Rolls Royce on the Up...
- 9 January 2012 08:36146298Heard an interesting report on the R4 business section this morning...and all about a British name doing well. None other than Rolls Royce. Despite the austerity of the times we live in, Rolls Royce sold more cars in 2011 than they have done any year in their entire 107 year history.
I have just seen Mr Rolls on the seafront let out a whoop of joy!
Sales are up everywhere, but the country now buying more Rollers than anywhere else is..yes you've guessed it...China. Russia has also seen strong sales growth. No doubt about it, the BRIC countries are splashing the cash.
But before you see this as another British success story...hold on...NO!
Its a British Name doing well alright as I mentioned earlier, but now firmly owned by
....The Germans!
Yes BMW own Rolls Royce, and their Chief Executive speaking on the radio this morning was German too.
However the cars are at least made here as I understand it. But the Germans are ab fab at business, making stunning success stories of Rolls Royce and that other British mark..The Mini, also now German owned of course, also BMW.
The hugely successful German business manufacturing-engineering machine rolls on ( small r).
* *
But a note on austerity. This shows very well the great financial divide in society that exists today like never before. The Rolls Royces are selling very well here in the UK too, record sales are reported. So what about all these austerity measures we keep hearing about, what about all the cutbacks, what about us not being able to afford pensions etc. Clearly there is a huge financial inequality taking place. On one hand people buying Rolls Royces like never before, yet many others cant pay their gas bill even though they are employed.email: dover7@msn.com - Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
9 January 2012 08:47146300paulb;
theres those 2 questions isn't there
1'; we saw how our own govt wouldn't give a contract to a UK company even though other countries thought they should (bombardier)
2; other countries were supposed to be going down the pan in time(germans)
doesn't seem to be the case.
also of course we have the other issue of the rich getting richer and even more people getting drawn into the poverty trapALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS - 9 January 2012 09:52146313Very important Keef that we dont lose our manufacturing skills. We have already lost much of our manufacturing base as it wasnt considered important here in the seventies. All eroded away. Service industries were the new jerusalem at the time. But manufacturing is the thing....Our recent Bombardier blow was a bad one, lots of jobs to be lost there despite the newer recent contract. ...but even more damagingly, more skills will be lost never to be replaced. The Germans stuck to what they know, even when it was unfashionable and are now reaping the benefits as was highlighted in the recent Robert Peston TV documentaries.
Glad that Germany have rediscovered and re-awoken great British companies. I suppose in a way its a pity we didnt do it ourselves. However must not look a gift horse in the mouth.email: dover7@msn.com - 9 January 2012 10:01146315This is a good example of how wealthy people spending their money trickles down through the wider economy.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
- 9 January 2012 10:06146316PaulB - that is a misreading of the 70's - it is not that those industries were not considered important. The failure of those industrial businesses was due to trade union restrictive practises and militancy leading them to be kept going only by high subsidies that could not be sustained and which simply compounded the problems. The Germans did not make that mistake then.
Incidentally - the service industries are leading the way looking at the latest figures for growth and generating more jobs. We do need more jobs making things, I agree there and it is important that the economy policy encourages that. - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
9 January 2012 10:40146318I wonder how many of those record sales in the UK are going to lottery winners who are now millionaires.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 9 January 2012 10:40146319i suppose that the main thing is that rolls royce workers are still employed, thankfully the germans value their skills.
- 9 January 2012 10:54146324To continually raise the downfall of British industry on the unions is what one would expect of you Barry, look at the track record of Land Rover who over the years has had both good management and good union leadership something other British industry never had. I am never sure what was worse in some industries, the ill led union membership or the incompetent management.
I accept the sevice sector is doing well and I am a member of it, but if it wasn't for the continuing strong industrial sector in this country(albeit foreign owned) we would be in an even more parleous state. One thing that does strike me on my travels in Europe is the number of British owned companies there are. - 9 January 2012 11:37146330It's good to see that at least British skills are still being valued, a shame Rolls-Royce is no longer British owned but at least the orders are 'rolling' in
- Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
9 January 2012 11:44146332british goverment must invest into british industry by awarding contracts to british based firms before tendering out side of the uk.bombadier is a prime example of british jobs. - 9 January 2012 11:53146335Ken - need I mention British Leyland? Not to mention the mines and British Steel. You cannot get away from the appalling behaviour of the Unions in the 70's and before with their locking in of restrictive practises and the militancy (OK some of this was 'wildcat' action I accept).
- 9 January 2012 13:04146348not the case with rolls royce a continuing success story and no industrial relations problems.
could it be that german management is better than british? - 9 January 2012 13:43146357That may be the case in respect of this company, but remember a lot of the parts manufacturing has gone to Germany as a result....
- 9 January 2012 15:08146359Barry, British Leyland comprised many plants and it was the ones at Longbridge and Cowley that saw inppropriate and misguided strike action. Those of Rover and others had both better management and union leadership, but there is the recorded incident of the overall Board of BL insisting all Jaguars be fitted with standard BL engines(opposed successfully by the unions), a prime example of poor management.
Germany has better industrial relations because all union officials must acquire an education in the field of union activities and once acredited they are encourged to participate in management decisions prior to them being made, and that is the difference between our two economies, the unions participate BEFORE decisions are made. - 9 January 2012 16:00146376many countries leave us standing over industrial relations by taking a joint approach to big issues by engaging the work force in decision making.
just a glance at japanese companies operating in the u.k. never hear of any problems with staff or unions.
