i read that article too and i have to say you managed to put into words exactly what i wanted to

the whole car industry is being targeted with no one bothering to defend it

keep it up! its about time someone told all these do-gooders to shut up unless they actually know what theyre on about

I hear and read that type of uninformed diatribe on a fairly regular basis here in the States, too.

It’s infuriating when some mainstream journalist or columnist decides to write about cars or talk about them on TV when they know nothing of the machines or the industry that bears them.

So much of it is so clearly wrong.

I, despite being a car nut, have a lot of time for sensible environmentalists. However, as a regular Guardian and Observer reader, I found Ms. Bennett’s article a load of crap, too.

She should be shouting about the pointless SUVs – Range Rovers.

You seem shocked that a Guardian and Observer journalist has panned a car manufacterer despite knowing nothing about the industry. These are the types of publications who support slow, short ranged death traps like the G-Wizz. I am not particularly against the Guardian, they’ve employed Charlie Brooker for long enough and he’s ace, but I wouldn’t take their opinions on cars or climate change without a very large pinch of salt. Papers write to an audience and the Guardian writes for bleeding heart liberals. Still, at least it’s better that writing for the Daily Mail’s readership…

The news media is 5% fact, 95% bull-crap. Remember the saying, “Don’t believe everything you read.” I guess that comes around in full swing in her columns.

When I heard about the UK government bailing out the British car industry I thought, “I think they’re a bit late Rover closed down ages ago!” But in reality there are a lot of manufacturers in the UK and also the spin off businesses of engineering etc. However there are very few truly indigenous British manufacturers that operate on a large scale, surely Nissan should be supported by their own government as well as the British government propping them up.
As far as environmentalism and green reassurances go Lotus have made amazing advances as read in Top Gear with a tri-fuel engine and bodies made of weird stuff, I do hope they are getting money to advance this technology.

I agree entirely. Alot of people have been using the credit crunch as an opportunity to blame everything on not being green enough. We all need cars, it’s a fact of modern life. If I didn’t have a car I’d simply not be able to do my job.

It’s about time jurnalists stopped being green be default and actually did a bit of research before slagging off everybody who drives and who wants to fly now and then.

C02 is going to get produced if we want to live like we’re all used to now. Reducing emmisons is not as simple as taking the train for buying a smaller car or moving a runway from heathrow to somewhere in France.

Well what does she want? Self-charging Teslas made of hemp?

And clearly she just thought all Landies are the same, which is very daft of her, because for 60 years Defenders have been reliably running the countryside and, as you say, helping soldiers bring/keep peace. And whilst all their other products are indeed SUVs, when you think Land Rover, you think Defender. Unless you’re a chav.

And anyway, we simply cannot make CO2-free cars yet. Batteries need charging, hydrogen needs making, hybrids are all shit and as green as a diesel, so unless all these political imbeciles – who’s knowledge of cars stretches only as far as the CO2 figure – know of some new car that runs entirely on beans, they should just put up with the fact that problems don’t just go away, and that they don’t disappear any quicker just by picking on them.

Plus, look what that money did! The new XFR and XKR, two fantastic cars that could well do what the Insignia is out to do for GM: save the company. A Freelander Stop-Start. And who knows what’s just round the corner?

The automotive industry is pretty much doing all it can right now, but it’s being suffocated by people like her, people who only see cars as dirty polluters and want them taxed and regulated into nothing, and the problem is, most of the people in charge share this image.

@ Stigs Irish Cousin
Rover was a pile of crap anyway, it couldn’t be saved by God. It was rotten at every level.

@Mikeado
Well said! 1 point though: soon there’s gunna be Diesel Hybrids. They’ll be greener.

Actually the core of the British economy is the building trade, if this goes everything and i mean everything gets affected! Why does it, never get any help from any government at any time? Does anyone out there know why? Id love to know!Your banks get help, when its totally ruined everything its like helping a robber when hes burgled your home!

