The Rover car company is synonymous with the UK's industrial progress throughout the 20th century. Like UK manufacturing overall, it has seen prosperous times, its cars loved for many years by British motorists, and it has struggled for survival. Its toughest battle has come in recent years as the overwhelming tide of supercompetiviness has seen many an icon fall from grace. Rover has been making cars since 1904 and contributed its share of technological advances - the Rover gas turbine car in 1950 and the four-wheel drive T3 in 1956 with its fibreglass bodywork.
The P4, P5 and P6 series became hallmarks of British motoring througout the 1960s and 70s, with the P4 affectionately known as 'Auntie' Rover.
During the prosperous post-war years, Britons bought as many Rovers as the company could turn out, but its industrial problems in the 70s signalled the start of its problems, and those of other big manufacturers.
Make or break
The latest make-or-break chapter in Rover's history began in 1994 when Germany's BMW bought the UK manufacturer, trying to transform it into a competitive carmaker for the 21st century. Rover's long held reputation for well-priced upmarket cars was what interested BMW in the first place, a range that it saw could fit with its luxury carmaking approach.
But after successive losses at the UK carmaker since BMW took over, the latest figures show Rover proving to be a drag on its parent. Last week, BMW reported a fall in 1998 group earnings for the first time since 1995. The fall was put down to restructuring costs at Rover.
The P4, much-loved Auntie Rover Productivity is the key to Rover's survival. The figures for the Longbridge plant look bad. A 1998 survey showed the plant produced just 33 cars per worker annually. In comparison, the Nissan factory in Sunderland, which is at the top of the productivity league, churns out 98 cars per worker each year.
Until the latest workplace deals and despite previous overhauls, outdated work practices led to excessive labour costs, while equipment was from another age. At its most basic, the problem was high overtime payments and old machinery.
Industrial baggage
Rover's landmark 'New Deal' with unions in 1992 was supposed to have solved that. It saw the introduction of flexible work practices, retraining, and the promise of jobs for life. Little more than six years later, following massive job losses and the latest workplace overhaul, the New Deal is looking old hat.
BMW says those 'new flexible' arrangements have made the company unproductive in the late 90s. That's how much things have changed.
Early in 1998, Rover announced it was cutting its workforce in the UK by 1,500 only to go the unions a few months later to seek a wholesale restructuring of working conditions. Lengthy negotiations resulted in 2,500 redundancies, the resignation of Rover chief Walter Hasselkus and new flexible working arrangements. Workers agreed to unpaid overtime in return for extra time off when production was slack.
The R75, Rover's 'last chance saloon' BMW chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder, who championed the saving of Longbridge, said the decision was "a milestone".
However, the Quandt family, owners of BMW set high standards and are anxious to see Rover begin pulling its weight soon. BMW has been investing around £500m a year at Rover as part of plans for a £3bn overhaul by 2000 with the aim of returning to profits by then.
But over the last year, the situation has become critical. Rover's share of the UK market fell to 4% last month. Losses are believed to be around £500m.
Now, the R75, on sale next month at around £19,000 in the UK is the car Rover and BMW are pinning their hopes on. It has been dubbed by some as the 'last chance saloon'.
BMW wants to see 100,000 cars produced in the first 12 months and eventually wants to lift overall Rover production to 800,000 cars a year.
Driven a long way
While Rover has struggled, and by some measures successfully so, to leave behind the infrastructure of previous decades along with working arrangements hard-won by the workers in more militant times, new kids on the block like Nissan have been able to start up on greenfields sites, incorporating the latest technology without the industrial baggage of the past.
The often-quoted losses made by Rover since BMW took over are calculated by very conservative German standards. In 1995, according to analysts, the published £148m loss would have been a £93m profit by British standards.
Meanwhile, Rover's 200 and 400 series, produced at Longbridge, have won a number of design and engineering awards. The factory also produces the profitable Mini and the MGF models.
Exports have been growing strongly for most of the 1990s, courtesy of the popularity of the more exclusive lines. The Land Rover division remains highly profitable, with the successful launch of the Freelander, the smaller Land Rover in 1997.
The latest boardroom battle at BMW has its roots in the enormous challenge Rover provides to its German owners. The potential for success is there but the battle signifies a soul-searching in Munich as to whether all the hard work is worth it, or has there just been too much water under the 'Bridge.
