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[JJ]

They aren't even in life support anymore. It's palliative care.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47155145

[Sandie]

If things are so difficult in China, why are MG REFULGING: http://carsalesbase.com/china-car-sales-data/mg/ ?

Meanwhile, they are taking deep measures: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/land-rover-launch-heavily-revised-discovery-sport-summer

[Seamaster]

Perhaps if they spent a little less time WHINING THEIR TITS OFF ABOUT BREXIT and a little more time making cars THAT AREN'T COMPLETE AND UTTER SHIT, they might be refulging too.

[Derek]

Takeover time? Mahindra seems to have titloads of cash at the mo, but I'm picking them to snap up FCA at some point.

[Sandie]

I can see the Rexton re-badged as a Discovery.

[Lord Sward]

The current Disco Sport has tiny fuel tank USELESS. And after 5 years in production, they're still not 'right'. The second generation Freelander was right from day 1.

[620bob]

There is a tendency for tiny fuel tanks all round. I want one that will cover 6 or 7 hundred miles but the size gets shaved as the mpg goes up. I have to fuel up every 2 or 3 weeks. I 'd like to fuel monthly

[Lord Sward]

Whatever happened to fuck off large fuel tanks? Or better still, TWIN TANKS?

[620bob]

What ever happened to those heros?

[Barry]

[Derek]

[Giles]

[austin-towers]

[Nick Besonderes]

I found this article most odd; XGhee & XF 2nd most reliable in their classes? Sample space or have they finally got them sorted?

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2018-uk-vehicle-dependability-study

[Seamaster]

Non-native-English-speakers misunderstanding the survey, most likely.

[Nick Besonderes]

From ANE:

SHANGHAI -- Tatuar blames its latest quarterly loss largely on "challenging market conditions in China." These include a rare decline in industrywide sales and the trade dispute between China and the United States.

But those challenges are only part of the problem facing the company. What has rattled Tatuar's business in China most are persistent woes with reliability and dependability.

New-vehicle sales in China last year fell for the first time in the past 28 years. But the luxury market continued to grow, with sales rising 8 percent to top 2.8 million.

Germany's Big 3 -- Audi, Mercedes-Benz and B** -- as well as Cadillac, Lexus and Volvo all posted impressive sales growth in China last year.

Tatuar has never shipped vehicles from the U.S. to China. It is a stretch to say the trade tensions between the two countries have exerted any significant impact on local sales.

What's really behind the 22 percent slide -- to 115,000 -- in Tatuar's China deliveries last year?

It is lax control on product quality.

Weak product quality has long been a problem with Tatuar, dating to the time when the UK luxury automaker was still in the hands of Ford.

The problem has lingered since Tata Motors acquired the brands in 2008.

In 2014, Tatuar started production at a joint venture with Chery Automobile in the east China city of Changshu. From 2015 to 2017, five locally assembled products -- the Land Rover Evoque and Discovery, and the Jaguar XFL, XEL and E-Pace -- were launched.

Local production allowed Tatuar to modify vehicle interiors and exteriors to local tastes. It also enabled buyers to avoid paying the 25 percent tariff that Chinese customs levied on imported vehicles back then.

As a result, Tatuar's China sales surged to 146,399 in 2017 from 92,474 in 2015.

Yet, because product quality was never effectively addressed, the number of defects reported by owners increased in tandem.

In China, as well as in the U.S., both brands routinely rank well below the industry average for new and 3-year-old vehicle quality and dependability, based on owner surveys by J.D. Power and Associates.

In 2017 alone, Tatuar carried out 13 recalls in China for defects with components ranging from engines, instrument panels and airbags to batteries. The recalls covered some 106,000 vehicles, which was equivalent to more than 70 percent of its local sales during the year.

Since August, Jaguar and Land Rover owners have regularly protested in front of Tatuar's China headquarters in Shanghai to bring attention to widespread quality problems they allege with their cars and SUVs.

Local dealers, burdened with a 60-day or larger supply of unsold new vehicles, have offered steep discounts to ease inventory pressure.

Some dealers last year started selling imported Jaguar models at discounts of up to 30 percent. The move spurred the creation of a catchphrase -- "Jaguar at 70 percent price."

The problems have dented the brand image of Jaguar and Land Rover in China, rendering their products even less attractive to local consumers.

In June, Tatuar's joint venture with Chery completed an expansion that raised annual production capacity from 130,000 to 200,000 vehicles.

The next month, Tatuar's China sales began a steady decline, forcing the joint venture to idle output.

Tatuar has other challenges. It must integrate sales and distribution of locally built products and imported models. It also needs to roll out more electrified vehicles to meet local regulatory requirements.

Tatuar's dealer network in China is also a work in progress. The company says only 18 percent of its stores are in so-called major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and more than one-third have been open for three years or less.

The company says it's also streamlining commercial policies to help compensate for retailers’ losses, and is launching extensive on-site training programs to improve customer experience as well as operations.

But first and foremost, it must improve product quality to win back customers.

After posting a quarterly loss of $4.4 billion, Tatuar needs to raise $1 billion within 14 months to service debt.

Capital and debt reduction is indeed important for a cash-strapped company. But unless Tatuar can move fast to fix nagging product glitches, there is no guarantee the money will be well spent.

[Seamaster]

TLDR:

[JJ]

The Heritage is safe in their hands.

Of course, when they do go under it will be Margaret Thatchers fault obviously.

[Seamaster]

My punt is that SAIC will hoover up the detritus, and I'LL LAUGH AND I'LL LAUGH AND I'LL LAUGH.

[austin-towers]

[Ottertronic]

[Seamaster]

I'm doing more to keep Bob in gainful employment than any other cunt on here. INCLUDING BOB.

[Ottertronic]

[Seamaster]

How's your Austrian "Jag"?

[Ottertronic]

[Lord Sward]

You mean you've not leased it??? Holy Shit.

[5ivegearsinreverse]

It gets worse:

Tatuar may be headed for a cash crash

If nothing else, I've learned that Ebitda stands for "Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization". TMFA.

Perhaps Nick can tell us whether Tatuar are set to become the Borgward of our times.

[Seamaster]

EBITDA = the only thing the City is interested in. Everything else is gravy.

[marinast]

In fairness to Tatuar, they are ahead of the curve regarding writing off Diesel investments and it could hit the likes of VAG, B** and Mercedes far more as they are just as (or more in VAGs case) reliant on the filthy fuel.

[Seamaster]