While the newcomer has...
While the newcomer has still to be officially christened, it"s known inside BMW as the RFK - short for "raum funktionales konzept", or functional space concept. It will be the first MPV to wear the blue propeller badge and, as our images show, it uses a number of the company"s traditional styling cues. Note the "flame-sided" panels, and headlights in the mould of the smaller 1-Series.
The Coventry plant...
The Coventry plant, where the 206 is made, has been the subject of much political manoeuvring in the past few years. A ÷£14.4m Government grant was offered in 2004 to help attract the production of new models, but the offer was not accepted, leading ultimately to the decision to close the plant this week.
Jean Martin Folz, Peugeot"c CEO, blamed the high cost of manufacture in Western Europe for the decision. A recent study showed that East European car plants typically produce vehicles for a quarter of the costs of those in the UK.
The closure marks the end of volume car manufacture in the Midlands. Last year the region saw Rover"s Longbridge plant shut, with nearly 6,000 jobs lost. They joined a long list of car companies who have closed factories since the midlands" heyday : Alvis, Armstong Siddeley, Daimler, Hillman, Standard and in the past 12 months Rover and Jaguar.
Despite this recent disastrous trend, the UK still turns out 1.8 million new vehicles per year, the 4th highest total in Europe, behind Germany, France and Spain.