That version is new to me. The Mini was designed and launched in the late
50s, years before the problems of strikes. The way I heard it Ford looked
at the car closely at launch and reckoned it cost more to make than its
selling price, which BL denied. Whether it was or not, it made good
knocking copy so Ford put the story round anyway, and it was converted years
later by the inevitable knockers to 'it never made a profit'. Strikes
affected all car production of course not just the Mini. I'm sure there
were strikes at suppliers from time to time, but the biggest problem by far
was production strikes, which rendered second sourcing irrelevant. The
hypothetical sons of Red Robbo and his ilk do indeed work at Nissan, Honda
and Toyota, but they certainly don't carry on in the same way, those
factories are up there with the most productive in the world.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
> ... The Mini, I believe, lost money not on its build costs but on the
> added burden of second sourcing of parts necessitated by union actions
> such as strikes. Now the sons of those stalwart English car labourers
> work for Nissan, Toyota, Honda and the like !!!!
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