02/07/2003 13:29
MG ROVER is threatening to move a key supply contract from Swindon Pressings, which is owned by rival car-maker BMW, in a row over pricing that could cost up to 2,000 jobs.
Insiders at the Wiltshire plant say that MG Rover, which was bought from BMW three summers ago by a consortium of businessmen for just £10, is threatening to take its business to two rival suppliers, Mayflower and Wagon Holdings.
The threat is likely to raise concern over the future of Swindon Pressings. Suggestions that MG Rover, which accounts for about half the company’s total sales, could be about to switch suppliers come amid union fears that the company might lose another contract, to supply panels for BMW’s new mini, to a BMW plant at Cowley.
A spokeswoman for Swindon Pressings confirmed that the company had raised its prices to MG Rover by 5 per cent, after it had to accept a price increase by Corus, the embattled steel company. “We would very much like to retain their business, but in the long term the business plan of Swindon Pressings is not dependent on MG Rover,” the spokeswoman said.
The pricing dispute is thought to be the last straw in a stormy relationship between the carmaker and its supplier. Insiders say that when MG Rover began shopping around, it found that it was already paying over the odds and could find cheaper suppliers.
There is speculation that the work could be transferred this month. A spokesman for MG Rover declined to comment.
The Swindon Pressings plant is the biggest manufacturing employer in the Wiltshire area. Despite speculation that BMW would sell it after the collapse of the Rover-BMW partnership, BMW has retained it and its contracts with MG Rover.
Insiders at the Wiltshire plant say that MG Rover, which was bought from BMW three summers ago by a consortium of businessmen for just £10, is threatening to take its business to two rival suppliers, Mayflower and Wagon Holdings.
The threat is likely to raise concern over the future of Swindon Pressings. Suggestions that MG Rover, which accounts for about half the company’s total sales, could be about to switch suppliers come amid union fears that the company might lose another contract, to supply panels for BMW’s new mini, to a BMW plant at Cowley.
A spokeswoman for Swindon Pressings confirmed that the company had raised its prices to MG Rover by 5 per cent, after it had to accept a price increase by Corus, the embattled steel company. “We would very much like to retain their business, but in the long term the business plan of Swindon Pressings is not dependent on MG Rover,” the spokeswoman said.
The pricing dispute is thought to be the last straw in a stormy relationship between the carmaker and its supplier. Insiders say that when MG Rover began shopping around, it found that it was already paying over the odds and could find cheaper suppliers.
There is speculation that the work could be transferred this month. A spokesman for MG Rover declined to comment.
The Swindon Pressings plant is the biggest manufacturing employer in the Wiltshire area. Despite speculation that BMW would sell it after the collapse of the Rover-BMW partnership, BMW has retained it and its contracts with MG Rover.
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