Sunday March 19/2000 BBC2, 17.30

Sunday March 19/2000
BBC2, 17.30

Rover: It's All Over

The workforce at Rover are facing the prospect of new owners and an uncertain future. But uncertainty is nothing new here. In the last thirty years the giant car business has had four owners and for three of them it has racked up huge losses. The question now is whether Alchemy Partners will fare any better than its predecessors. Nils Blythe reports.

Although BMW acknowledges that Rover's brand image and model range weren't attractive enough to customers, it's also putting part of the blame for the breakup and sale on the recent strength of the pound. BMW says it's almost impossible to manufacture in Britain and remain price competitive. It's a problem which isn't just confronting BMW. Jonathan Charles reports.

In the studio Maya Even discusses the future of the British motor industry with John Moulton, Alchemy Partners, car industry analyst Stephen Reitman of Merrill Lynch, Digby Jones, CBI Director General and Bill Morris TGWU General Secretary.