Sunday, December 18, 2005

Brief return

Been dormant for a while, but decided to get back up, been getting some great material lately, and wanted to post this.
After a brief training session on the new Maxus, one of my co-workers shook his head and said "I give LDV 6 months. Well, LDV has recently been purchased by a private equity group to save the ailing business. The Maxus was set for release a couple years ago, but their joint venture with Daewoo went bust when Daewoo couldnt go through on the deal with their own problems. LDV makes news because it is basically the last genuine British vehicle manufacturer that exists. Foden was purchased by Paccar about a decade ago, and Paccar has announced that Foden production will cease in 2006, due to ailing sales. ERF was purchased by MAN, and I can't see MAN putting the effort to keep ERF afloat much longer either. What has caused the British MAnufacturers to all have such serious problems? One can look to the story of Rover MG for a good answer. Will pursue that angle tomorrow.