GuyotLeonF@aol.com wrote:
>
> >From 'AUTOCAR' Magazine, (British Weekly colour magazine: influential)
> BMW may axe the Rover name and start building Triumph-badged family cars.
>
> A senior source at BMW claims it is lost for ideas on what more it can do to
> reverse Rover's image problem, especially in the UK.
>
> BMW also believes Rover has insurmountable image problems in the lucrative US
> market as a result of the unpopularity of the Sterling model in the early
> '90's.
Sterling wasn't the problem; British Leyland was, and their legacy
continues to be BMW's problem. Moreover, if BMW wished to sell Rovers in
this country, they jolly well should have bellied up to the bar and
ordered top-notch dealerships with a superb parts organization and
superior service and warranty coverage. They did none of those things,
period. Bluntly, they _never_ tried to sell Rovers in this country,
period. The issue only comes up because Rover has failed to make its
mark in its domestic market and the European Union, because the car is
seen as far behind the times.
For the record, BMW can't sell Rovers in this country because they have
_no_ outlets for them, and they've not marketed them through BMW
dealerships, nor have they any real desire to do so. If the Rover were
to be sold through BMW, no one in the US would pay the horrendous labor
costs to have a BMW dealership service their Rover.
In short, regarding Rover, this is nothing more than BMW pissing on
their own shoes. Three years ago, they were saying mighty things about
how they were going to turn Rover around and make it a _German_ company,
and they have utterly failed in that attempt; "oy, mate, fuck fixing
that, it's tea break."
As regards a badge change, maybe a change to the Triumph badge will make
a difference in the domestic market, but not here in the US. Not without
a correction of the problems which British Leyland created here for the
Triumph name in the `70s. And, most importantly, not if the car isn't in
the character of the Triumphs of old. A re-badged Rover would have all
the sales impact in the US of a turd in the punchbowl.
Fer chrissakes', the Germans don't know how to build a real _Triumph_!
Or a better Triumph.... This is just more bad marketing bullshit from a
company that bought a pig in a poke....
There are more ordinary people in America who know what the name Triumph
means than in all the boardrooms of BMW. Tell BMW _that_.
[Rant mode now disabled <smile>]
Cheers.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
mailto: mporter@zianet.com
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
|