Some days ago someone posted a newspaper article about the bad situation at
Rover . Beeing an international list I thought it would be interesting to see
how this subjekt reads in German newspapers:
"ENGINE BREAKDOWN AT ROVER (Suedwest Presse Dec. 3rd 1998, translated)
The British BMW daughter ROVER has an engine breakdown which puts the mother in
big trouble. Four years ago the taking over was celebrated as a big deal to
gain
succes on the high volume car market. In principle this was right. But
carring-out is more difficult and expensiver than expected. BMW managers canīt
be blamed for the strong pound, but they can be blamed for the lack of
productivity at ROVER, which is expected to change after taking away 2500
places
of employment. But the central problem is the kind of cars they offer. Niche
vehicles like LANDROVER, MINI and MG sell well, but not normal ROVER cars.
Converting older ROVER types, which still are based on Hondas, to newer models
takes more time and more money than BMW had expected. And ROVER still hasnīt
gained a better image in the eyes of the buyers. ROVER is the child of BMW-Boss
Pischetsrieder. If he canīt cope with it soon he will share the fait of Rover
Boss Hasselkus and loose his job............
... ROVER is expected to loose some 1 650 000 000 DM this year. Pischetsrieder
didnīt want to confirm this number......... but the savings from the steps
agreed with the trade unions canīt completly close the gap in productivity (30%
compared to German factorys).
Pischetsrieder announced conservations with the British government about unfair
competition conditions in Great Britain. He didnīt say details but he said
ROVER
is constantly placed at a disadvantage. Rumours say there will be talk about
help from the British government at an amount of 250 000 000 pounds "
Seems to me that they go on at the point where TRIUMPH stopped.
Gerhard Wiederholl
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