OK
Bit of background. I served a 5 year apprenticeship at the UKAEA (United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority) from 1971 to 1975, since then I have been involved in Design work on Nuclear, Onshore and offshore Oil and Gas fields ever since, both on the drawing board and for the last 20 or so years on 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design).

Over the past few years, the major EPC Contractors (Shell, EXXON, etc) have been moving to so called 'high value centres' (ie cheap) in India, Middle East and Far East.
Fair enough, except in general, the work that comes back to the EPC's is basically , and has to be reworked, thus nullifying any cost savings.

The same I feel has happened to Land Rover, which is now under Indian ownership. Is it any surprise that there are so many problems with a so called 'Luxury' off roader........
I feel so sad that the British Motor Industry (or what is left of it) is foreign owned!

Yes, before Mr Tata came along Land Rover products were a paragon of high quality and reliability.

^

KurtVerbose wrote:

Yes, before Mr Tata came along Land Rover products were a paragon of high quality and reliability.

Land Rover have some of the hottest and most stylish products on the market at this time and that's down to Tata's vision and investment. Sad but true.

Blame the Conservatives (Maggie Thatcher) they wrecked all manufacturing in the UK during the 80's and we have never recovered and never will.

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Paul I think you're forgetting through the 1990's Land Rover was owned by BMW a German company and through the 2000's Ford an American company. The 2003 4.4 you own is full of BMW stuff, BMW engine, transmission, part of the 7 series platform, BMW electrics, switches, Sat Nav, dials etc etc - I'm not saying this is a bad thing

Things move on and I don't think Land Rover would be in the excellent position it's in without the BMW and Tata input...  Now: BMW 640d M Sport, Alpine White
Gone: Range Rover 4.4 V8 Vogue, Zambezi Silver, Charcoal Oxford Leather
Also: Mk1 Audi TT 1.8T Quattro, Brilliant Black
[URL=]

Click image to enlarge

I'm not excusing the problems with the new Range Rover. That is UNACCEPTABLE in a new car.

However, has there been a time when Land Rovers were better built? They seem to be getting better and better. New cars often have teething problems. My impression was Tata was pretty hands off and let Land Rover have a decent R&D budget and let them build what the market wants.

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You will find that it is rather Lady Thatcher who saved the British car industry as before the industry was in the hand of the ever so powerful unions. It is a well known fact the British Leyland era produced the least reliable cars in the British car industry's history.
I also think that someone insulting a dead person and celebrating someone's death should be banned from this forum.

I have a lot of experience in outsourcing and have to say the quality is as variable as with British workers. Many are providing excellent work even though communication is remote - which is often not easy.

Anyway, a lot of manufacturing these days doesn't require an especially skilled workforce, and it's fairly moveable, so will always gravitate to countries with lower wages. I don't see many buyers willing to pay a premium to have their car made in the UK.

Sorry, I just don't get patriotism - last refuge of a scoundrel and all that. Good luck to Mr Tata, he took a risk because he seemed to believe in the company and it's paying off. I think he's the best owner JLR have ever had.

I think we all need to remember that Jaguar Landrover is a small company comparatively speaking and therefore cannot compete in the research and development area with the like of the major manufacturers. I think that the problems being experienced with the latest models are no worse than you see with other manufacturers and as for ownership does it really matter in the global environment we live in. I am sure if we all only bought British manufactured goods our standard of living would suffer terribly.

''You will find that it is rather Lady Thatcher who saved the British car industry as before the industry was in the hand of the ever so powerful unions. It is a well known fact the British Leyland era produced the least reliable cars in the British car industry's history.
I also think that someone insulting a dead person and celebrating someone's death should be banned from this forum.''


Totally agree

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I was stating my opinion, you do not have to agree. In fact you don't have to read my posts, chill out man.

hee hee, remember when cars were reliable? get outta here!
for a start, what do you do before you start a modern car....
nothing, put key in and turn. on an older car, you removed blanket from top of engine, get in and turn off anything draining, like heated rear window, heater etc, pulled out choke, and then pushed it in a tiny bit...pumped pedal 3 or 4 times, say a prayer, and crank it, if you were lucky, it went after a few tries, then you risked stalling if you dared to push in choke!
every few weeks you or someone else was under the bonnet, changing points and plugs, and wiping the dizzy cap.
all that is history, however modern items, like those of old are difficult to see now, and diagnose. we have a totally different type of problem nowdays, -expertise. It's true a great mechanic will find a fault fast, but dealers don't often have them, they use a step by step book approach. thus return visits at £150 an hour (to keep spaceage showroom looking special) that put off ever having small things fixed. cars thesedays do have more than enough luxury, and sundries, adding to the problem. but cars of old were thrown together, and rotted to bits. how many cars nowadays, do you see going to the crusher, without any rust?
it forums like these, that keep us informed, and out of the dealers.
a car like the RR is a forboding challenge, for the typical motorist, but the value for money is immense.

enjoy living in the modern car age. don't forget the safety design, built in, the lack of typical theft, even no car park radios removals, snapped aerials, wheel thefts, sat navs.
we even have a lazy frosty screen clear button!
hell, we even HAD a built in telly!
everyone needed a botlle of 'start ya bastard'

Last edited by johnboyairey on 18th Mar 2014 3:02pm. Edited 1 time in total

I also work in the Oil and Gas Sector using 3D design (PDMS Mainly) and last year spent 4 months in a low cost centre in Chennai jollying them along with a Semi Sub we were designing and to be honest they don't have a clue.
OK with onshore stuff where if the design doesn't work then throw some more weight at it but they can't do offshore for toffee.
I've worked with HVEC's (High Value Engineering centre) all over the world and apart from some Phillipino Pipers I met in Baku they're all pretty much rubbish... Regards
Mark

2009 D4; 1993 Classic 3.9 VSE

Too true, we'll said Jon boy
The only difference now is us the consumer expecting more which is no bad thing.