I hope next time Hammond clean his teeth!!!
From;Muhd Ridhwan
e-mail:subaru_rid@yahoo.c om

i couldn’t agree more and their is alot of talent here to help solve the issues we face… also it seams the goverment hasn’t considered howmuch money they will lose when everything does eventually go green! But i’m sure they’ll hit the motorist in the pocket still because were the countrys favorite scapegoat

Lets not mess about, the blame should stop at the door of the greedy, morally corrupt bankers. They walk away scot free, leaving joe public to pick up the tab, probably for the next fifty years or so. Do the math the amounts ‘borrowed’ can not be repaid in a matter of 5/10 years, best just to go bankrupt and start again, it would save a lot of time. Car manufactures (the bosses) are guilty of being inept nothing more. The whole ‘green thing’ is jumped upon by people who are very easily manipulated, unable, or unwilling to see that sudden climate change is nothing new at all (go look at an ice core,or sedimentary layer)smoke and mirrors for the politicians to tax and control the populations of the world. With regard ‘Mizz’ Bennett she shouldn’t worry her pretty little head with mens business, maybe take up a hobby instead, flower arranging, needle craft, or get a man to look after…Sexist, ignorant pig! Who said that?

My brother and I could solve most of fuel crises in the world ( you may think Im crazy) running turbines like the LM2500 on water (yes) water
Another project proven already would supply Hydrojen as a by product and clean up waste at the same time. Getting the right people to listen is the problem Honda have the H2 car we can suply the fuel.

the best car is the lamboguini gillardo i have got 1

Jowzer, I highly doubt that, seeing as you can’t even spell ‘Lamborghini Gallardo’.

But then again, Could Wayne Rooney or one of the other Premier Chavs spell ‘Lamborghini Gallardo’!!
Yoshik48, I’ll Take 2 buckets of Hydrogen,Can you get your mum to drop of the Hydrogen at my house? Or send your brother round on his bike with it, in the morning?

So how many of you would employ someone whose great grandfather was a hero but he himself is an invalid to defend your life ? Are we actually trying to save something worth saveing here or is it just the image ? The institution ? I love, Jags and Land/Range Rovers the same way I loved Sean Connery playing Bond.. Could he do it today ? The new jag is just a cheaper Aston, the Range Rover is what it is a Chelsea Tractor and the Landrover.. my parents in Law have one and puhlease it´s a pile of… Why not spend the money on the Talent ? Why it´s ancestors ??

You cannot criticise something for being a cheaper Aston Martin, that’s a selling point not a drawback. As for the Rangey it may have become another school-run behemoth but it can and always has been able to munch the mud like a champion. I shant try and defend the Sport model, I only wish I didn’t secretly want one… The Defender is a tool, no they’re not particularly comfortable, they’re slow and noisy and you pretty much get a steering wheel as in car entertainment, and that isn’t directly attached to any of the other wheels. All of that aside if you need to move a trailer around a farm or what not and you want something you can fix yourself it’s a Defender or that Iveco whatchamagig doo-dad (a quick google later, it’s the Massif). They might have their faults (might = do) but they last forever with a little care and people who work them hard keep them, I can’t think of a better endorsement really.

I think that keeping these companies afloat is important for the nation. They support a whole pyramid of industry, they make some very good vehicles and they’re up to their necks in a shit-storm they had nothing to do with creating. They’re also what’s left of our car making heritage (British cars made in Britain, made in numbers that matter), not a reason to save them on it’s own I agree but a cheeky bonus when viewed with the other factors.

