Land Rover Workers attitude....Assholes still on the track...

[Robgw]

Had a conversation with a mate back home in Birmingham this week. He was telling me how his friend who works at the Solihull track advised him never to buy anything that comes of the line..

The current workers are just like they were back in the Rover days and still have a "don't give a **** attitude" was the quote.

This is sad news as in the early 90's it was very well know in the Midlands that Land Rover's were thrown together at the track which was a major cause of reliability problems. We thought / assured as customers that this was addressed under BMW management post 96.

So very annoying to hear that the same old work ethic up there remains.

These ungrateful assholes should move on and get another job as their will be plenty of people lining up who care...

[superquag]

... Could also have something to do with the way the workers have been treated by the (Upper Class) management since creation... Not isolated to LR, but pervades a lot of British Industry.

I know of a few production lines and work-forces that may be suitable, in a year or three.... :eek:

- Would make a lot of marketing sense, to build LRs, the most capable 4WD in the world...in the toughest 4WD country.

Oops, sorry.... I used the word "sense" in the same sentence as Land Rover.:angel:

[kenleyfred]

I really like that show 'Ultimate Factories', on 7mate I think. It documents the making of all sorts of things, planes,ships cars etc. They've had some good ones, making Rolls Royce's, Bentleys, Porsches, Audi's etc. The attention to detail throughout and the constant quality checks are amazing. Panel alignment and then waterproof checking at the end.

I often watch that show and feel it would be a comedy if they tried to do a show on the Defender production line.

I love my Defender, but it was definitely assembled by workers who couldn't give a **** about what they do.
So sad, because it would be an even better vehicle if the workers cared.

In no other vehicle I've owned do I need to take towels, or keep my smart clothes on back seat and change on arrival, or get waterproof case for phone.

Sounds like a whingefest but the barbs are in anyway, I'll never get rid of her.

Kenley

[superquag]

All of the above explains why LR got sold... more than once.

Imagine if they were built by Mazda to their standards... :eek:

[Rickoz]

Had a conversation with a mate back home in Birmingham this week. He was telling me how his friend who works at the Solihull track advised him never to buy anything that comes of the line..
The current workers are just like they were back in the Rover days and still have a "don't give a **** attitude" was the quote.
This is sad news as in the early 90's it was very well know in the Midlands that Land Rover's were thrown together at the track which was a major cause of reliability problems. We thought / assured as customers that this was addressed under BMW management post 96.
So very annoying to hear that the same old work ethic up there remains.
These ungrateful assholes should move on and get another job as their will be plenty of people lining up who care...
Geee if i were a POM i'd be so ashamed of my fellow Useless English Cousins,
what they should of done a long time ago was throw them all out of LR & employ the Foreign Workers witch have better understanding how to do things correctly & get the job done in good time.

[snowbound]

Should have been built by the Cornish. We hate the bloody POMS and would do a way better job! :eek:

OK Rugby aside then, my old Rangie is still going strong, without the crappy build quality where would be the character? If it wasn't for the character, LR name would be mud, or worse... Toyota! :wasntme:

[Ausfree]

Why don't they build them in India ??? Tata Motors is Indian is it not!!!!

http://www.tatamotors.com/

[chuck]

Jaguar Landrover profit, volume, quality & model turn around would certainly not be indicative of personnel not caring.

JLR is the shining light of UK manufacturing at the moment.

Ford would be ruing the day they sold it.

Sounds like an off the cuff comment from someone who is not happy with management perhaps because they have been disciplined for poor performance.

[UncleHo]

Yeah! kinda sounds like one of the older union types that was told to pull up his socks and had a dummy spit.

[alittlebitconcerned]

Although the cavemen on the production line are the ones slapping them together with as much finesse as my toddler eating his dinner, the blame for it sits squarely with the highest management. Not exactly a new problem.

[3toes]

Are you saying they are suffering from the Qantas syndrome.? Management is perfect it is all the fault of those annoying workers and customers.

[reachjatt]

Came across this!! I suppose they (Tata) must be doing something right .. May be for different set of market.

"Losses in 2009 were reversed as turnover trebled by 2013, and Jaguar Land Rover has recorded billion pound-plus annual profits for the last three years, adding around nine thousand employees to date with plans to recruit 1,700 more."

Tata: the Indian powerhouse behind Jaguar Land Rover success | Business | theguardian.com (http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/12/tata-indian-powerhouse-behind-jaguar-success)

[UncleHo]

There you go, "Reachjatt" hit the nail on the head,the "dead wood" is worried about getting the Boot!

[wardy1]

Apart from the Defender, which I don't and probably will never own..... I have friends with D3's and D4's and one with a RRS. Nothing wrong with any of them. The build quality is miles ahead of the competition and as far as value for money goes, I'd buy a D4 over a 200 series LC any day!

Good on Tata for doing what they've done so far. We all worried when they bought it, but look at it now;)

[Pickles2]

Jaguar Landrover profit, volume, quality & model turn around would certainly not be indicative of personnel not caring.

JLR is the shining light of UK manufacturing at the moment.

Ford would be ruing the day they sold it.

Sounds like an off the cuff comment from someone who is not happy with management perhaps because they have been disciplined for poor performance.
Agree.
If the O.P.'s "informant's" comment is correct/true, "don't buy anything that comes down the line", that insinuates that nobody should buy a LandRover?...Yeah right.
Plenty of happy customers all over the world would disagree with that.
Pickles.

[lro11]

Apart from the Defender, which I don't and probably will never own..... I have friends with D3's and D4's and one with a RRS. Nothing wrong with any of them. The build quality is miles ahead of the competition and as far as value for money goes, I'd buy a D4 over a 200 series LC any day! Good on Tata for doing what they've done so far. We all worried when they bought it, but look at it now;)

I was in the factory in 2007 when I watched a bolt fall out of a RRS and a worker picked it up looked at it and then threw it in the bin. He had just installed the front and rear suspension so it was obvious where it came from.

