Mike Rutherford's column about 4x4 and Land Rover

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Mike Rutherford's column
How many more obstacles will Ford put up with before saying 'enough is enough' and moving Land Rover production to China?
By Mike Rutherford

30th August 2006

It's worth reminding the anti-4x4 crusaders of the damage they've caused in recent months. Law-breaking fundamentalists have attacked owners of four-wheel-drive vehicles, while an international environmental pressure group has illegally invaded Land Rover's factory. Apart from this blatant act of industrial trespass, the ecomental activists committed further crimes by halting the firm's production line. Far from condemning such disgraceful commercial terrorism, Government ministers have jumped on the bandwagon and made their own cheap and damaging comments about perfectly legal SUVs.

Ford of America seems justifiably fed-up with the grief which Land Rover gets from 4x4-haters in Britain


Meanwhile, London's Mayor Ken Livingstone has repeated - to me, personally - that drivers of such all-wheel-drive cars are idiots, adding that he intends to impose a Ŗ25-a-day congestion tax on them. A leading London university carried out a "study" which concluded that people behind the wheel of SUVs are complacent and use their mobile phones irresponsibly. And a national newspaper recently ran a front page headline declaring that 4x4s are the enemy of the people.

The icing on the cake is that in early August, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs sitting on the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee proposed that buyers of large cars with all-wheel-drive should pay Ŗ1,800 for their annual road fund licences, and that owners of smaller vehicles with the same 4WD technology must pay Ŗ1,200 a year. And the result of all these vicious attacks on 4x4s, the companies who make them and the men, women and children who legally use them? Surprise, surprise - some motorists seeking an easy life are now frightened of buying them. The inevitable consequence of this is that the vehicles aren't selling well which, in turn, means legitimate British businesses are suffering. More importantly, the manufacturers are asking themselves if they and their all-wheel-drive cars have a future in a world - or at least a United Kingdom - in which everybody from so-called environmentalists to politicians to newspaper headline writers are publicly victimising the fine products they make.

Land Rover, for example, is an iconic English brand that puts Britain on the international stage and does a great job designing world class, all-wheel-drive machines, using thousands of workers in the Midlands. A firm such as this is a huge asset to our nation, our economy and our job market. And when its exciting new Freelander goes on sale soon, we should be reminding ourselves that, as with the Discovery, it has another potential world-beater on its hands. Furthermore, we might like to celebrate the fact that its owner, Ford of America, has generously allowed Land Rover production to continue in England and not be transferred to another part of the world where labour rates and taxes are much lower and politicians friendlier. I hope I'm wrong, but I wonder if irreversible damage has already been done.

Ford of America seems justifiably fed-up with the grief that its Land Rover operation gets from over-the-top politicians, ecomentalists and other 4x4 haters in Britain. Why are these cynics hindering the work of the firm? When will they be satisfied? When Ford says enough is enough and sells the firm to the Chinese? Or would the 4x4 saboteurs prefer an all-out closure of the Land Rover business? They need to step forward and give us some answers on what on earth it is they are trying to achieve.

Mike Rutherford writes for the Times, Daily Telegraphand Independent, presents ITV's Pulling Powerand is founder of the Motorists' Association

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