It's Over, Rover
danger boy
Posts: 15,722
The end of of era is always sad. I owned a 1972 MGB conv. tourer for 10 yrs. Loved that car. All out the most fun car i've ever owned. (when it ran) 
Troubled British automaker MG Rover is no more. MG Rover was created in 2000 when BMW sold the two brands, MG and Rover, to a group of British businessmen for the pocket-change sum of $16. BMW had been so keen to unload MG Rover that it even provided the businessmen with a dowry of about $900 millionthe money was technically a loan that BMW never expected to be repaid. That money is now long gone, and for the past year or so, MG Rover has been operating with the help of the government to pay its employees and keep the production lines running. The company had been hoping to get out of its current crisis by courting Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry (SAIC) into a deal that would provide much-needed cash. When the Chinese discovered the parlous state of the company, they decided the wedding was off. As this is written, the production lines at the Rover plant in Longbridge, England, have stopped and people employed there are now out of work. The business will be broken up and sold to the highest bidders. It's the end of the road for British-built Rovers, but one possible scenario is that SAIC will buy up the equipment and materials necessary to build Rover cars and take them back to China. There remains a faint chance of the MG TF sports car surviving under a new owner, as the MG brand is seen as an easier sell than the Rover nameplate.
Troubled British automaker MG Rover is no more. MG Rover was created in 2000 when BMW sold the two brands, MG and Rover, to a group of British businessmen for the pocket-change sum of $16. BMW had been so keen to unload MG Rover that it even provided the businessmen with a dowry of about $900 millionthe money was technically a loan that BMW never expected to be repaid. That money is now long gone, and for the past year or so, MG Rover has been operating with the help of the government to pay its employees and keep the production lines running. The company had been hoping to get out of its current crisis by courting Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry (SAIC) into a deal that would provide much-needed cash. When the Chinese discovered the parlous state of the company, they decided the wedding was off. As this is written, the production lines at the Rover plant in Longbridge, England, have stopped and people employed there are now out of work. The business will be broken up and sold to the highest bidders. It's the end of the road for British-built Rovers, but one possible scenario is that SAIC will buy up the equipment and materials necessary to build Rover cars and take them back to China. There remains a faint chance of the MG TF sports car surviving under a new owner, as the MG brand is seen as an easier sell than the Rover nameplate.
PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
Comments
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Sad day.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
This is sad to hear. I had always hoped that the new generation MGs would make it stateside one day. I have very fond memories of MG. My dad used to race MGs and Austin Healeys in the 60s and early 70s. So, as a boy we always had either an MG or Austin Healey in the garage. One of my best memories as a boy was when the first snowfall of the season would arrive. My Dad & I would go out and get some action, our term for doing donuts in the snow in our little MG midget.
At least the memories will live on
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Honestly, Rover, which owned MG, Rover and Range Rover died in many peoples eyes when it went into receivership several years ago. BMW sucked it up and then said that it was a cash black hole and tried selling it off. Nobody would buy because of the problems with Rover. Ford anted up and bought the Range Rover brand but left the others forsaken.
That is how MG Rover came into being and it went the way the article above stated. Since the only vehicle the company produced since then was the MGF convertible, they were doomed from the start.
MG has been dead a long time folks. That group of businessmen was merely running on life support and borrowed time and money.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
About a decade ago I worked (briefly) for the US branch of a tiny British biotech company. Their headquarters was in Abingdon, UK in Oxfordshire, which I guess was the ancestral home of MG. When I visited the home office (which was frequently), I stayed at a (then) rather decrepit hotel in Abingdon (now) called the Abingdon Four Pillars Hotel. The relevance to this thread is that the main part of their building is octagonal in plan, in homage to MG :-) You can sort of see it in this photo:
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My father had a '59 MGA, itwas a really fun car to drive. By know means a powerful car, but fun in the twisties. Also a classically styled British roadster. It is indeed a sad day in the automotive industry, when you "officially" lose a legendary mark."SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
