850 jobs to go at MINI factory

Owen

Oh dear ... weekend shifts cancelled too.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/news/default.asp?storyId=19376

DonJose

What amazes me is Joe Duffy Motors is to open a new dealership which is dubbed "Mini Mansion" :eek: They expect ‘‘huge growth’’

"The ‘Mini Mansion’ is due to open in the coming days and is one of the largest dedicated Mini showrooms in the world, said Hydes. He said the group expected ‘‘huge growth’’ in the Mini market over the years, with an increasing number of people looking for small low-emission vehicles."

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=39553-qqqx=1.asp

Owen

To be fair to Duffy's, with a population as large as Dublin, and with Dublin's traffic problems, people will be looking for small, very economical cars to run ... and with the loss of franchise that happened to a few BMW/MINI Dealers, their slice of the pie got a little larger.

junkyard

Powersteering pumps failing at an alarming rate on Mini's too, they just did a feature on BBC Watchdog programme and BMW seem to be in denial of the problem. I hope they're not going down the Renault road and denying problems in the hope they'll go away.

VolvoMan

It was bound to happen at some stage. The MINI was a fashion statement around the world and nothing more, it's time has come and gone.

The car itself may have been fun to drive and a huge sales success, but it brought nothing new to motoring and lost most of the originals features that made it such a groundbreaking car in the first place.

yellow012

A bit worrying for anyone who has a new MINI on order.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caradvice/mrmoney/4698941/Has-the-MINI-bubble-burst.html
Specifically:
"If recent reports from the factory are to be believed, there could be quality issues with some models that have been built within the past few days. Several MINIs that were on, or had just left, the production line were allegedly sabotaged or vandalised by angry, sacked workers who were effectively given one hour to vacate their positions and join the dole queue."

Mr Benevolent

They'll discover any vandalism before the cars hit the road.

yellow012

Confab wrote: »

They'll discover any vandalism before the cars hit the road.

We hope so.

Dasilva94

Confab wrote: »

They'll discover any vandalism before the cars hit the road.

.. or the ditch.

Owen

Well, it's a bit silly to think the cars will leave the factory unchecked. At the end of the production process all MINIs are visually inspected for damage anyway, and are both mechanically and electrically checked.

Halfrauds

god they are really going for the authentic mini now:rolleyes:, although i wouldnt have thought modelling your business on British Leyland would be the best option:pac:

pburns

Apart from the economic problems MINI have a problem in that the MkII is visually indistinguishable from the MkI and and the only spin-off so far (Clubman) hasn't exactly set the world alight. The fact that a shiny 09 looks little different to a chaved up s/h 01 with a pink furry-dice can't help... And where do they go from here - jacked-up SUV-lites? a 4-door MINI?

Could the MINI perhaps be too fashionable for it's own good (i.e. it has now become distinctly unfashionable). Even the girls driving MINIs are becoming dinstinctly less tasty these days...