Peugeot is shuttering its Rynton plant in Coventry, where it builds its popular 206. Idling the British factory next year will mean that 2,300 will find themselves out of work.
The word came down as PSA Peugeot Citroen executives met with union officials, who expected bad news, but apparently weren't prepared for an outright closure.
Officials are saying that the plant is being axed due to high logistical and production costs, arguing that the cost of retooling for future vehicles cannot be justified as a result.
[Source: UK Telegraph]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
klaatu @ Apr 19th 2006 10:15AM
The very last of Chrysler's one-time Rootes Group purchase is now laid to rest.
The departure of a now French owned car factory from the UK now leaves a couple of American owned factories (Ford owns Jaguar - a huge money-loser, Aston Martin and Land Rover factories), a couple of German owned factories (BMW owned Mini, and German owned Rolls Royce and Bentley) and a couple of Japanese companies (Honda, Nissan and Toyota).
Dare I say it that only the Japanese car companies are probably able to turn a profit in the UK? We won't even talk about quality.
But let's talk reliability.
A magazine from early last year did an article on the most reliable cars (from multiple huge surveys including a 600,000 fleet car - in other words - company car for every bloke as a tax dodge and perk)
The ten most reliable manufacturers were, in order
1) Lexus
2) Honda
3) Toyota
4) Mazda
5) Nissan
6) BMW
7) Skoda (Czech it out!)
8) Ford (made in Germany, Spain)
9) Mercedes-Benz
10) Audi
The ten most reliable cars were, in order:
1) Honda Accord
2) Lexus IS200
3) Toyota Yaris
4) Toyota Corolla
5) BMW 3-series
6) Toyota Avensis
7) SMART for two
8) Ford Focus
9) BMW 5-series
10) Toyota Rav-4
Please notice that 6 of 10 top cars are Toyota or Honda, and all 5 of the top 5 car manufacturers are Japanese.
So, looks like even the Brits can build Japanese cars well.
And I'm not even being sarcastic. Anyone who's ever been around a British engineered vehicle knows full well all about a) oil leaks b) electrical gremlins c) non-starting in the rain (high irony, huh?) d) mystery breakdowns e) lights having a nasty habit of not working in the dark and finally f) windscreen wipers having a nasty habit of not working in the rain.
Jack Yan @ Apr 19th 2006 10:29AM
The plant is Ryton, not Rynton. When PSA announced that the 206 would continue there, and not the 207 or another model, I sensed it was doomed. Demand for the 206 would only fall as its successor came on stream—Peugeot’s own history showed as much. And to have a relatively expensive plant churn out what would be a budget model didn’t make much sense.
YOUR MOM @ Apr 19th 2006 10:46AM
HAVN'T YOU USED THAT STUPID "CZECH" JOKE ENOUGH TIMES ALREADY? NOBODY LAUGHED THE FIRST TIME YOU USED IT.
The Doctor @ Apr 19th 2006 11:31AM
Whatever you might say about British engineering , more cars are built in Britain than any other European country. Nissan's Sunderland plant is the most efficient in Europe.
Also, Jaguars, Astons and Land Rovers are still British-engineered (with the exception of a few dashboard bits) and Jaguar now ranks above most other European manfacturers in JD Power surveys. Land Rover is also the most profitable division of the PAG.
People need to realise that the output of British Leyland 30 years ago does not represent British engineering at the moment.
klaatu @ Apr 19th 2006 1:52PM
Gort, I thought you got rid of YOUR MOM?
klaatu @ Apr 19th 2006 1:54PM
Dang robots, never can trust them to take care of business.