JOBS FEARS AFTER `ROVER SELL-OFF' REPORT
By Alan Jones, Industrial Correspondent, PA News
Fresh fears about the future of Rover cars and tens of thousands of jobs were
raised tonight after German owner BMW refused to deny a report that it is to
sell factories, including the huge Longbridge plant.
BMW said it had been working on a number of proposals to "re-structure" the
Rover group, which employs thousands of workers at Longbridge in Birmingham,
Cowley near Oxford and other UK plants.
The idea of selling the factories was one of a number of "conceivable
variants" which will be discussed by the BMW supervisory board at a meeting
in Munich on Thursday.
The statement immediately set alarm bells ringing among union leaders who
said they were seeking urgent talks with the company.
Reports have regularly appeared in German magazines and newspapers over the
past few months suggesting that the Rover subsidiary will be sold because of
heavy losses but they have always proved unfounded.
But a new report in tomorrow's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper raised genuine
concerns among union leaders.
The report said BMW would be presenting a plan to the board meeting to sell
its Rover factories.
BMW said in its statement, issued in Munich tonight: "The board of management
at BMW has been working on different scenarios to restructure the Rover
group.
"The company has reported regularly to the public about the current situation
at Rover.
"The scenario referred to in the article as a plan is just one of the
conceivable variants. The decision preferred by the board of management will
be presented during the regular supervisory board meeting on Thursday the
16th and published afterwards."
BMW refused to expand on the statement but also refused to rule out any
suggestion that it definitely would not be selling Rover.
Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and
Electrical Union, said BMW had given assurances that it remained committed to
Rover.
"Cash has already been pumped into Longbridge and this report will cause
dismay throughout the Rover workforce because they just want to get on with
their jobs and build cars.
"I am confident that BMW will remain committed to Rover but they have to make
their position absolutely clear. It is time to remove any shadow of doubt
about the future."
Tony Woodley, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union,
said he was seeking urgent talks with the company but believed that selling
off Rover would not make any sense for BMW.
"It would also be unacceptable to the workforce and no doubt the British
Government."
Garel Rhys of the Cardiff Business School, who is a leading motor industry
analyst, said any suggestion that BMW was about to sell off Rover or any of
its factories would be a surprise.
However, he added: "But the issue could well be on the agenda for Thursday's
meeting."
Unions have warned that 50,000 jobs would be lost throughout the West
Midlands if Longbridge closed.
The Department of Trade and Industry tonight described the German newspaper
report as "speculation".
Shadow trade and industry secretary Angela Browning said: "This is a blow for
the Midlands when only last summer they had been anticipating a new era at
Rover Cars.
"The key will be, if BMW does sell the company, who buys it and what sort of
future they envisage."
Liberal Democrat trade and industry spokesman Vince Cable said: "In a
European market that is seriously overcrowded with a lot of spare capacity,
British car production has been put at a tremendous disadvantage by an
overvalued pound.
"Until Government policy brings the currency down to a realistic level
against the euro this will not be the last of the damage to be inflicted on
British industry."
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said BMW had found a buyer for Rover, but
that the German company would keep Land Rover and Mini.
The paper said the buyer was not an established car manufacturer.
The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents 5,000 firms
across the city, said that, if true, the BMW move would be a devastating blow
for the West Midlands region.
Spokesman John Lamb said the chamber had estimated that up to 50,000 jobs in
the West Midlands economy were dependent on Longbridge's survival.
Mr Lamb added that he was particularly concerned at rumours that Rover could
be sold off to venture capitalists rather than another automotive concern.
He said closure of the Birmingham plant would result in a "disastrous"
knock-on effect in the region, leading to tens of thousands of job losses in
the components industry.
"It would affect the supply chain and there would be a domino effect which
would be pretty devastating. That's the worrying part of it for us," Mr Lamb
added.
"We will just have to wait and see, but it would be devastating if its true."
Birmingham Northfield MP Richard Burden, whose constituency covers
Longbridge, tonight called on BMW to clarify its plans for the plant.
Mr Burden said BMW officials had personally assured him that they were
committed to Longbridge "for the long term" with an investment strategy that
would bring £500 million a year into Rover.
"Rumours in the press are not new," said Mr Burden.
"Indeed the most damaging thing for Rover over the past year has been
constant rumour, speculation and counter-rumour."
He added: "What astonishes me today is that the latest reports circulating in
the German press have not been conclusively denied by BMW.
"That is why I am calling on BMW to put an end to the speculation and to
reaffirm their commitment to Rover.
"In doing so I am asking them to do no more than to keep their word to me, to
the British Government and the 50,000 people whose jobs depend on
Longbridge."
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My friends, you may think that this story doesn't perhaps impact on you and
your Triumph cars, but don't you believe it. The name Triumph, your spare
parts, and the licence to produce them, is wholly owned by messrs BMW...
BTW, I met Richard Burden, the Member of Parliament for the constituency that
covers the Birmingham Longbridge plant, just this last Saturday, and he
seemed pretty confident about BMW's intentions then...wow, what a difference,
3 short days can make!
Léon F Guyot
Triumph Sports Six Club
International Liaison Secretary
1963 Triumph Vitesse 2-Litre Convertible
Wimbledon, London, England.
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