> Both... They allowed it to carry on doing well at first, with the sale
> of the 600 going strong and the development of the 75. They stabbed
> Longbridge in the back though at the sign of trouble when they sold
> off/kept the valuable Marques (Land Rover and MINI) and threw the rest
> out to rot, while stifeling the Rover brand in ways such as deliberatly
> not publicising the more premium sporty models (BRM, 620ti) for
> example.
>
> In my opinion at least, had the company remained whole, the revenue
> from the very successful MINI and also successful Land Rover would have
> seen enough financial leeway for replacement 25 and 45's to be bought
> in. Add this to allowing the company to perform across the range (ie
> sell the capable sportier varients) it had on offer back in the late
> 90's and we might be in a very different situation today..
>
> So, i'm going for your latter option
well written, and agreed with by me.