Rover/MG will be closing operations from all appearances. The hoped for deal with the Chinese did not make it. Will BMW pick up any pieces from the MG line?

 

What does Rover MG even offer anymore? a cabrio MG and a sedan, right? is there even anything else they still make?

 

I belive it was several Rover sedans (one of which was originally planned to be built at what was and became again the MINI plant in Oxford), plus what's left of the MG line.

I'd tell you more, but they've wasted no time shutting down their website! www.rover.co.uk has "been suspended"

 

If BMW was smart, what they should do now is buy the Longbridge plant (where most of the classic Mini's were produced and where the new Mini started production but was later moved to the Canley plant in Oxford) and start new Mini production there.

It will get rid of their porduction crunch and support English workers in the process. BMW won't do it.

Oilman

 

Not after the bath that BMW took from buying Rover in the first place. BMW was so determined to get rid of Rover that they sold it to "The Pheonix Group." for litterally pennies. (ok it was approximately $18). I kid you not, the entire Rover Cars operation including the Longbridge plant was sold off by BMW for all of 10 GBP! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/741701.stm

Besides, BMW and MINI are more than satisfied with the effects of throttling supply of new MINIs. Of course with the expected releases of as many as 3 new models in the next 5 to 7 years if they don't expand the Cowley plant (it's not Canley sorry) they might need to look to resurrect Longbridge or look elsewhere for added capacity...

 

As much as I would like to see MG become a viable brand again, BMW has a compelling business reason against such a move. When the MINI was launched, it filled a niche that was occupied by no existing BMW product- diminutive and, most importantly, FWD. Therefore, its introduction was not seen as a direct threat to sales of BMW's existing product line.

On the other hand, consider a newly-designed successor to, say, the MGB. To live up to its predecessor, the first new MG would likely be an affordable, small, RWD, open-roof 2-seater. This sounds a lot like the BMW Z4's design formula- all except the "affordable" part! This would place the MG as a direct competitor against the BMW Z4. If the engineers got things as right with a new MG as they did with the MINI (especially the fun-per-quid quotient,) the hypothetical new MG I envision would have the potential to crush Z4 sales. Think of how many people choose Miatas over the Z4 based on cost!

A "BMW-built" MG would have one thing that the Mazda does not- the BMW name behind it. Whether most people like the fact or not, one of the things that draws some brand-conscious buyers to the MINI is BMW's involvement in the product. Think of how many MINI people there are who found MINI because of their interest in BMW, or who have become converts after selling off or trading in BMWs- from Z3s to E46 M3s! Much as BMW enjoys the success of the MINI, I'm sure they are not as happy about that side-effect of the MINI's existence.

Given these factors, much as I want to see a new and healthy "MG Division," I seriously doubt BMW make it or let it happen.

*just my tuppence*

 

Unfortunately for us in the USA, BMW didn't want the MGF to compete with the US built Z3 roadster which also debued at about the same time. Hence the MGF was for all markets except the US and Canada (which incidentally had been the largest market for the old British Leyland MGs like the MGB and MG Midget). Anyhoo, it was in part due to BMW's efforts that the MG name made it back to the modern sports car scene (discounting the MG-RV8 a pre-BMW attempt to recreate a sporting image by shoehorning a Rover 3.5 ltr. V-8 into a modified MGB roadster chassis in 1991 - 1994). What a pity that BMW didn't bring the MGF over to the USA, I doubt it would have negatively affected Z-series sales as it is a different beastie altogether.

If somebody really wants to save MG-Rover, (Hey GM, now that you're off the hook with Fiat, why not try to resurrect the English patient) I'm sure PriceWaterhouseCoopers is willing to hear just about any offer.

