'nt have any rivals for the new mini

not well known news (well i did'nt know) but was on a buisness program

made me change my mind abit about the company and the new mini

the classic could have been produced for a lot longer maybe now still

it could have saved rover

utter utter rubbish

Edited by THE ANORAK, 04 September 2008 - 02:55 PM.

[miniturbonutter]

The Mini itself hadn't made money for a long time, it would never of saved Rover!!

[Dan]

the classic could have been produced for a lot longer maybe now still

it could have saved rover

No, and no.

The Mini itself hadn't made money for a long time, it would never of saved Rover!!

No again.

Mini would not have passed the type approvel from 2001 onwards without hefty financial investment that Rover could not meet. BMW had already invested many millions in getting Mini through the 1996 type approval. When they sold the company they kept all the rights to Mini in any case, as said above. This clause (which is very much old news by the way) was just there to prevent anyone else buying Rover and producing their own Mini as competition since at the time Mini, MG and Triumph was all Rover were good for, Land Rover having been sold seperately to Ford. Any Mini that did get produced by a competitor would not have been the same car as we know it, it would have to have been all new.
The claim that Mini never made money is based on a little understood experiment done by Ford to reverse engineer the Mini and run a cost analysis on making it. Ford found that they would make a loss on each Mini sold if they were making them but Ford didn't own Longbridge where eveything could be made in the same building (at that time). Mini was very much in profit and was probably the most profitable part of Rover over the years. Nobody would consistently make a loss on a product line for 41 years, not even BMC/BL/Rover.

We all know it would score terribly in NCAP ratings and the such.

Also not true, and not relevant. The NCAP is a voluntary scheme and there is no requirement for any car to be tested before being offered for sale. Mini would not score all that badly, it would do better than the Metro did but it wouldn't be brilliant because it wasn't designed for current testing. Sadly since it was never tested we will never know for definite. Lots of people assume that Minis are terrible to crash in. Many of our parents generation say 'oh I had a terrible crash in a Mini when I was a kid and know loads of other people who did too, they're really unsafe'. Of course this statement completely ignores the fact that they all more or less walked away from these accidents at a time when people were being killed in Anglias and other cars all over the country every day. It also ignores the fact that Mini was more or less the highest selling car at that time, there were more of them around than there were other cars and so any crash that did happen was more likely to involve a Mini. I for one don't believe they are very unsafe, if I did I wouldn't get in one would I?

[minimadjonesy]

Very well put Dan!

[biggav]

[lowandslow]

but hadn't rover already designed the MINI all BMW had to do was put a drive train in it? no matter what way you look at it the MINI would have been here BMW badged or rover badged. and good job it was BMW other wise it would have had a K series engine in all probability and we all know what reliability issues they have, giving the MINI a worse name than it has now

[Dan]

good job it was BMW other wise it would have had a K series engine in all probability and we all know what reliability issues they have

Not even going to touch that one..

[Ouster]

good job it was BMW other wise it would have had a K series engine in all probability and we all know what reliability issues they have

Quickly! Somebody put the worms back into the can!

[Jammy]

The mans right, just look at the thousands of Elise's that break down....

[taffy1967]

Well I've heard (probably wrong), that the classic Mini could have remained in production until around 2003 before it would be forced to meet new legislation.

Either way it's all conjecture now and water under the bridge.

I think Dan has really hit the nail on the head there.