Under another thread, Ashley comments:
Quote:
Apparently not only are the big three making cars that their
customers don't want
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It is only really making the headlines about the US because of the large number of people involved (either directly or indirectly) in automobile manufacture or distribution and is not solely the US manufacturers who are experiencing this in the US — did anyone see the BBC
Newsnight piece and the enormous number of Mercedes units parked in dockyards at Long Island?
I was minded of the demise of MG Rover in 2005 — when Longbridge finally closed (all right, following SAIC’s takeover of Nanjing Auto some production has recommenced there which employs upwards of 100 workers), 6,200 workers were made redundant. If one thinks back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it could be argued that British manufacturing was not unlike the US today, all the parts of what was, or became, British Leyland accounted for 190,000 workers with a proportionate number of employees with Rootes, GM’s Vauxhall, Ford etc.: back then automobile manufacture and distribution was an enormous headache for the British government because of the sociological fall-out of it not continuing.
Things are not looking over-bright for most producers round the world at the moment. The enticing prospect of the cheap and cheerful Nano will not bear fruit unless Tata can find another location to manufacture it that is acceptable to the indigenous population (and, anyway, Ratan Tata has enough other problems with Land Rover/Jaguar, Chorus Steel and his leading Mumbai hotel!), Japanese manufacturers are hardly speaking of a flourishing industry, so possibly the Chinese who are still making a success of manufacturing BMWs, ‘Roewes’ and possibly about to buy Volvo might have realistic plans to remain major players, but not much else seems to bode well for the future. Goodness, even Porsche have made more money out of its ‘shorting’ positions on VW shares than making cars this year!
Strange old world out there, I wonder how the small specialist manufacturers like Bristol will fare?
George