Caravan & Motorhome maker (Swift UK) announces up to 175 job losses

[funflair]

One of the things I noticed when touring in France this summer how few and far between Audis on French plates are.

Plenty of brand new Peugeots, Citroens etc.

In the UK I see dozens of Audis (new and old) on the roads every time I drive. Including the S3 (drug dealer favourite), S4 and S6 rockets. More than cheaper equivalent VWs, Skodas, and Seats (although the Cupras do seem to have a growing following among the boy racers). You do see more Skodas with taxi plates.

Badge snobbery.

I think the French are far more patriotic than we are when it comes to supporting their own production, so possibly the badge but not necessarily the snobbery bit.

 

[funflair]

Ah back to greed again

I suppose it's getting the right balance that matters, yes they want/need to make a profit to payback their investors so they might invest more if they want to expand, without return on investments the backers/shareholders may well back out and then what happens?

 

[Northernraider]

One of the things I noticed when touring in France this summer how few and far between Audis on French plates are.

Plenty of brand new Peugeots, Citroens etc.

In the UK I see dozens of Audis (new and old) on the roads every time I drive. Including the S3 (drug dealer favourite), S4 and S6 rockets. More than cheaper equivalent VWs, Skodas, and Seats (although the Cupras do seem to have a growing following among the boy racers). You do see more Skodas with taxi plates.

Badge snobbery.

I'd say that was down to reliability. French cars are shit ... I've had many but they are complete crap , every year balljoints,, track rod ends etc etc .. Good bodywork usually and well kitted out with toys etc but mechanically they're pants. Whereas vw ,audi etc may not have the toys on the cheaper models but they are better built . Just like the German motorhomes.

I don't think that's badge snobbery it's people choosing a quality brand over a cheaper brand.

 

[Northernraider]

I suppose it's getting the right balance that matters, yes they want/need to make a profit to payback their investors so they might invest more if they want to expand, without return on investments the backers/shareholders may well back out and then what happens?

I think that's the problem nowadays though. People want to get rich quick and retire early so a fair price has been replaced by the highest price they can get away with. You see it in so many sectors now.

Restaurants, takeaways, garages, body shops.

I've always thought if they sold things at a fairer price they'd sell more so their profits would probably be the Same or higher .

But then I've never been a business owner.

But every company I've ever worked for has gone bust , and I have to say I always saw it coming years before they seemed to.

If you're going to charge top dollar you better have the quality there to support it.

 

[Ian_H]

I'd say that was down to reliability. French cars are shit ... I've had many but they are complete crap , every year balljoints,, track rod ends etc etc .. Good bodywork usually and well kitted out with toys etc but mechanically they're pants. Whereas vw ,audi etc may not have the toys on the cheaper models but they are better built . Just like the German motorhomes.

I don't think that's badge snobbery it's people choosing a quality brand over a cheaper brand.

I've often wondered how many different parts are in VWs and their Skoda equivalents....

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[SpeedyDux]

I

I'd say that was down to reliability. French cars are shit ... I've had many but they are complete crap , every year balljoints,, track rod ends etc etc .. Good bodywork usually and well kitted out with toys etc but mechanically they're pants. Whereas vw ,audi etc may not have the toys on the cheaper models but they are better built . Just like the German motorhomes.

I don't think that's badge snobbery it's people choosing a quality brand over a cheaper brand.

I once had a Mk2 Golf. Supposedly bomb-proof. That car needed new suspension parts each MoT time. My T4 camper also had suspension and brake issues. I don't rate VWs as far as reliabilty goes. Well behind the Japs.

All my Renaults and Citroens have had fewer mechanical issues than my VWs.

 

[Northernraider]

I

I once had a Mk2 Golf. Supposedly bomb-proof. That car needed new suspension parts each MoT time. My T4 camper also had suspension and brake issues. I don't rate VWs as far as reliabilty goes. Well behind the Japs.

All my Renaults and Citroens have had fewer mechanical issues than my VWs.

Well it just goes to show then. I've had over 100 vw"s and around 40 Renault/citroen/Peugeot.

My vws all were more reliable than the French cars , Japanese are good cars too there's no doubt ,ive had many of those also , but they don't retain the value that German cars do.

 

[Dutch 68]

I'd say that was down to reliability. French cars are shit ... I've had many but they are complete crap , every year balljoints,, track rod ends etc etc .. Good bodywork usually and well kitted out with toys etc but mechanically they're pants. Whereas vw ,audi etc may not have the toys on the cheaper models but they are better built . Just like the German motorhomes.

I don't think that's badge snobbery it's people choosing a quality brand over a cheaper brand.

And many other products, anyone with a bit of building experience had a look at new builds in the western world? The UK still manages to build the worst quality new builds in Western Europe , and the worst thing is, no one seems to care

 

[Mzracer]

There seems to be an expectation that we re in for tough times again, we re almost talking ourselves into it.

Well the current PM will certainly not talk us out of a recession with his gloom and doom attitude.

 

[Mzracer]

Used to be reasonable quality. All I seem to see now are Baileys.

