Really? I recall driving a hired Astra in the early 90s and it was like driving a sardine tin. No space, very claustrophobic and no visibility...
In fact it wasn't a real Astra but the Far Eastern copy of it that looked exactly like the genuine article... The Astra I think was the early 80s one... I guess later ones were much better...
white exec wrote:BX and Xantia like stepping out into the fresh air.
I found that once after driving a 307; another car I found very claustrophobic. Getting back into the Xantia really was a blessed relief... It felt like I was driving a greenhouse it was so light and airy
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
The driver for this is GMs desire to get rid of its unprofitable European division. I say unprofitable, but you can never really be sure. I have had mostly Citroens and SAABS with equal enjoyment and you will recall that GM dumped SAAB a few years back. True, SAAB never made a profit, but soon after acquiring them GM "repatriated" the intellectual property (brand, patents etc) to the USA and charged SAAB a licence fee, so they moved profit from a high tax area to a lower one (USA). Much like Disney Corp and Euro Disney if the reports are to be believed. I doubt they would have stayed in so long if the European business was making a real end-to-end loss.
Still, GM Europe is up for sale and PSA probably want to jump closer to VW Group sales and turnover. I see some big problems. The van manufacturing in Luton does Renault as well, so may be divested early on. Looking at passenger cars and comparing with VW group - although VW has lots of brands and variations its fundamentally very few floorpans and engines - you can look across the range and see the equivalent VW, SEAT, Skoda and often Audi. A merged PSA/GM Europe will have too many engines and basic designs, some huge rationalization will be needed to avoid being like BL in the early days (23 different engines when Ford had 5).
That bodes ill for the UK plants, sorry to say and may put some dealerships at risk as well. If they get it wrong it puts the whole PSA group at risk. Less choice for consumers as well.
Richard_C
Current: , C4 Picasso 120 BlueHdi, C3 1.2 Auto
Past Citroens: Dyane (x2), 2CV, Visa, BX (x2), Xantia, Xsara Picasso, C3 (x2) C5 X7 Tourer, Synergie 1.9TD, C1
Others: Hillman Hunter, Cortina Mk 1, Maxi, VW Type 2, Granada, SAAB 900, SAAB 9-5, R5 Gordini
CitroJim wrote:
That's the same model I disliked so much in it's far Eastern guise - I just can’t think of what it was called or who in the Far East made it..
Was it a Daewoo?
Yes. one of the names it went under was the Daewoo Le Mans, but there were many different names used...over in America it appeared as the "Pontiac Le Mans" which from the name you might expect it to look just a touch less boring! The 1960's cars bearing that name couldn't have been more different.
An interesting bit of speculation. Opel certainly do have an appropriate Logo!
Brexit won't help keep UK plants open; tariffs could appear both ways - components in, vehicles out. Not clever.
Blair's speech today spot on - but I'm afraid he's just not the right person to be delivering it. Where did you go, David...?
Last edited by white exec on 18 Feb 2017, 09:48, edited 1 time in total.
you're in a lift with Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Tony Blair. You have a gun and two bullets, what do you do?
you shoot Blair twice, then pistol whip him until you're sure the job is done then throw him out of the lift making sure he lands on Jean-Claude Juncker
Stickyfinger wrote:you're in a lift with Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Tony Blair. You have a gun and two bullets, what do you do?
you shoot Blair twice, then pistol whip him until you're sure the job is done then throw him out of the lift making sure he lands on Jean-Claude Juncker
(Saddam & Hitler are dead btw)
I would shoot the cables holding the lift, and then the automatic braking system, so the lift then plunges down the shaft uncontrollably. Unfortunately I would have forgotten that I had got on at the second floor, going down (and there is no basement), so that Blair gets out with either minor or no injuries (the slippery bar steward!).
Last edited by Hell Razor5543 on 18 Feb 2017, 17:10, edited 1 time in total.
James ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
Let's hope they don't make an electric equivalent of the 1.6hdi engine or it will be curtains for them.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Dave
2011 Peugeot 3008 1.6hdi Exclusive EGS.
'04 C5 auto estate 2.2 hdi. Gone.
Bx 1.6 TGS Auto 50k A rare beast by all accounts. A bit tired but getting better by the day. Gone.
'96 XM 2.5TD VSX.......Sadly sold. What an idiot! I should have held on to that.
