Land Rover off the road?

I really like the F Type. I won’t be buying one, any more than I’ll ever buy a Porsche, because I don’t have enough need for that sort of car, but I’m glad they exist so I can look at them.
I know what I mean even if none of the above makes sense!
😉

I'm not sure it's quite that straight forward.
If, as you say, 80% of vehicles are supplied from China who is going to buy them ?

There are millions of people in Europe who work in the automotive industry for OEMs, Tier 1, 2 & 3 suppliers. If they are all out of work who is paying the taxes for social healthcare and pensions ? It would be like closing the mines and steel works at the same time on steroids.

That's one manufacturer, take out all auto with the exception of a few luxury brands across a whole continent of 500 million people including the UK.

Factor in the massive debt that has to be serviced post COVID plus public services that have to be paid for.

That is a huge shit storm not a little headwind.

You don't need a crystal ball, look at the high street since Amazon undercut local suppliers and delivered to the door.

The western European obsession with price and "getting a bargain" or not being seen to pay more than the Joneses.

I was in the UK over Easter having the auto gearbox of my car checked out before I commit to buying it. I took a walk to a local shopping centre, sat on a bench in the sun, and watched the "Just Eat" worker bees dashing in and out of McDonald's taking breakfasts for home delivery 🤔

That, the volume, really surprised me. People ordering takeout for breakfast.

My Focus ST automatic is on a personal lease until August.
Ford automatics have not had the best press of late though the one in my car is a traditional torque converter. I wanted to have the oil checked and changed if needed and a general health check before committing to buying the car.
I can buy it for a lot less than equivalent cars are currently advertised for. I can buy it and keep it or flip it depending on what takes my fancy.

Interesting chat with the owner of the transmission shop regarding auto gearbox oil. He said the oil he stocks has a shelf life of four years. Kind of put into perspective this sealed for life nonsense.

Nothing electric really taking my fancy at the moment. We have one EV already, my Focus is petrol Euro VI so should be good to see out this decade before being cast as a pariah, the Volvo is diesel Euro V, fast becoming a fart in a spacesuit welcome. I'll get it the equivalent of the local MOT and punt it this year. It's still a good car, it needs to be used.

With the rise in car prices over the last couple of years, anyone who bought between 2018 and 2020/early 2021 will enjoy near zero depreciation at the moment.

The list price of my car in its current spec has gone up over 5k, for an old school petrol.

Edit: forgot to add the gearbox got an extremely clean bill of health. The oil was absolutely fine and the level was spot on.
I was concerned it had been cooked after one particularly long, slow, hot journey a while back. No point asking a main dealer to do the check, I asked Volvo when that car was four years old, the dealer looked shocked when I asked them to change the oil in the manual gearbox. I ended up at an independent, you can't give some workshops work.