And they are grim.

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[Mzracer]

But every company I've ever worked for has gone bust , and I have to say I always saw it coming years before they seemed to.

Is there a common theme here ?

 

[Richard n Ann]

Had my Volkswagen 10 years from new and all I've done is fit a new spring

 

[raysalaugh]

Had my Volkswagen 10 years from new and all I've done is fit a new spring

This sounds like a wind up.

 

[Jacasino]

Is there a common theme here ?

 

[Ralphey]

There seems to be an expectation that we re in for tough times again, we re almost talking ourselves into it.

Might be Queer Stammer effect ..and the constant negativity he's projecting

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[Jacasino]

I'd say that was down to reliability. French cars are shit ... I've had many but they are complete crap , every year balljoints,, track rod ends etc etc .. Good bodywork usually and well kitted out with toys etc but mechanically they're pants. Whereas vw ,audi etc may not have the toys on the cheaper models but they are better built . Just like the German motorhomes.

I don't think that's badge snobbery it's people choosing a quality brand over a cheaper

Well it just goes to show then. I've had over 100 vw"s and around 40 Renault/citroen/Peugeot.

My vws all were more reliable than the French cars , Japanese are good cars too there's no doubt ,ive had many of those also , but they don't retain the value that German cars I

 

[Northernraider]

Is there a common theme here ?

Yes

I survived every one of them ,getting out before they collapsed. Sadly many others weren't so lucky.

The last company I worked for havelock Europe went bust 8 months after I resigned

 

[Jonno1103]

Yep look at our railways , it’s a shambles of the biggest order , the rest of Europe is full of high speed railways and has been for decades, here we don’t even manage to get them electrified, big talk about banning ice cars but still relying on mass polluting slow diesel trains, some of them entering or nearing clean air zones, it’s laughable and sad at the same time……

The rest of Europe has space to build, we don't and when we want to all the NIMBY's are out crying about it. France is more than twice the size of the UK and is less populated, same can be said for Spain with 20m less & Germany is a third larger too.

Unemployment? UK 4%, Germany 6%, Italy 6.5%, France 7.5%, Spain 12%.

Inflation? UK July 2.2%, August 2.2%. EU harmonised rate July 2.6%, August 2.2%. The latter however punishes the more fiscal astute countries within the EU such as Italy and Germany which have actual inflation rates of 1.1% & 1.9% respectively.

Germany has coal power stations and uses 46% of the EU's coal annually... it's what generates the electricity the trains use.

It's all atypical british moaning rubbish... everyone else is better. Personally I have zero time for it.

 

[Jacasino]

You’ve got me thinking, I’ve owned an awful lot of cars since I started in 1972 and you have prompted me to start writing them down. But 140 will take some beating.

I believe that there was a period when there was a gap between German and French cars in terms of reliability etc but since cars have become more complex things have changed and the boot is on the other foot now.

The What Car Reliability Survey 2023 for cars up to 5 years old top ten does not include a single German car brand unless you count Mini. Hyundai, Kia, Volvo & Tesla are in there, all of the rest are Japanese.
BMW are12th but Citroen. Peugeot and even Fiat sit higher than VW who are 22nd (just above Renault), Mercedes scraped in at 24th and Audi came 26th out of 32.

Having owned both reliable and unreliable French and German cars I thought that your generalisation by nation was wrong but I stand corrected, get yourself a car made in Asia if you want reliability.

 

[Mclouis700]

It’s not just recent the quality has been poor about 20 years ago bought a twin axel caravan at Birmingham show it arrived in December sat on drive until we went away for a week end in march set up an an hour later it started raining very lightly a short while later Denise went to the toilet and called me in and showed me that half the toilet and shower area wall had water running down it .Denise took the criss no and the dealer sent his chief engineer out to look at it and his damp meter went of the scale and asked if it was anywhere else we said don’t know but want a new van. When we took it back Denise gave the owner a letter saying we did not want the van back but a new one.
Swift repaired it and sent it back but the owner said don’t take it off a I can’t sell it and the customer won’t accept it . Took 6 months to get a new one looked inside and opened a cupboard door and one of the hinges fell off .
We sold it and bought a hymer

1999 we bought a New Sundance collected it from Brownhills, Newark and it started to fall apart on the way home on the A46. The response from Swift was pathetic when speaking to a Quality Control / Sales Director I asked if they used FMEA method on Production QC. What's that was the answer! Failure Mode Effect Analysis I replied. didn't get a reply so rebuilt it myself.

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[Rozzer]

So no longer this strong?

Wonder how long ago that was?

Remember they also made a big thing about being the only manufacturer to do actual crash testing.

2002 car on top gives a clue!

 

[Northernraider]

You’ve got me thinking, I’ve owned an awful lot of cars since I started in 1972 and you have prompted me to start writing them down. But 140 will take some beating.

I believe that there was a period when there was a gap between German and French cars in terms of reliability etc but since cars have become more complex things have changed and the boot is on the other foot now.