G’day cobbers
I can’t believe it. For years the auto industry has been laggards.
Refusing to invest significantly in technology the internal combustion engine really remains largely unchanged after what 90years(est)? Sure, we’ve got incremental enhancements – but itall comes down to the dollar/pound/euro. Governments are no difference.They seemto operate like businesses doing enough to secure the next 2 years…no one seems to have the vision to stand up and say this is for the next 100 years – you get what I mean?
Sure, avoid the vaccuum that will created by mass loss of industry, but lets take the opportunity to define the focus, for the good of environment and economy. Lets see some courage in our elected leaders. I see no problem with loosing what we have when the opportunity is so great to embrace a brighter and better future built on sound principles. Talking about everything here, banking, governments, finance, indutry in general. We’ve got a chance, lets take it!

ref.19.
J. I agree with your principles to the fullest, however if Landrover made a defender that wouldn´t just be a british farm animal that needs constan attention, berings go every 15k miles, suspension bits n´bobs are rubbish, rusty exhaust system due to the cheapest materials used etc. and that´s just being only used ON the road.. if it were technically as reliable as a LandCruiser or even just close I´d say the investment was worth every penny and every drop of sweat shed but sadly it isn´t. Jaguars were they to be priced at the middle classes as originaly intended and not in the 80k category for technology from the 80´s at best, I´d also agree the risk saving it was worth the while but somehow I get the impression hte case is more like trying to save the siberian tiger, yes it´s pretty but unfortunatley it stops there…

..and I am aware there are more competetively priced Jags on the market but besides the Badge ther is nothing Jag about them..ie they aren´t really Jags or am I wrong ?

or is the Jaguar Concept purely about just rosewood and hide and suspension settings ? I´d like to think not…

No, I’d like to think it’s more than that too, something supported by the new XF. Some of the technology they use isn’t of this very minute but it is very well understood and used to the very best of its ability, much like a Z06’s suspension.Anyway, moving on, I can’t say I’m a big fan of the X-type I think you’re refering to, I’d rather own the newer Mondeo than what is essentially an old Mondeo in drag. They’re nice cars but they’re not nice enough when compared to newer competition. As for the Defender, yes things break, but the stuff that does is pretty simple to sort out if you’re that way inclined. There aren’t many cars today you could fix in a shed with a welding iron and a basic toolkit, if a Landcruiser breaks (rare, but inevitable if worked hard for a living) then you’re going to be looking at a big bill, to go with the big bill when you bought the thing. That and you’d feel bad getting the interior covered in mud, you can hose out a defender without a seconds thought (well, if you can weld the rusty floor later at least).

hmm so you are actually saying that to produce a car to be fixed in a shed that can be hosed out but will rust and welding ford engines together or just simply employing them is worth 2.3billion now and who knows how much more later ? You are trying to save the institution and I´m with you but not at all cost..

we let rover and rolls go, aston went with them followed by mg and we´re trying to protect what ever we have left but it´s an uphill struggle with slim chances of actually making it to the top where they once belonged but in all honesty belong no more.IF the opportunity cost ups gains we´ll have to be gracious loosers but loosers non the less. Hope it wont happen but I´m prepared it might.. sad really..

the trouble is they´ve got soul and the replacement doesn´t..

You can’t blame Jag, Aston or Land Rover for their lack of development, as part of daddy Ford they were given access to the parts bin and told to like it or lump it. Since going solo Aston have big plans and I’m sure there’s much the same rumbling away with Jaguar. Land Rover shouldn’t bother with hybrid technology, they should focus on their original core market, ie. people who will get their cars muddy. They should rue the day they let Subaru sneak into their Range Rover dominated ‘blue-blooded but shabby’ market. Their best bet is to hold in there and develop fuel cell tech and to look a word up in the dictionary: ALUMINIUM. I think hybrids are a 10 year stop-gap at best and I don’t think they can make it work in a real off roader, the fuel economy would still make you wince. As a side note, electric motors might be the best thing ever for mud-pluggers. One moving part is reliable and all that torque from zero rev’s has to help when the going gets sticky. A fuel cell Defender, bring it on, it’d rust itself with the exhaust vapours!

