RE: Next Mini on hold as BMW ponders Brexit

[DukeDickson]

SidewaysSi said:

BMW should move production elsewhere

There's probably a decent chance they will - always nice to have a convenient reason to hang your hat on, even if it isn't the real one. At the same time, you're keeping the options open, for now.

[CoolHands]

I couldn’t care less. If they exit, someone else will enter. The price of new cars these days I’m amazed (the industry) still sell nearly 2.3 million a year according to that earlier graph.

[DonkeyApple]

CoolHands said:

I couldn’t care less. If they exit, someone else will enter. The price of new cars these days I’m amazed (the industry) still sell nearly 2.3 million a year according to that earlier graph.

It is quite amazing how many we get through. But looking at this chart suggests we bin over 2m a year which is possibly more staggering.

[Jader1973]

CoolHands said:

I couldn’t care less. If they exit, someone else will enter. The price of new cars these days I’m amazed (the industry) still sell nearly 2.3 million a year according to that earlier graph.

Nobody else will enter. They’ll all leave and build in the EU instead.

Add in the mad plan to ban anything except EVs by 2035 and soon you’ll only be able to buy a glorified milk float made in Government subsidised plants in South Wales.

[jamoor]

CoolHands said:

I couldn’t care less. If they exit, someone else will enter. The price of new cars these days I’m amazed (the industry) still sell nearly 2.3 million a year according to that earlier graph.

Vehicles are constantly reaching their end of life so it’s not a surprise

[CoolHands]

When I say someone else will enter, I don’t necessarily mean enter To build a plant in the uk for production and provide jobs. I simply mean enter the market to provide an alternative make/vehicle/model. We pay for those jobs anyway through all sorts of backyard deals and ‘incentives so we could do the same in alternative industries if we had to.’

[SidewaysSi]

It will be a quite a few redundancies,any of whom will not easily be able to find other work.

For many, it's a small price to pay.

[SmoothCriminal]

I laugh when people come on here (mostly remainers) thinking the eu is great for manufacturing and car makers in the UK.

If it was so good why dont they make all minis here, why did ford decimate dagenham why do vag or BMW or merc not make any cars in the uk even though it's a massive market for them.

Edited by SmoothCriminal on Wednesday 5th February 12:33

Edited by SmoothCriminal on Wednesday 5th February 12:34

[DonkeyApple]

SmoothCriminal said:

I laugh when people come on here (mostly remainers) thinking the eu is great for manufacturing and car makers in the UK.

If it was so good why dont they make all minis here, why did ford decimate dagenham why do vag or BMW or merc not make any cars in the uk even though it's a massive market for them.

Not enough immigrants to do the work properly?

[Jimbo.]

SmoothCriminal said:

I laugh when people come on here (mostly remainers) thinking the eu is great for manufacturing and car makers in the UK.

If it was so good why dont they make all minis here, why did ford decimate dagenham why do vag or BMW or merc not make any cars in the uk even though it's a massive market for them.

Edited by SmoothCriminal on Wednesday 5th February 12:33

Edited by SmoothCriminal on Wednesday 5th February 12:34

Not all Minis will fit down the Cowley production line (literally) and the plant (usually) is busy enough churning out what models it can.

Ford reduced Dagenham to an engine plant due to overcapacity, and Dagenham lost out due to its (relative to other EU/US) inefficiency. And yes, I suspect, politics. But having worked there, it was also old, outdated and mired-down in “not my job mate” working practices.

Why do VW need a plant in the UK when they’ve enough on the mainland already?
BMW make cars here: Mini. And engines too.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan all located here as yes, it was good for manufacturing. It got them into the EU and around import tarriffs (and again I suspect politics came into play)

With their factories now being out the EU and their cars now potentially being subject to tarriffs, what’s the point in them being here? Why not shut them down and repeat what they did when moving to the UK, and move to the mainland?

[Harji]

napoleondynamite said:

Pffft,
BUT we get our freedom back. I don't know what that means but lots of ruddy faced people were talking about it on the news on Friday. They were tremendously excited about it so I for one can't wait.

I didn't realise we were in chains...

[DonkeyApple]

Jimbo. said:

Not all Minis will fit down the Cowley production line (literally) and the plant (usually) is busy enough churning out what models it can.

Ford reduced Dagenham to an engine plant due to overcapacity, and Dagenham lost out due to its (relative to other EU/US) inefficiency. And yes, I suspect, politics. But having worked there, it was also old, outdated and mired-down in “not my job mate” working practices.

Why do VW need a plant in the UK when they’ve enough on the mainland already?
BMW make cars here: Mini. And engines too.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan all located here as yes, it was good for manufacturing. It got them into the EU and around import tarriffs (and again I suspect politics came into play)

With their factories now being out the EU and their cars now potentially being subject to tarriffs, what’s the point in them being here? Why not shut them down and repeat what they did when moving to the UK, and move to the mainland?

Honda is departing from Europe pretty much altogether, Nissan probably won't bother relocating just closing as it has the other brands in Europe already. Every remaining EU state will be pitching for all of this sort of business and the whole petrol/diesel car manufacturing business is now dead in the UK within 2 economic cycles so the only sane and logical thing we should be doing is pumping money and resources into businesses that have a definable future beyond 2035 and not trying to keep stuff which is already dead.

It's not exactly ideal but none of these current factories have any long term future or even medium term future so we must invest in finding business that does so as to deliver replacement work where needed.

[PurpleTurtle]

SmoothCriminal said:

I laugh when people come on here (mostly remainers) thinking the eu is great for manufacturing and car makers in the UK.

If it was so good why dont they make all minis here, why did ford decimate dagenham why do vag or BMW or merc not make any cars in the uk even though it's a massive market for them.

1) MINI production at Cowley is maximum capacity hence use of third party plants in the EU for the surplus they cannot build there

2) The only Ford model produced at Dagenham in the last 20 years has been the Fiesta, but as a secondary plant to Spain. That got binned due to being not cost-effective to tool up for the 2002 model Fiesta. They still build 800,000+ diesel engines a year at Dagenham, most of which are exported.

3) BMW build engines at Hams Hall, they've just celebrated the 5 millionth engine build there in 2019.

All of these are sitting ducks to relocate somewhere with no tariffs, no customs delays and, as a kicker, cheaper labour, in the event of No Deal Brexit.

Yet Barking and Dagenham voted to leave the EU by 62%, and North Warwickshire (Hams Hall/Coleshill) by 66%.

Slow hand claps all round there.

[DonkeyApple]

PurpleTurtle said:

1) MINI production at Cowley is maximum capacity hence use of third party plants in the EU for the surplus they cannot build there

2) The only Ford model produced at Dagenham in the last 20 years has been the Fiesta, but as a secondary plant to Spain. That got binned due to being not cost-effective to tool up for the 2002 model Fiesta. They still build 800,000+ diesel engines a year at Dagenham, most of which are exported.

3) BMW build engines at Hams Hall, they've just celebrated the 5 millionth engine build there in 2019.

All of these are sitting ducks to relocate somewhere with no tariffs, no customs delays and, as a kicker, cheaper labour, in the event of No Deal Brexit.

Yet Barking and Dagenham voted to leave the EU by 62%, and North Warwickshire (Hams Hall/Coleshill) by 66%.

Slow hand claps all round there.

To we know if it was actually the workers employed by these European businesses in those areas that voted Leave? 34% in those areas on your numbers voted to Remain. My wild guess would be that many of those would be the workers?

Even so, I’m not sure that it matters. In reality the whole Brexit event was a classic silent revolution as people were given the opportunity to give a kicking to the group’s of people they didn’t like and saw to blame for their situation?