28 replies to this topic

[Peter Perfect]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/4420507.stm

Looks like curtains for MG-Rover, the last volume car producer in the UK. A sad way to end after 80 years.

Where now for the MG DTM entry? (are there any other MG motorsport entries in other series?)

[Peter Perfect]

The fat lady has sung..

http://news.bbc.co.u...ess/4422705.stm

[se7en_24]

Well, I was surprised there hasn't been at least one shot of a 'real life' MG DTM car so soon to the season start, I guess this explains why.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by Peter Perfect
The fat lady has sung..

Patricia Hewitt is not that fat. But apparently Rover has NOT called in the receivers - the Government has announced it, presumably to kill off Rover once & for all. After all, it's not staffed by bribing Labour arselickers.

[P.Williams]

Wonder how many of those people will vote for Tony on May 5.

[Scorg]

Well this is the story the british press wanted for the past few years and they have got it, even if Hewlet in what she said, that story is looking to have stuck now, even though on Newsnight it has been confirmed the administrators have not been called in but an advisement company to review the books and advise from there.

[Shockabuku]

AFAIK the MG DTM programme isn't being funded by MG Rover, but by ITR, the organisers of the DTM instead (to ensure that the "manufacturer" numbers don't drop to 2 when Opel leaves).

Whilst no money is coming from MG, they might ask ITR to postpone the entry as I'd imagine that it wouldn't look good to have a car racing when jobs could be axed.

[Beej]

Originally posted by Peter Perfect

Where now for the MG DTM entry? (are there any other MG motorsport entries in other series?)

Also run in BTCC. This year in the preseasons it looked like the cars were in the Black and Green Xpower works colours unlike last year when they ran in WSR Silver and green. I wonder if this announcement will effect this.

[BRG]

Originally posted by Peter Perfect
MG-Rover, the last volume car producer in the UK.

You mean apart from Ford, Jaguar, Landrover, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Honda, Nissan and Toyota?

True, it is the last British-owned volume car producer - but then it is an increasingly globalised world and it is hard to categorise car makers by nationality when both their shareholders and factories are all over the world.

It is all very sad, but probably inevitable. I was never very optimistic about this Chinese tie-up - if it was such a good deal, it would have been signed and sealed months ago.

P.Williams asked 'Wonder how many of those people will vote for Tony on May 5. ' - well, doubtless the unemployed workers will be looking to blame someone, but it will hardly be fair to blame the government. It's not their fault if an entirely private-sector concern like MG-Rover is not viable - unless you believe in State intervention in industry, which has SUCH a wonderful history of success. It's how MG-Rover got where it is today, after all. Well, that and a few years of seriously bad management by BMW. But I doubt if these unpalatable truths will stop the media pointing the finger and blaming Blair. It's not as if they haven't got anything else to blame him for, is it?

As for motorsport, it must be curtains for the DTM project, unless it is wholly funded by sponsorship. Likewise MG's rallying involvements. The BTCC entries were actually privately run, developed and funded by West Surrey Racing last year, so they may be able to continue.

[Wingman]

Dunno, as said above, it is essentially unclear where the funding for that project is coming from. Speculation is that it is really coming from ITR and Zytek is doing all the work on the car. How involved MG-Rover really is, no one knows. It could be possible that Zytek will run the cars anyway, with it being more like a "privateer effort" much like Abt-Audi in the early new DTM. Running a Zytek-MG if you will, as long as the MG corporation gives its OK.

[Gianni]

Originally posted by Beej


Also run in BTCC. This year in the preseasons it looked like the cars were in the Black and Green Xpower works colours unlike last year when they ran in WSR Silver and green. I wonder if this announcement will effect this.

WSR ran the cars in a few races in the German Production series over the off season, I think the green stripe remains from that, perhaps the German importer was part funding it. WSR have I believe sold two MG ZS cars to Maurer motorsport to run in the GPS with some tech support from WSR.

AFAIK WSR have no support from MG of any kind and will run the cars with the silver stripe as per last year. Events at MGR will have no impact on WSR.

[Gianni]

Originally posted by Wingman
Dunno, as said above, it is essentially unclear where the funding for that project is coming from. Speculation is that it is really coming from ITR and Zytek is doing all the work on the car. How involved MG-Rover really is, no one knows. It could be possible that Zytek will run the cars anyway, with it being more like a "privateer effort" much like Abt-Audi in the early new DTM. Running a Zytek-MG if you will, as long as the MG corporation gives its OK.

My understanding is that ITR and Zytek have funded the project so far, MGR was supposed to contribute by paying the manufacturers fee, which enables the cars to be entered and counted as factory cars.

The story is that ex BTCC racer Tom Chilton will drive one car with the cars run by BTCC team Arena Motorsport. I would imagine that MGR's financial involement in this is minimal, if anything has appeared at all. There is the political situation of MG appearing to run in a high profile race series whilst being in administration and the image that creates.

Having invested money in it so far, as you say Zytek may go ahead and race the cars, perhaps under the X-Power brand which is a seperate entity from MGR cars, I believe.

[Pilla]

28/10/2004
...
07/04/2005

I hate it when businesses fail, people pour their heart and soul into something and it dies... Positive to negative in the space of four months.

