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I got it one piece at a time...
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... and it didn't cost me a dime
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Glad to see that the loyal workers still had a smile on their faces especially after the way they have been shafted.
What has happened at Ryton is a national disgrace. Peugeot should hang their heads in shame.
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It's very sad. I worked at the Ryton site in R&D (in what was formerly an aircraft engine test facility) from 1964 to 1975 so I'm very familiar with the factory.
--
L\'escargot.
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It was interesting to read they have moved the production to Slovakia along with Kia/hyundai who will a use a lot of VW technology and then Mitsubishi are to use VW engines in their diesel cars produced in Holland(I think)I watched some Bentleys recently coming of the Pheaton plant in Dresden only RHD are now made in the UK due to quality issues.The manufacturers who remain in the UK mainly make the RHD models.Dacia are upping their production to 350000 units a year,Germany produces 1580 Golfs and Tourans in a day and Germany registers 9475 new cars a day it imports 3390 cars a day and exports 11500 every day.So th total UK carproduction by comparison is a minnow and could be shifted lock stock and barrel in months to anywhere in the world.Who next Nissan /Renault they have been looking at plants along side Dacia to shift UK production and BMW will shift the mini as soon as it is able retreat to fortress europe when under pressure is the way at the moment.The UK is just to expensive a recent program on the BBC about Indian stone said it was cheaper to ship stone from India to the UK than it was to ship the same stone from the docks to the Midlands,engineering jobs using the governments own figures are disa ppearing at an alarming rate to be replaced with Tesco minimum wage type jobs.The pride of world engineering down the pan never to return.
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The pride of world engineering down the pan never to return.
Oh yes? and what engineering have we produced to be proud about about in the last 40 years?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The pride of world engineering down the pan never to return. Oh yes? and what engineering have we produced to be proud about about in the last 40 years?
A very great deal actually. But judging by the ignorance of that remark (and the sentiment behind it) you wouldn't have heard about it.
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Like?
you can check wikepedia if you like
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Like? you can check wikepedia if you like ..
hey, tvm < ex rf > ; who needs wikipedia, when the one and only is the "tzadik" font of all knowledge.
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>> Like? you can check wikepedia if you like .. hey, tvm < ex rf > ; who needs wikipedia, when the one and only is the "tzadik" font of all knowledge.
Another valuable and informative contribution....
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Like? you can check wikepedia if you like
TVM
I find your 'anti-British Engineering' stance to be pitiful and ill-informed.
The UK has an extremely strong record of innovation and achievement in engineering - dating right back to the industrial revolution. As a nation we outshine very many others. You could write a book (and some people have) about British engineering achievements. This would include many major developments within the last 40 years, including recent work in the nuclear industry (the UK is a leader in reprocessing technology), Nobel prize in 2003 for MRI scanner, companies like Rolls Royce and BAe. In the automotive sector most modern engines owe a lot to work done in the 1960's by Cosworth (combustion chamber and valve system design) and Ricardo.
Unfortunately the UK has been poor at getting developments into volume manufacture. This has not been the fault of the engineers and scientists, rather the UK business community which has been risk averse and short-termist. A lot of UK business leaders have come up through finance or sales and do not really understand engineering and the whole concept of product design and manufacture. They prefer to involve themselves in retailing or property speculation.
The Japanese have shown that they can obtain high productivity from UK workforces (rivalling domest Japanese plants and ahead of the US and Europe). Moreover many British companies tend to do well once they have foreign managers (usually with some technical background) in charge.
Unfortunately many British people (including TVM) have a poor awareness of what is going on in the UK engineering sector and there is consequently little political suppport for the engineering industry. If this continues then the UK's relative position in the world economic league table will deteriorate.
I know there are people who think that the economy can be kept afloat by rising property prices and retailing, but I'm not one of them.
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Disagreeing with you is not automatically pathetic and ill-informed, much as you think it is.
I understand engineering, product design and manufacture perfectly well, have completed an engineering apprentice and have an HND in an engineering discipline. I keep abreast of current UK engineering in all its forms.
I set a small challenge to highlight all the major successes of the UK engineering sector in the last 40 years. I don?t see much in your management bashing tirade that meets that challenge.
Nuclear industry reprocessing? World leaders? Nope don?t think so, we have the facilities and most importantly the will to do it but nothing more.
BAE? HA don?t make me laugh, Since the merging of BAC and Hawker nothing has come out of the aeronautical sector.
