Taxi Driver Online

Yesterday, 1000 jobs were cut at the Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire - yet another major blow to the already battered British motor industry.

Two years ago, Jaguar closed its Coventry factory and just over a year ago, 5000 jobs went at Longbridge, Birmingham as MG Rover reached the end of the road.

Last month the closure of Peugeot's Ryton plant resulted in the loss of 2300 jobs. And within the next few months, TVR will close its Blackpool factory.

Many areas of England have grown up with car manufacturing, Merseyside has for forty years been the home of the highly productive Ellesmere Port Vauxhall plant and the Halewood Ford / Jaguar plant in Liverpool.

With more and more job cuts, the future is looking bleak in these areas. It's all very well just watching the news and not paying attention, but when you stop and think just how many people will be affected by these cuts, then you start to realise the seriousness of this issue. The closure of motor plants is going to lead to mass unemployment in areas where car manufacturing has for years been the main form of employment.

Now onto an issue that really does concern me - the TXII - a British 'Icon'. Whether you like the TX or not, there is no doubt that it is in fact a British Icon. The 'black cab' is part of Britain's fabric as much as Big Ben or the Mini Cooper (although even that is now owned by BMW).

Last month, plans were announced for LTI taxis to be made and sold in China. I haven't been able to find too much information about these plans, but personally I'm dead against anything to do with the 'Chinese-built London taxi'.

The TX is a BRITISH taxi and therefore should be built in Britain. It is due to the cheaper labour and lesser production costs of foreign countries that the British motor industry has found itself in the state it is in today.

As far as I can see, the initial plan is to continue with production in the UK and to run 'additional' production in China. It doesn't take a mathematician though to see that should this go ahead, LTI would - as a profit driven business - see how much was being saved and then switch all production to China.

So I personally can't see things getting any brighter for the British motor trade, not when there is talk of the London Taxi being built in China.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what I believe is a very serious issue.

Fairway...

_________________
Visit TAXIPIX at www.taxipix.fotopic.net

the british worker costs too much

the tx is labour intensive

putting 1 & 1 together?

Captain Cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

It is a no-win situation, for many years workers have enjoyed good wages in the UK car factories, but at the same time British motorists have been wanting cheaper cars.

Now they are getting the cheaper cars, but they are being built abroad, where production workers earn considerably less than their UK counterparts.

You can't have it all ways, can you?

I would be very naive to just sit and say what a terrible situation it is, but even when you look into this and into what has caused the switches in production, it is just a real shame.

It's a shame when you think of the great cars that used to be built in Britain... with pride. One thing that I do think is good though - it's still rare to see anything other than a Vauxhall on the staff car park at Ellesmere Port.

_________________
Visit TAXIPIX at www.taxipix.fotopic.net

To a certain degree I agree with you ( I almost agree with myself ), I just cant help feeling these tales you tell wouldnt have happened in France because the french workers stick together.

Captain Cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Now come on captain your supposed to be a businessman. The British worker costs too much, that s a new labour spin on things, or should I say, a Tory Spin of things. There are all kinds of costs associated with manufacturing, be sides labour costs. corporation tax business rates, even fuel duty. Vat, gas, electricity,employer Ni contributions, health and safety considerations , etc. I worked for a manufacturing company, for many years . Making switch gear , all our jobs went to Poland. Even if we worked for FA, it still would have been far cheaper. To make our product in Poland. How come all them Germans are making , merks, vw ,opels, BMW etc etc etc are all making far more money, than the english car worker .The world is not quite as simple as the Captain (daily mail reader ) thinks it is . streetcars .

I dont read the papers streetcars

I personally think its a sad state of affairs when we are putting trained british people on the dole (or working for McDonalds) and allowing a free market economy to do what its doing.

I can remember the miners strike, we were told it was cheaper to import coal from Australia then it was to get out of the ground in the North East and Yorkshire.

A freind in glasgow took me around the river clyde, showing me where various ships were built, the dockyards are now gone and replaced with call centres etc

Daily mail? I'd rather walk

Captain Cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

But I wonder who isn't taking advantage of cheap goods imported from the PRC and other low-cost manufacturing economies, like clothes and various electronic gadgets?

Unfortunately there's little room for sentiment in a modern market economy, but of course we do all benefit from it to an extent.

I mean, how many cab drivers 'buy British' because they want to? As with drivers generally, probably very few, which is why the British car industry has all but disappeared.

At the end of the day, the large corporations are only doing what the individual is doing, only on a much larger scale.

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

There are many firms who find it more economical to manufacture goods abroad, especially in the far east. If there ever comes a time when Mangonese Bronze feals it can no longer justify making the product in the UK then I have no doubt production will be transfered to one of the plants being set up abroad.

When that will be I do not know but I suspect it will happen at some time?

Regards

JD

A customer of mine is part owner of a well known bed retailers,
His beds are made in China, as the materials are cheaper over there than over here, plus and frightening plus at that,
He can employ around 30 Chinese workers for the cost of 1 British worker.
So that means more hands to the pump probably for less funding wage wise and a quicker production line as he can afford to pay for more Chinese workers.
In a business point of view that makes sense, making money for minimal costs.

Quite candidly I do not believe that the Chinese would consider manufacturing the LTI vehicle. It is not a sought after vehicle, it only survives because London cab owner believe that they are under obligation to purchase this vehicle. If that belief was eliminated, LTI production would cease over night.
It is antiquainted technology, uneconomical to run and overpriced.

Couldn't agree more.

Regards

JD

I'm afraid I have no sympathy with British car workers. They were alway's on strike and made bad car's. As a child growing up I used to go out with my dad(he had about 30 artic's on the road) and we used to deliver to Vauxhall motor's and they were alway's on strike!!.

I remember going to Vauxhall motor's once and they were on strike because the managent wanted the worker's in the good's in dept to take staggered tea break's so that there was alway's someone avaliable to unload lorry's comming in, what do the union's do?, go on strike for 2 week's!!!

The British worker has a "them and us" attitude to the management and get what they deserve!

An unpopular view I know, but well founded.

_________________
stressed controller!!!

It seems that British car workers for British/American/French owned car makers are not up to the standard of the British car workers for Japanese owned car makers.

Of course it's worth noting that the best cars in the world are now made in Sussex.

_________________
IDFIMH

I suspect the workers all all much the same these days; it's the product that's the problem.



Eh?

_________________
Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

_________________
IDFIMH