Check out today's (Dec. 18) issue of the Financial Times. Front page story "Ford may build Land Rovers in China" "Insiders stressed that the study was unlikely to be completed until late next year, and Ford could still reject the idea. But Senior Execs were optimistic it would go ahead..." Blimey!!!
Well they used to build them in Spain, assemble CKD in Oz and still build them in Turkey and SA IIRC so it won't be anything new.
David Sillitoe wrote in news:BC07E403.2657% snipped-for-privacy@sillitoe.com:
Apparently all the heavy machinery needed to build the Peugeot
504 trucks went to China. Sorry, but if I could I'd have bought another 504 (which would have neen my 5th) rather than a LR. Now, I did apologise, so no flames please!Derry
in article BC07E403.2657% snipped-for-privacy@sillitoe.com, David Sillitoe at snipped-for-privacy@sillitoe.com wrote on 18/12/03 11:08 pm:
If the above is for real (and it seems it may well be) then I reckon now is the time to start a 'Keep Land Rover British' Campaign... Anyone interested please contact me on or off list.
When the emotions about job losses in the UK has been forgotten ..... there are a few plusses. The Defender, being so expensive to build due to manual fitment may get an extension on it's revamp. Hey, we may even be able to continue buying Defenders whilst a new first world Defender is launched. ((My experience with Chinese quality is very poor so hope they take care). Maybe consider the Defender with the 2800 Tdi 300 motor ...for low tech markets such as Asia and Africa;-)
If LR launches a Defender project in China, I would be surprised if there is not some sort of protection agreed ....after all, there are many millions of potential LR owners in China right now. and many jobs to be created. If they start selling Defenders in large numbers again, build costs is contained and quality addresses ... I am all for alternatives. After all, it is profit that drives economies and not emotions.
Do you think it is worthwhile to confirm whether this building LR's in China thing means instead of England or in addition to before we start campaigning. I mean they've been building them for years all over the world and no-one complained about keeping them British! Actually, they are not really British are they? Never seen one built in Wales or Scotland so really they are English! :)
Land Rover is American, before that it was German...
Ford want to break into the luxury car market in China and are therefore assessing the feasibility of building certain models there. Kind of makes sense so far as regards economics. Long term 'impact' upon Solihull will depend very much upon overall ability build a vehicle to a set specification and quality but within a strict price range.
Martyn
Lets face it - companies will move to wherever the labour is cheapest and they get the best deals. Yes, it is the best way to get a product built cheap (for export dollars), but the company will also be paying billions/millions into improving the local infrastructure of a poor nation (99% of the wealth is in the pacific rim and the old heavy industry in the interior is well dated and v polluting). These deals include cleaning up the environment and local facilities.
Yes Ford (or whoever) will move on when the dollar economy balance shifts against it and set up factories elsewhere, but what they leave behind is the original factory they built. Who knows - this may therefore be one of the last factories producing LRs as we know them now in 15-20 years to come which will serve the global (I hope) and the new internal market the seek. The US is in an import/export deficit with China and this is only being sustained by the massive loans from China to the US (yes this is true); stabilising the dollar/yen balance can be done in many ways: Factory deals may well be one of them.
in article LIIEb.840$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep1-gui.server.ntli.net, pl.white at snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com wrote on 19/12/03 7:54 pm:
I know all the economic arguments/reasons, I just think it's a shame, thats all...
I wonder how this ties in with the Defender replacement? The new production line is set up at Solihull, and the old line is moved to China. It's a little like the way Fiat sold old models to the Soviet Union.
Yeah it is frustrating but if it makes the difference between getting spares in another 30 years or having to dig around auto jumbles with no other alternative I know which I'd choose... Time that Solihull picked up it's act re quality and competitive edge. Having seen all our local industry go by the way side such as Pottery manufacturers, Michelin, Britsh Steel and of course the Coal Mines this kind of says something really.
It appears the only remaining Jobs with any type of certainty are in the service industry rather than manufacturing.
Lee D
-- ________________________________
the problem in the uk and also europe is that people want sick pay, minimum wage, 4 weeks holiday, pension, bonuses, redundancy rights, maternity rights, paternity rights, long service leave, compassionate leave, flexi-time and god knows what else. Many employees seem to think it unfair that they have to come to work at all. meantime many unions are headed by wannabe politicians who value media coverage and a good rallly above the interests of their members.
if britain got its work ethic back we could lead the world again.
i know there are many other issues regarding government subsidies and the like, but they are yet another excuse for the unions to complain how unfair it is
That's what we reckoned... then all the Call Centres got relocated to Delhi ;-)
Er, could you make that 6 weeks holiday please ;-)
Well, as you mention it that IS what all my staff get, once they have
2 years service...
You're really just a big softy aren't you? I've had to agree to let the office staff have Christmas Day off this year...
Martyn
I've told the family that I have to work...
I've told the family that they have to work... :-)
Martyn
(my bit's arguably off-topic)
In article , Lee_D writes
Steady. The reasons we no longer have coal mines are the Ridley plan and the European Coal and Steel community (forerunner of the EU).
The late Mr. Ridley is not lamented and the EU would never be missed!
Two comments:
Firstly, there is no evidence that a _modest_ level of protectionism in certain areas does harm.
Secondly, we are too expensive in world markets. One can offset this a little, but generally, we charge too much for our manufactured items - more than people are prepared to pay.
It affects service industry too now. We got away with it until the revolution in global telecoms meant call centres could operate from the Subcontinent. It's true that many service jobs can't be exported, but for those that can, the job losses will continue I'm afraid, unless our 'socialist' government has the courage to put measures in place to stop it. The long term stablization will be when 3rd world living standards rise to equal ours or we drop our wage rates to approach theirs (very unlikely, unless we suffer economic collapse).
It'll take decades and be very unpleasant while it happens.
Regards,
Simonm.
In article , Mother writes
All of it?
Bah, humbug.
Regards,
Simonm.
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