Rolls Royce? Yes ok world leading jet engine technology, good investment, and excellent sales.
And who else? Cosworth? thats in the early 60's and is outside the 40 years.
So by your own admission 1, yes thats ONE thing to hold up to scrutiny,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The best Ideas and engineering in motorsport in the last forty years have nearly all come from british people. Even Ferrrari have had their Chassis,most of their gearbox, and some engine parts made in uk.Most F1 teams Technical Directors,senior engineers,designers and the vast majority of mechanics are British
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Yes indeed.
A very good exqample of the highly specialised high tech, niche designing and engineering the UK excells at.
Its been a fair few years tho since Ferrari closed down the GTO. And that was only there because Ross lived nearby.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Yes indeed. A very good exqample of the highly specialised high tech, niche designing and engineering the UK excells at. Its been a fair few years tho since Ferrari closed down the GTO. And that was only there because Ross lived nearby. ------------------------------
Agree it was handy for Ross being at Shalford.It was taken over by Mclaren to expand their carbon work.Then it was moved to Portsmouth where it still knocks out much of the SLR kit.
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>>Peugeot should hang their heads in shame.
Why ? Because what they did doesn't suit you or others ? If they had not done it and you had been a share holder in the company, how would you have felt then ?
Its a company. Its not a charity for the folks of any town. Neither is it supposed to make huge decisions on the basis of altruism - well not unless the currnet directors want to get sued.
I really hate this "companies owe us a living, carp". Especially since if the work force had been offered more money down the road, they would have left Peugeot in a shot. What would have happened if the company had then said "oh no you;ve all got to come back here to work out of loyalty to us".
No doubt the protestors, who are never either at fault nor prepared to take any personal responsibility, would have rattled on about slavery.
"Ryton is a national disgrace"
No it isn't.
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Here we go, a lets slag Peugeot off thread again.
The Ryton closure was on the card for many years.
The workiers all knew the 206 would be the last car they ever made at Ryton & it would close after the 206 was killed off.
They had the option to leave & find other jobs, some left & some didnt & hung on to the very end for the pay off.
PSA Peugeot / Citroen is made out to look the bad guy when its really the media just trying to cook up a story again.
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We're in the knowledge economy now. Manufacturing is over.
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Not strictly the case. Mass manufacture in this country is probably over and factories emplyoing thousands are rapidly on the wane, but niche product and specialist manufacturing is alive and well.
I went to see a business contact last week who runs a manufacturing business. He devises solutions to adapt vehicles to take wheelchairs, ramps, hoists etc. Very technical stuff as it often involves changes to vehicle suspension, which in turn can affect handling, braking etc etc He's gone from employing three five years ago to now having a workforce of 23.
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Great pictures, and a sad day.
The difference in attitude of PSA and for example Nissan speaks volumes. Nissan have stated many times that they could close Sunderland and move production to the Eurozone or to Eastern Europe and save themselves a small fortune. However, they have a productive, and still profitable factory (as Ryton is/was) and they consider their image and reputation in a sizeable market such as the UK to be more profitable long term than a "quick fix" move elsewhere.
Honda too have made great investment in Swindon, and the productivity of their workforce is the envy of the industry. Honda have gone to great lengths to explain that their investment in Swindon is for the long term, and that while the workforce turn out good quality products, and the factory makes a profit, they have no interest in relocating elsewhere whatever the financial incentive. It's simply not worth the risk to their reputation which they value very highly. As do all Japanese companies.
I work for a Japanese multinational (not in the motor industry) and the attention they pay to their social responsibilities is staggering. Japanese business philosophy is surprisingly old fashioned, with a "job for life" mentality still very much in place. We have people coming up to retirement age who have been with the company since leaving college or uni and have never worked elsewhere. They place huge value on people rather than short term profit gains. Of course, they expect proftiability and productivity, but the ever present Japanese values of respect and "oyakudachi" which translates as "walking in the other person's shoes" strongly govern what they do. They contribute to local charities and projects wherever they are based, add as much value to the local economy as possible, and as such have a workforce that will pretty much do anything they ask without feeling resentful or begrudging. You have to see it to believe how well it works.
That said, when did you last hear of a French company that gave a rats about what anyone outside of France thought of it?
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Great pictures, and a sad day.
to all who are bemoaning the loss of "manufacturing" in britain, i would recommned that they catch a repeat of last week's bbc-two programme.
",I>
What Makes Britain Rich?