[The First MH]

Originally posted by P.Williams
Wonder how many of those people will vote for Tony on May 5.

http://news.bbc.co.u...age/4429663.stm

[Scorg]

Was talking about this at work yesterday and someone brought up the conspiricy theory!
That the company going into administration is a play to obtain Labour a re election upon saving the company (A bit like the tory's having the Falklands to boost their re election chances)

Conspiricy I know

But back on a Racing topic. Rob Collard making a good start in the MG ZS within the BTCC this weekend with two forths and a second.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by Scorg
Was talking about this at work yesterday and someone brought up the conspiricy theory!

Wayyyyyyy ahead of you. Don't you think it odd that the Trade "Minister" announced that MG Rover had called in the receivers, which was untrue, the weekend of the Pope's funeral AND a royal wedding? Burying bad news - like they did on 9/11.

[BRG]

Originally posted by ensign14
Don't you think it odd that the Trade "Minister" announced that MG Rover had called in the receivers, which was untrue,

How was it 'untrue'? They HAD called in the receivers - it is just that the company chose to go on lieing about it for a while longer, whilst the government told the truth. I know that is a rare occurence in politics, but there you are...

[ensign14]

Well, for a start there's no such thing as "receivers". But at the time of making the statement MG Rover had NOT called in the administrators.

[BRG]

Originally posted by ensign14
But at the time of making the statement MG Rover had NOT called in the administrators.

Receivers, administrators, whatever - I was using the terminology that you had used.

Are you saying that MG-Rover had not contacted PriceWaterhouse Cooper at the time of the givernment announcement? Of course they had, and probably several days or more before. Or do you think that it was it a sudden decision by the board "Gosh, chaps, look what Patricia Hewitt has said! What a good idea! Anyone got PWC's phone-number?".

Basically, the company were being economical with the truth (if not with anything else) by claiming that everything was hunky-dory when the company was no longer a 'going concern' - and I use that term in its specific accounting sense. The directors were really in breach of their duties by allowing the company to continue trading when it was insolvent and could theoretically get taken to task for this.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by BRG
Are you saying that MG-Rover had not contacted PriceWaterhouse Cooper at the time of the givernment announcement?

That's a different question. Patricia Hewitt did NOT say "MG Rover has spoken to a company with a view to their appointment as administrators". She said, categorically, that MG Rover was in receivership (ironically it was she that abolished the term receivership).

Companies speak to accountants all the time for advice. A number of firms had been looking at MG Rover's books for different reasons (interestingly someone leaked the reports - who could THAT have been? Must have been someone who had seen the reports obtained by MG Rover and SAIC - which did most damage as suppliers took fright). But Hewitt's statement forced MG Rover's hand. According to the papers PwC were appointed as administrators over the weekend.

[billm99uk]

Originally posted by Gianni



Having invested money in it so far, as you say Zytek may go ahead and race the cars, perhaps under the X-Power brand which is a seperate entity from MGR cars, I believe.

Regardless of whether or not the funding is there, it seems a bit pointless to race a car when the makers are in receivership, or administration, or whatever

I mean the whole point of the thing for the organisers was to make it look a bit more healthy than it is, with just the two serious manufacturers. Still I suppose at least they've still got more cars that the BTCC.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by billm99uk


Regardless of whether or not the funding is there, it seems a bit pointless to race a car when the makers are in receivership, or administration, or whatever

Tell that to WSR.

[howardt]

Originally posted by billm99uk


Regardless of whether or not the funding is there, it seems a bit pointless to race a car when the makers are in receivership, or administration, or whatever

Well I don't think their "3-year warranty" is going to be very useful

[BRG]

Originally posted by ensign14
According to the papers PwC were appointed as administrators over the weekend.

And the papers are always to be trusted on factual matters, aren't they. I guess that PWC were really on the ball to react so fast when they fielded that completely unexpected phone call from MG Rover asking them to be administrators.

The people at fault here are BMW, for their truly disastrous period of stewardship which essentially finished off the company. It has been living on borrowed time ever since.

[LB]

Originally posted by ensign14
Wayyyyyyy ahead of you. Don't you think it odd that the Trade "Minister" announced that MG Rover had called in the receivers, which was untrue, the weekend of the Pope's funeral AND a royal wedding? Burying bad news - like they did on 9/11.

Do you know something, I have never understood the problem people had with that. It's completely standard practice for any government to try and hide bad news, Jo Moore was 100% right and correctly doing her job (arrogant wee cow though). If she wasn't stabbed in the back by someone leaking memos no-one would have thought a thing about it.

As for the above would you rather they didn't announce it? I bet you would be screaming 'cover up' from every rafter you could find.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by BRG
And the papers are always to be trusted on factual matters, aren't they.

I understand Companies House will back them up when they publish the details.

Originally posted by LB
As for the above would you rather they didn't announce it? I bet you would be screaming 'cover up' from every rafter you could find.

I don't see it as the Government's role to make announcements over the financial situations of private companies. It is a matter of public record who the administrators are and when they are appointed. There could be no cover-up.

Hewitt jumped the gun. Whether it was inevitable is not the point. Whatever chance there was of MG Rover avoiding administration went as soon as she made the announcement.

[BRG]

Originally posted by ensign14
Hewitt jumped the gun.

Then she was clearly misinformed - and that can only have been by someone from MG Rover. And the idea that this precipitated the fall of MG Rover is laughable. It was a dead parrot long since.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by BRG
Then she was clearly misinformed - and that can only have been by someone from MG Rover.

Or she misunderstood and did not seek clarification.

[Pilla]

Well the **** has really hit the fan now