The news in today's Daily Mail and elsewhere.
Initially 2000 Freelanders will be assembled in India. More to follow.
Don't think anyone will be surprised by this.
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>> Initially 2000 Freelanders will be assembled in India. More to follow.
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>> Don't think anyone will be surprised by this.
The poor sods who buy them will be.
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will they be any worse than Mercedes built/assembled in South Africa?
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I don't know. I was not casting aspersions on the workforce or India in general.
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Then I don't understand your initial comment at all.
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>>will they be any worse than Mercedes built/assembled in South Africa?<<
Are they the ones that near-destroyed Mercedes' reputation?
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will the British workers take a hit on this?
ie are they going to lose out if this is the case becasue that will be a shame
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I don't know but I think so! SFAIK they were mostly C class and I don't know if they were assembled there from knock down kits or whether panels were pressed, engines built etc
More likely the former, I don't think SA yet has the suppliers to make glass, interior trim, lights etc.
This company statement does not make things clearer!
Overview
Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global company, Daimler AG. The company acquired a manufacturing plant in East London which has been building vehicles in South Africa for over 60 years. Today MBSA manufactures Mercedes-Benz C-Class cars in right-hand drive for the local market and in left-hand drive execution for export to the United States of America. It also produces the Mitsubishi Triton pick-up range, Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles and buses, and Mitsubishi FUSO trucks, as well as assembly of Freightliner trucks, a leading American brand. MBSA`s headquarters, marketing and support divisions are located in Zwartkop, Gauteng, from where the Mercedes-Benz, smart, Mitsubishi Motors, Freightliner, Western Star and Mitsubishi FUSO products are marketed and financed.
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Wed 2 Mar 11 at 12:13
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Ask yourself what else there is in the OP to criticise. Edit: It's not "The Daily Mail".
Last edited by: FotheringtonTomas on Wed 2 Mar 11 at 12:35
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Nope, still struggling FT.
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I think he is suggesting that a car that was a bag of worms when assembled in the UK on a purpose built production line, will not be improved by being exported abroad in boxes to be assembled elsewhere.
If I have the point wrong I am sure FT will admonish me.
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Yup. I wasn't criticising "The Daily Mail", or India. Only one thing left, and you've explained it nicely.
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I read it as you meant it FT !
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Well, I still don't get it. Too cryptic for me still. Ah well, better go for a lie down I suppose.....
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Maybe Mr. O'Vic has the only good Freelander to escape the factory!
Last edited by: FotheringtonTomas on Wed 2 Mar 11 at 14:15
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>> Don't think anyone will be surprised by this.
>> The poor sods who buy them will be.
I was going to suggest that the build quality problems that have long haunted LR may be about to end at last.
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Was thinking exactly the same thing.
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>> >> Initially 2000 Freelanders will be assembled in India. More to follow.
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>> >> Don't think anyone will be surprised by this.
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>> The poor sods who buy them will be.
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They'd be going some to be worse build quality than my former bosses brand new 2006 LWB Land Rover, just for starters:-
soft paint
wrong seat configuration delivered
paid for optional extras missing
leaked water into front footwell
suffered total brake failure at one point
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>> Initially 2000 Freelanders will be assembled in India. More to follow.
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I'd have thought they'd have started with the Discovery. It's a workhorse and buyers don't pay as much attention to cosmetic issues.
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Defender you mean, shirley ?
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As per Wikipedia, Merc C class is assembled in following places.
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico
Toluca, Mexico
6th of October City, Egypt
Bogor, Indonesia
Bremen, Germany
East London, South Africa
Juiz de Fora, Brazil
Sindelfingen, Germany
Thonburi, Thailand
Pekan, Malaysia
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>> As per Wikipedia, Merc C class is assembled in following places.
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Only the saloons. The estate's are all assembled in Germany.
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>> Defender you mean, shirley ?
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yes - the one that wouldn't look out of place in the 1940s, like the Hindustan Ambassador/Morris Oxford thing.