The What Car Reliability Survey 2023 for cars up to 5 years old top ten does not include a single German car brand unless you count Mini. Hyundai, Kia, Volvo & Tesla are in there, all of the rest are Japanese.
BMW are12th but Citroen. Peugeot and even Fiat sit higher than VW who are 22nd (just above Renault), Mercedes scraped in at 24th and Audi came 26th out of 32.

Having owned both reliable and unreliable French and German cars I thought that your generalisation by nation was wrong but I stand corrected, get yourself a car made in Asia if you want reliability.

140 is just vw and French lol.
There have been hundreds more.

 

[Ralphey]

The rest of Europe has space to build, we don't and when we want to all the NIMBY's are out crying about it. France is more than twice the size of the UK and is less populated, same can be said for Spain with 20m less & Germany is a third larger too.

Unemployment? UK 4%, Germany 6%, Italy 6.5%, France 7.5%, Spain 12%.

Inflation? UK July 2.2%, August 2.2%. EU harmonised rate July 2.6%, August 2.2%. The latter however punishes the more fiscal astute countries within the EU such as Italy and Germany which have actual inflation rates of 1.1% & 1.9% respectively.

Germany has coal power stations and uses 46% of the EU's coal annually... it's what generates the electricity the trains use.

It's all atypical british moaning rubbish... everyone else is better. Personally I have zero time for it.

The Spanish population is declining... heaven

The rest of Europe has space to build, we don't and when we want to all the NIMBY's are out crying about it. France is more than twice the size of the UK and is less populated, same can be said for Spain with 20m less & Germany is a third larger too.

Unemployment? UK 4%, Germany 6%, Italy 6.5%, France 7.5%, Spain 12%.

Inflation? UK July 2.2%, August 2.2%. EU harmonised rate July 2.6%, August 2.2%. The latter however punishes the more fiscal astute countries within the EU such as Italy and Germany which have actual inflation rates of 1.1% & 1.9% respectively.

Germany has coal power stations and uses 46% of the EU's coal annually... it's what generates the electricity the trains use.

It's all atypical british moaning rubbish... everyone else is better. Personally I have zero time for it.

The rest of Europe has space to build, we don't and when we want to all the NIMBY's are out crying about it. France is more than twice the size of the UK and is less populated, same can be said for Spain with 20m less & Germany is a third larger too.

Unemployment? UK 4%, Germany 6%, Italy 6.5%, France 7.5%, Spain 12%.

Inflation? UK July 2.2%, August 2.2%. EU harmonised rate July 2.6%, August 2.2%. The latter however punishes the more fiscal astute countries within the EU such as Italy and Germany which have actual inflation rates of 1.1% & 1.9% respectively.

Germany has coal power stations and uses 46% of the EU's coal annually... it's what generates the electricity the trains use.

It's all atypical british moaning rubbish... everyone else is better. Personally I have zero time for it.

Spain's population is actually declining... heaven

 

[Northernraider]

The rest of Europe has space to build, we don't and when we want to all the NIMBY's are out crying about it. France is more than twice the size of the UK and is less populated, same can be said for Spain with 20m less & Germany is a third larger too.

Unemployment? UK 4%, Germany 6%, Italy 6.5%, France 7.5%, Spain 12%.

Inflation? UK July 2.2%, August 2.2%. EU harmonised rate July 2.6%, August 2.2%. The latter however punishes the more fiscal astute countries within the EU such as Italy and Germany which have actual inflation rates of 1.1% & 1.9% respectively.

Germany has coal power stations and uses 46% of the EU's coal annually... it's what generates the electricity the trains use.

It's all atypical british moaning rubbish... everyone else is better. Personally I have zero time for it.

Uk unemployment 4%


That was enough for me
97% of statistics are false.
And that one certainly is.

 

[Ralphey]

This sounds like a wind up.

Mainspring

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[Mzracer]

Yes

I survived every one of them ,getting out before they collapsed. Sadly many others weren't so lucky.

The last company I worked for havelock Europe went bust 8 months after I resigned

Brilliant answer and you can obviously see the problems coming up for the companies.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Might be Queer Stammer effect ..and the constant negativity he's projecting

Given the threads theme KIA Starmer possibly?
Mike.

 

[jongood]

Because the owners want maximum profit for minimum investment.

They do, but they're predominantly focussed on the short term gainand not prepared to look at the potential for a higher long term gain. As a nation we have become very short term.

 

[Northernraider]

They do, but they're predominantly focussed on the short term gainand not prepared to look at the potential for a higher long term gain. As a nation we have become very short term.

I agree

But when you say owt folk think you're just uk bashing

I think it all changed in the 80's .... I think UK business, public services etc have all been on a downhill spiral since.

It's all coffee shops and tat these days.

Uk industry and manufacturing has been almost eradicated.

 

[stewartwebr]

I feel for those who shall be out of work. Guess now the country is not awash with furlough money sales have dropped dramatically. It doesn’t seem that long ago that you couldn’t buy a leisure vehicle for love nor money. Oh how times change now that some have to earn a living and don’t have double subsidised income.

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