Car deal spells Mini’s end

Press, 19 July 1988, Page 20

Car deal spells Mini’s end

By

in London The death sentence has been passed on the Mini car. Together with every other Austin model, it will be killed off. This was the first decision of British Aerospace, after its fraught but successful take-over of Rover was settled late last week. But to compensate, vast sums of money are to be spent in developing new prestige Rover models. Millions of pounds will be invested in Rover to give its cars a status equal to Jaguars. Austin, the last of the great British motor names, dating back more than 80 years, will cease

about the middle of next year, followed by the Mini in 1991. The changes are expected to result in job losses at Austin, although about £1.5 billion is marked for the revival of Rover, according to the motoring correspondent of the “Daily Mail,” Michael Kemp. As a result of the decisions, Austin is set to join Wolseley, Morris, Riley, Standard and Triumph down memory lane. Together Austin and Morris built almost a million cars a year in the 19605. Today the Rover Group makes barely half that number and is a minnow in the world’s motor industry. But the chief exeuctive of the group, the Cana-

dian-born Mr Graham Day, who will join the British Aerospace board to continue running the car firm, aims to carve out a new niche for Rover models. The group will be renamed Rover Car Company and all the 1000 Austin Rover dealers in Britain will have to restyle their sites and showrooms. The plant at Cowley, near Oxford, now making the Rover 800 series, will be streamlined and improved, with advanced automated assembly facilities. A new range of familysize cars, replacing the Rover 200 series, will be introduced next year. In 1991 a baby Rover will replace the Mini and

Metro models.

It will be followed by sleek, new, large Rovers designed to equal Jaguar in luxury and performance.

Rover, 100 years old, was the earliest of all the motor firms in the Austin Rover Group, and was the last surviving.

The Mini was hailed as the world’s first classless car. Everyone from the landed gentry to roadsweepers were proud to be seen in it.

Since its launch in 1959, 5,070,000 have been built, and they are still being produced at the rate of 35,000 a year. About 100,000 more Minis will flow off the Birmingham production line before the model is axed.