IT'S business as usual for the county's Rover dealers in the wake of BMW's shock sell-off, writes David Duffy and Roy Cooper.

Martin Kernahan, of Rover dealership Kernahan in Witney, said: "As far as we are concerned it is business as usual. Rover is back in British hands and we are flying the Union flag over our premises. I am remaining relatively upbeat about it all.

"As a company, we have more of a chance to be in control of our own destiny, and we won't be known as the English Patient any more.

"It is ironic that Rover's darkest hour comes at a time when we're producing the best cars. The quality has never been better."

He added: "I am genuinely pleased that Cowley's future is secure within BMW. It is good that the Mini will be built here and the 75 will continue to be built. It is good to have a car plant in the city, and it is something that we can feel proud of."

Meanwhile, car dealers have attacked calls for a boycott of BMWs in the wake of the Rover sell-off as "misguided".

The Retail Motor Industry Federation said it was "absolutely horrified" at reports that some union officials and Labour MPs supported a boycott of the German car.

"This type of action is misguided and ill-informed," said Alan Pulham, the federation's Franchised Dealers Director. "British BMW dealers - many of whom are involved with Rover - will only suffer damage by such ludicrous knee-jerk reactions.

"BMW are retailers like any other in the UK - their businesses provide jobs and benefit local economies. Why do further damage to the British workforce?"

Franchised Rover dealerships have complained that BMW had misled them about the company's attitude to Rover.

Many of the 300 dealerships in the UK invested heavily on the strength of BMW assurances that Rover's future was secure.

David Evans, chief executive of the Retail Motor Industry Federation, said several thousand jobs were now in jeopardy in the dealerships.

He said: "BMW gave the assurance that they would sustain the franchise, and of course the investment by the dealers was based on that kind of assurance."

The dealers now wanted some form of compensation, said Mr Evans. "We have written to Mr Byers asking him to take this into account when he has his high-level discussions with BMW."

Meanwhile the German ambassador to Britain, Hans Friedrich Von Ploetz, said that there was nothing to be gained from Britain and Germany indulging in a "blame game" over Rover.

"It's not really an issue between governments, it's a commercial decision taken by the board of a company which was confronted with a grim set of statistics," he argued.

The ambassador acknowledged that workers at Longbridge had worked hard to try to improve the factory's productivity.

"These grim figures are very unwelcome to everybody, most of all to the workers concerned who have made considerable efforts to increase productivity, which has happened, and to reduce costs.

"But the slippage in sales, in particular sales in the British market, is just something you have to acknowledge.

"Britain has always had an excellent reputation as a good place for foreign companies to invest. I think it is very important ... that the credentials remain very strong.

"The blame game started right away, and I don't think it helpful for governments to join in this game. The real question is the way ahead ... the key question really is, is there a sustainable alternative to the sale of parts of Rover? This is the issue.

"People should also be mindful that BMW is continuing to manufacture in the UK and the overall German investment stock in the UK runs up to £17 billion sterling.

"It is hard, yes, but we shouldn't enter into a blame game, particularly not between nations."

Officials from venture capitalists Alchemy Partners, which is buying parts of Rover from BMW, have visited the huge Longbridge factory in Birmingham to meet senior managers.

The sale is not expected to be completed for another six weeks, and some union officials are hoping an alternative buyer can still be found to save breaking up the Rover Group.

Officials held talks in Warwickshire earlier this week and senior union negotiators will travel to Munich today to meet BMW bosses.

Story date: Wednesday 22 March

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