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This kind of thing might do ok in India. The work force will almost certainly be more interested in getting on with the job, and done to the standard they're instructed to.
Management's where it breaks down in India in my very limited experience, there's a few shining beacons of light i can think of right enough so even that's not all bad.
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It's not just Merc who assemble in SA. BMW assemble 3-series. VW assemble cars there too.
And of course the VW Fox and Beetle are assembled in Mexico - by feckless work-shy workers, eating plates of re-fried sick with cheese on, no doubt ;-).
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Tata JLR are doing well, it seems. reports from two to three weeks ago:
Land Rover sales continue to accelerate
12 February 2011, 12:16pm
Two of Britain's best-known brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, continued to impress under Indian ownership after sales accelerated in China and Russia.
The two car marques, owned as JLR by Tata Motors, saw combined sales jump 6% to 58,400 in the three months to December 31, boosting pre-tax profit five-fold to £275m. Land Rover sales in mainland China rose 82% to 7,220.
Russia was another key growth market, with Land Rover selling 3,115 vehicles, 26% higher than last time.
But the cars, still designed in the Warwickshire village of Gaydon and assembled in Liverpool and the West Midlands, still sell well in 'older' markets. Land Rover sales jumped 19% in North America, to 10,300.
Company performance was also helped by higher sales prices and profit margins, which rose to 17% against 9pc the previous year. Sales in the UK fell, with Jaguar down 25% and Land Rover down 7%.
Tata transforms Jaguar from loss-maker to winner
19 February 2011, 6:45pm
Adrian Mardell, JLR's deputy chief finance officer, said: 'We are still a small company compared with our rivals like Mercedes and BMW. We make just over 200,000 cars, but they make over am each.'
Mardell is not keen to make predictions but it is safe to assume the company would like to be turning out more than 300,000 units in a couple of years.
Tata has a reputation for good industrial relations. Massive changes have been made and jobs have gone, but the gamble by the unions to back Tata has paid off and JLR is recruiting again.
Mardell said: 'We are taking on workers now - 1,500 workers at Halewood in Liverpool and 1,000 engineers. Our workforce may yet get to 20,000.'
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They may be for the domestic market. Assembling them there avoids import tax. ;)
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I think I agree that these are probably for internal consumption as foreign imports whether new or second hand attract a 100% import tariff. I was in India last week, and you'd be surprised by the numbers of top quality cars being sold with the import duty.
However, one thing is that despite having RHD cars, second hand imports from Japan arent evident because of the aforementioned import duty.
RM
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"Warwickshire village of Gaydon'
Is this the same Gaydon that was nothing but an RAF station, then one of Britain's biggest squatters' camps after WW2, then a trading estate?
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today's Telegraph
New Range Rover to create 5,000 jobs
03 Mar 2011
Jaguar Land Rover has awarded £2bn of supply contracts to companies based in Britain in a move that will create approximately 5,000 new jobs.
The resurgent luxury car maker says more than 40 companies in the UK will benefit from the contracts, which are for components in the new Range Rover Evoque.
Sales of Jaguar and Land Rovers are booming worldwide and the company is on course to make an annual profit of close to £1bn. The Evoque, know as the "Baby Range Rover", is expected to emerge as one of JLR's biggest selling vehicles.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said on Wednesday: "This is great news and another example of the strength of UK manufacturing. JLR's announcement has the potential to create thousands of jobs and opportunities around the country and is a real boost to the economy."
Mr Cameron made the comments as Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, toured the company's Merseyside plant and unveiled a new industry report which claims automotive suppliers are winning £7bn of work from global vehicle makers and can access significant "untapped potential".
Among the companies to benefit from the JLR contracts were International Automotive Components, Johnson Controls and Magna International on Merseyside. Ralf Speth, JLR chief executive, said: "The billions being spent on Evoque is just the start, with 40 significant product actions coming over the next five years."
Last edited by: John H on Thu 3 Mar 11 at 15:46
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Tata to build Land Rover in India - FotheringtonTomas