Hey. Im sorry but this is not a comment on the latest message posted. I was wondering what anyone thought of the news about how after getting a massive bailout by the government two banks have paid 500 grand each for two separate executive box’s in landsdown Road. This is the irish bank system,the english banks seem to have higher integrity.

subaru vs rangerover ?? very shabby indeed..
I like the electric aluminium landrover idea though plastics would probably work better ..bio degradable, great concept although I´d be a bit worried about all that el-tech going it´s own way.. maybe ford could help with the wiring ?
“..yes it´s a chelsea tracktor but it´s 98% recyclable and runs on a fart beat that prius ”

Well said Jeremy old chap. Gorgon (sic) Broon is a one-eyed Scottish get and so say all of us. He and the rest of his shabby cabinet (Milibland and the witless tarts) consider the rest of the UK population to be thick-witted, illiterate and stupid about every subject and therefore believe it is acceptable to lie to us about everything. Well, for once, the joke is on the fat Scottish get ! We, the public, DO get it about the financial crisis and surprise surprise, we blame you Gorgon – for turning a blind eye (no pun intended) whilst Chancellor, to all the shenanigans going on within the banking sector. And whilst yer at it Gorgon, what precisely IS all this global warming bollocks when most of the country is freezing its doodles off this week? How can we run out of salt when we have one of the world’s biggest salt mines?????????

Ahhhh, poor little Gordon Banks and Iain Gray, was nasty Mr Clarskson being mean about their pal Crash Gordon?

Since the Scots want devolution so badlt let’s give it to them. Then we can send all their useless politians back north of the border and get on with trying to fix the country.

Let’s also start a book on how long it takes for the North Sea oil revenues to run out and the country to go bust. I give it three years (and that’s being generous).

Three cheers for Jeremy Clarkson.

A loud chorus of hissing and booing for the one eyed, Scottich idiot.

Ok lets just analize this one eyed yes( only has one eye) Scottish ( er yes scottish) Idiot (He has been instrumental in bringing the country to its knees to apoint of no return&then addmitting he hadnt seen it comming) F…….g IDIOT
So to conclude one eyed scottish idiot im with you clarky lets carry on telling the truth eh & b……s to em

Is this the most important bit of news the media can come up with? We know that JC is a sarcastic son-of-bitch, but isn’t that what we English like? We also know that he speaks his mind, doesn’t mince his words and says what’s on the mind of red-blodded Englishmen everywhere. I wonder if they interviewed an English MP from another party would the comments truly reflect that of Banks and Gray?

Quite agree with your comment re Brown. If the Scotts like him so much let him return home and govern them. keep up the good work/ comments.

It was comedy at a news conference. Censorship of criticism through morale outrage.

There is one system of government which regulates comedy is dictatorship, depression, lack of national pride and intolerance of arts and control of the media leads, loss of status as a world power to Germany 1932, so in fact, JC could be the last bastion against a facist takeover by the Germans… strange but true, bit like his comment.

I would like to express my outrage at Clarkson’s comment about the Prime Minister.
In my opinion he was too polite. Idiot comes nowhere near the level of accuracy to describe Crash Gordon’s mental capacity (or should that be incapacity). Keep going JC!

what a nob… but then it could be said about all the government.
JC in government and a few more like him… maybe then we might have the bottle to achieve things..
If we own the banks!! why not stop wasting tax payers money for the wealthy bankers to keep getting huge bonuses.. and put all the billions into the state owned bank, then lend out the money at 2% above the base rate, this will help people get loans and make money! but thats just an idea.. you would think that the brains of our government know this already.. or is there no back handers for them.

Uz are a bunch of english t****. Gordon brown is just taking the back lash of Tony Blairs mistakes. So now the ressecion is G. Browns fault? And as for salt and snow, how can countries like canada and the likes have so much more snow than GB and yet a little snow puts England on a go slow! ahaha

Cos they have snow nearly everyday and we don’t. not really rocket science that one.

And Crash Gordon was chancellor while TB was in power, the relaxing of financial regulation was his idea to keep the city “thriving and at the forefront of financial services location in the world”. The blame lies at his feet as well.

seem´s like all the experts are on a tg blog shame on you!!! there´s a recession this isn´t the place.. or is it just me ??????

GorBro Is a fool & Dave C is gay, Clarkson is a Joke(r) and y´all are out of context ! get a grip ! ps how many of you bought their cars on a loan ? the recession ..it´s your fault ! idiots..

Very well said.