[Dougal]

I was in the factory in 2007 when I watched a bolt fall out of a RRS and a worker picked it up looked at it and then threw it in the bin. He had just installed the front and rear suspension so it was obvious where it came from.

There is no time to fix issues like that on the production line. You'd expect it would be flagged for check and fix at the end.

I toured two car factories in mainland europe. They make no secret of the fact many vehicles need rework at the end of the line. It could be anything from a suppliers defective component to a mishap that damaged a panel.

[lro11]

There is no time to fix issues like that on the production line. You'd expect it would be flagged for check and fix at the end. I toured two car factories in mainland europe. They make no secret of the fact many vehicles need rework at the end of the line. It could be anything from a suppliers defective component to a mishap that damaged a panel.
Sorry I don't accept that because there was a good 10 minutes before the line moved more than enough time to check his work.

[catch-22]

Apart from the Defender, which I don't and probably will never own..... I have friends with D3's and D4's and one with a RRS. Nothing wrong with any of them. The build quality is miles ahead of the competition and as far as value for money goes, I'd buy a D4 over a 200 series LC any day!

Good on Tata for doing what they've done so far. We all worried when they bought it, but look at it now;)

I agree. We've got the FL2 and it's spot on. I recon it's a Defender thing. I recon they say "let's see how far out we can bolt up this panel and still get away with it."

[frantic]

I agree. We've got the FL2 and it's spot on. I recon it's a Defender thing. I recon they say "let's see how far out we can bolt up this panel and still get away with it."

ROFL Freelanders where the vehicle that created the slogan Lemon Roulette. :D unlike a defender the freelander gets to a point where it's cheaper to scrap than repair normal items like gearboxes.

[catch-22]

ROFL Freelanders where the vehicle that created the slogan Lemon Roulette. :D unlike a defender the freelander gets to a point where it's cheaper to scrap than repair normal items like gearboxes.

Have a reread mate.....freelander2. To date, the most reliable vehicle LR make. Unquestionably.

[solmanic]

I was in the factory in 2007 when I watched a bolt fall out of a RRS and a worker picked it up looked at it and then threw it in the bin. He had just installed the front and rear suspension so it was obvious where it came from.

I also did a factory tour back on 2007. The RRS/Disco line was pretty normal. Everything there just seemed to clip into place so not a lot of scope for stuff-ups. The Defender line however was another story altogether. Reminded me of this old Youtube video of them assembling Trabants in the DDR during the cold-war era. This was followed up by a very "thorough" shakedown whereby they thrashed the snot out of each vehicle on a rolling road for about a minute then drove them out into the yard.

The Communist Trabant - YouTube

[Homestar]

So what's the difference between workers at LR that don't give a **** compared to workers on the Holden and Ford lines here that don't give a ****? I have toured both those lines here in years gone by and the attitude there was just as bad.

[HPLP]

I love that Trabant video. It has me thinking that I must go on a factory tour before they stop making the defender!


I personally think that the way that land rover is going along away from the country gentleman/adventure image towards what I view as the posh and becks image really doesn't help its corporate image but also its own personal identity that staff can associate with.

[sheerluck]

So what's the difference between workers at LR that don't give a **** compared to workers on the Holden and Ford lines here that don't give a ****? I have toured both those lines here in years gone by and the attitude there was just as bad.

Because it gives someone the opportunity to go on an "anti-pommy" rant.

The phrase involving people, glass houses and stones springs to mind.

[Ausfree]

Have a reread mate.....freelander2. To date, the most reliable vehicle LR make. Unquestionably.
Have to agree.......................
The Freelander 2 and the Freelander 1 have nothing in common. The FL2 is a clean sheet redesign and its reliability is light years ahead of the FL1.:)

[Homestar]

Sorry I don't accept that because there was a good 10 minutes before the line moved more than enough time to check his work.

If the workers were standing around for 10 minutes waiting for the line to move, then there was a problem somewhere. Even if there was, it doesn't surprise me that they wouldn't fix it on the spot. Why do something yourself that someone is paid to do elsewhere? I know that sounds strange but if you had a work mate employed to fix little things like that at the end of the line, would you risk ridicule from others for potentially putting them out of a job? That's the sort of thinking that goes on in big business like this.

Ever been told to slow down by your workmates? Same sort of thing.

I don't agree with this sort of thing myself, but I've seen it in action first hand plenty of times.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

ROFL Freelanders where the vehicle that created the slogan Lemon Roulette. :D unlike a defender the freelander gets to a point where it's cheaper to scrap than repair normal items like gearboxes.
Have a reread mate.....freelander2. To date, the most reliable vehicle LR make. Unquestionably.Is that because the Freelander 2 is built on a Jaguar production line at Halewood not a traditional Land Rover line at Solihull?

Perhaps the Jaguar part of the company have a better work ethic?

[camel_landy]

Had a conversation with a mate back home in Birmingham this week. He was telling me how his friend who works at the Solihull track advised him never to buy anything that comes of the line..

The current workers are just like they were back in the Rover days and still have a "don't give a **** attitude" was the quote.

This is sad news as in the early 90's it was very well know in the Midlands that Land Rover's were thrown together at the track which was a major cause of reliability problems. We thought / assured as customers that this was addressed under BMW management post 96.

So very annoying to hear that the same old work ethic up there remains.

These ungrateful assholes should move on and get another job as their will be plenty of people lining up who care...

So, reporting as gospel, what you've heard from a mate of a mate?? :blink:

You should go and walk down the line and you'd be able to see first hand at how far off the mark you are.

M