Jaguar and Land Rover Angle For Production In China 141
Posted
by
timothy
from the ya-go-where-the-action-is dept.
from the ya-go-where-the-action-is dept.
First time accepted submitter ourlovecanlastforeve writes "Those of you still hanging on to Jaguar and Land Rover as the last vestiges of the truly British automobile in the States may find yourselves grasping at straws as Chery announces a nearly two billion dollar joint effort with the auto brand to move production to Changsu in China." Anyone still hanging on to that idea might also be interested to learn that Jaguar and Land Rover are subsidiaries of India's Tata, maker of the low-priced Nano.
Yay it's a lose-lose! (Score:2, Informative)
Jaguar - the name means high maintainence! Or Land Rover, the name means shit fuel economy!
Really it'll be great.
Re:Relevant Topic, I'm sure (Score:4, Informative)
For some reason, it still blows my mind that it can be cheaper to manufacture a vehicle and then transport it halfway across the world than it could be to manufacture the vehicle locally.
I believe the China factory will be producing for the Chinese market. The Solihull factory is still making LRs.
Incestuous relationships (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.toomanycars.info/CarRelationship/Auto%20Family%20Tree%202008-Layout2.png [toomanycars.info]
^This graphic is many years out of date, but it'll give you an idea of the complicated relationships that car manufacturers have.
When it comes down to it, the car companies that aren't partially owned by one another are all cross licensing technology and sharing engines or chassises with one another.
Re: epitome of globalization (Score:5, Informative)
They haven't moved it. There are two factories in the UK and they are recruiting heavily right now.
Sigh-another generations-old stereotype to destroy (Score:5, Informative)
Jaguar have topped JD Power Satisfaction rankings, and many other rankings, on and off for years now. The unreliable ones you're talking about were made in the 70s and 80s by, effectively, British Leyland.
Things looked up in the early 90s when Ford took over. They started bringing modernised toolsets to the construction process, and as a result reliability started climbing. It has continued climbing until it is now well ahead of <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mercedes%20reliability&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8">Mercedes</a>, for example, which is trotted out often as some form of reliability paragon.
It takes a long time to change reputation, that's the problem. That reputation didn't match reality as of about 1995 onwards (possibly slightly earlier) with the dumping of the XJ40 and the move to the X300 design (still marketed as XJ6/XJ8), but people still trot out what they once heard in a bar or from their dad. It's annoying - drop it. Jaguars are as reliable, if not more so, as anything else in their class.
Personally I've owned XJ40 and X300-type XJ6 cars (one a Sovereign, one an XJR). I've owned an X-Type and an S-Type, and am currently contemplating an older XF. During the same time period a friend of mine has owned BMWs and Audis - we've spent about the same on garage bills (an RS8 being a notable exception - bills dwarfed anything I'd seen on the Jags). The X and the S were fine, the XJ40 electrically temperamental, the X300 (XJR) was just superb.
Cheers,
Ian
Re: epitome of globalization (Score:5, Informative)
They are only moving assembly to China for the Chinease market. Shipping made cars two per container from the UK is not feasible. Everyone in Europe, America, Africa etc will still get the British made cars.
TFA is fud. The factory near where I live in Birmingham is recruiting like crazy. Soon to open a new engine plant in Wolverhampton too.
Parts for cars come from all over the world now anyway. Assembly doesn't employ many people compared to R&D, sourcing, etc.