 

That explains a lot. I wondered why the MGF was never offered in North America when it was introduced. I had guessed it had something to do with not meeting U.S. Federal crash test or EPA emission standards. It never occurred to me then that BMW might have anything to do with keeping the MGF out of North America, since I only paid attention to the old-line British marques. I also wasn't as cynical then as I am now, or I'd might have concluded (correctly, I'd bet) that it was something sleazy, like protectionistic marketing on the part of a new parent company.

This does, however, reinforce my point. If BMW believed that a mid-engined, RWD car was a thread to their front-engined, RWD roadster, how much more so would they feel this way about another front-engined RWD roadster?

...

One last observation, on the thought of GM stepping in to buy MG Rover--
the first thing that this brought to mind was the vision of a new MG built on the Kappa platform, a la Pontiac Solstice / Saturn Sky. Not sure how I feel about that...

... at least it would be supercharged, rather than turboed!

 

The Economist editorializes about this in its current issue. Here's an excerpt (PS means pounds sterling--I lack the symbol on my keyboard):

"The world's car industry is not a kind and gentle place right now. It has the capacity to produce around 80 million cars and other light vehicles, but production is currently running at only around 60 million. Most of the excess capacity is in Europe and North America, where costs are higher and sales growing more slowly than they are in Asia. Within the past fortnight both GM and Ford have issued profit warnings. If life is tough for them, it is harder still for a mid-sized company like MG Rover, which has neither the volume of the giants, nor the margins of a niche player, to sustain it.

"Rover, the remains of what was once the third-biggest car producer in the world (a thought which should chill GM and Ford), is a classic victim of industrial policy. British Leyland was put together in 1968 by Harold Wilson's industrial planners, nationalized in 1975, sold for peanuts to British Aerospace in 1988, which then split the company up and flogged Rover to BMW in 1994. Five years ago, BMW admitted defeat and (while holding on to the Mini, which has turned into a roaring success, as well as the best engine-making plant) put the company on the market.

"Two parties were interested. One, Alchemy, a private equity group, offered to buy Rover and shrink it into a niche maker of MG sports cars. Some 20% of jobs would have survived. Workers who were laid of would have got PS50,000 each. The other, Phoenix, had no clear plan but promised to save more jobs. The government initially backed Alchemy, but after 80,000 demonstrators marched through Birmingham protesting at the prospect of heavy job losses, the government switched sides and supported Phoenix. Alchemy, put off by the combined hostility of politicians and workers, walked away and Phoenix got the company, along with a PS427 million interest-free loan from BMW to take the problem off its hands."

I hope the sun will rise again over the Morris Garage.

 

As I said, It's a sad day. My first automotive lust was a used 1957 MGA, turquois, I believe, sitting with a for sale sign at a local service station (yeah, that's when they still called 'em service stations). It was pristine, I was 16, my folks decided to save me from Nebraska winters in an english sportscar. I had to opt for a 57 chevy. :smile:

 

There is one more reason that MG never came to the U.S. Back in the early days of MG like the 50's the people that bought MG dealer fanchise's signed contracts and became MG dealers for life. There is a group of people that still have the contracts and have gotten together. They will only allow MG to be sold through them in the U.S. It is actually a big legal mess and is one big reason that MG has not been brought to the states.

 

My brother's '70 (or '71) white MGB started my love affair with sports cars. My first speeding ticket was in that car.


It is indeed a sad day.

 

Morknmini,
If this helps, you can type in the £ sign, as I just did, by pressing the "Alt" sign, and then typing "1", "5" and "6" on the Numbers panel on the RHS of your keyboard while the "Alt" sign is depressed.
It doesn't work if you use the numbers across the top of your keyboard.
Give it a try.
I know this is unrelated, but simply to respond to a specific point made by Morknmini!

 

Thanks! I just noticed I don't have an ALT!!!! How could I not have an ALT? I got these things though: ` ~, but can't find the ALT. It's a PowerBookG4. I have an ALT on my PC and will try typing on that tomorrow. I sincerely appreciate the instruction.

 

This is fascinating and weird. They became self-destructive.