To find out what makes Britain's money and who gets it, Peter and Dan Snow probe the workings of the British economy. With a gross domestic product of over £1trillion, the UK economy is the fifth largest in the world and Peter and Dan reveal who controls it.
In the same way in which they tackled the question of land ownership in the popular Whose Britain Is It Anyway?, the pair build up a surprising picture of the economy and pose the fundamental questions about wealth in Britain.
They meet the economic winners and losers ? from billionaire hedge-fund mogul Michael Hintze and self-made publishing millionaire Felix Dennis, to Cornish fishermen who can't afford to buy homes in their own villages, as rich weekenders price them out of the market.
it showed that far from what the doom and gloom merchants on this forum would have you believe, britain is in a very healthy state altogether.
surprise surprise, some people even earn very good money selling "knowledge, eg, by acting as engineering consultants to the motoring industry giants in germany and japan !
now who would have thought that?
i wonder if any of the contributors to this thread soes that? ;-)
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Toyota are not like that and Nissan are actively looking to transfer their plant to mid europe.
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Well they've recently invested over £200m to build the Qashqai in Sunderland, which started production last month.
Don't know much about Toyota so can't comment on them.
Cheers
DP
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The 206 wagon never was the best looking car!
Shame for the workers and the heritage, Peugeot made great cars there in the 80's and early 90's, seems that Ryton's demise has followed Peugeot losing their way, the current Peugeot range has little to offer IMO, even the new 2.2 twin turbo and 2.7 V6 diesels will be infinitely more appealing in a Ford, Volvo, Mazda or Jaguar. The 407 coupe is perhaps the only exception, other than that all intersting Peugeots are made by Citroen.
The heritage of course goes back to Rootes and earlier, cars like the Hunter 1725, Avenger Tiger, even the Chrysler / Talbot Alpine was a fine car, though the Horizon less so.
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Peugeot lost there way back in 1996 when they launched the awful 406 on to the public, everything they have launched since has been a let down.
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awful 406!
Sorry? whats awful about it?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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awful 406! Sorry? whats awful about it?
I'd like to know as well! Still think they're one of the nicest looking saloons about.
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I'd like to know as well! Still think they're one of the nicest looking saloons about.
I'm confused by this one as well. I agree on the looks, plus they're smooth, comfy, refined and handle well. Dicky electrics, but hey it's a Pug!
I had one as a company car and loved it. Could do 400 mile trips in it and feel fresh as a daisy at the end.
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>> awful 406! >> >> Sorry? whats awful about it? I'd like to know as well! Still think they're one of the nicest looking saloons about.
They look ok but are very unreliable.My best mate has had two(110 hdi estates).They are forever falling apart or seizing up.His last one (04 reg has been into peugeot's six times including the brakes seizing as he came off the motorway.My mazda bought at the same time has been faultless and cost only £500 more.
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Toyota are not like that and Nissan are actively looking to transfer their plant to mid europe.
AB, how do you know this?
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Do they make the exact amount of bits to build a given amount of cars or will there be lots of bits left over when the last car is driven off the line? Or maybe there will be lots of bits missing off the last car because there weren't enough bits made to finish it.
You will have both situations.There will be stuff everywhere.A peugeot owners dream spares.Usefull left overs will go to the servicing supply chain .The rest will get dumped.
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What's the fus?. Factories close and new ones open.
One of the UK's major problems in the 1940s to 1970s was that many factories nevr closed when they were totally out of date producing out of date products to poor quality standards.
See British Leyland...
If I had the money a new Roller from a new UK factory...
madf
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Unfortunately they are now mostly made in Germany.
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Toyota are not like that and Nissan are actively looking to transfer their plant to mid europe.
AB, how do you know this?
Because they have teams actively looking for the best deals available to set up new plant in the new industrial centre of Europe.You will have noticed that PAS along with VW,Kia,Hyundai,Toyota,Opel,Porshe,MB are all opening or have opened plants in this area the reasons low labour costs, a very willing workforce,good quality engineers,massive financial incentives,a better tax system and extremely good transport networks .This is the new growth area of Europe everything from Coca Cola to Tesco,Dresden is the new microchip centre every man and his dog makes chips there when Siemens closed its plant in Newcastle due to lack of trade or so it said its new one was ready in Dresden so I never believe a company when it says we are staying here.Even China has managed to get the old Rover plant working you can move factories in weeks anywhere you want Lada produce close on a million vehicles a year with Dacia around 350,00 on one model alone the UK is just a minnow the total car industry would fit in the backlot of VW Wolfsburg..
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