Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Another senior appointment

Controversial view perhaps, but if it wasn’t for the CX platform, I wouldn’t have bought a Morgan. There are many reasons why but since this thread has gone far off topic - understandably in some ways - I thought I’d add my two pence. In my line of work I see a so many occasions in which so many people are rooted in the constraints of what was done before, anchored to the way it was always done and without the ability to break free of this to rapidly scale, to deliver new products or to disrupt new markets. I suspect the new Chief of Staff is there to help determine where those anchors are, to break those anchoring constraints and deliver new initiatives drive the strategic change objectives that Morgan must do to be successful. Quality improvements, new product launches, supplier management, whatever; the role of chief of staff is to be both a truth seeker and an enabler. Good luck to him. I’m excited about the future and this does nothing to dampen my spirits, far from it. But then I could well be proved wrong, so well before that comes true, a rant of sorts and a wish follows…

I could wax lyrical about the opportunities Morgan has to adopt all manner of engineering innovations and technology, but obviously I do so from a perch that does not need to worry about fundamental issues like supply chains and costs. Yet I suspect the reality is in order to meet regulations and growing expectations from a new era of customers, of which I’m very much one, they’ll have to do just that (at least some extent). That does not take away anything from the past or the role of the trad, far from it; Morgan’s history has underpinned what it is today and it has many, many fans, old and new. I for one - and I’m not alone based on conversations I’ve had with people my age (early 40s) and much younger - remain fascinated by this wonderful blend of old and new, of craft and of modern dynamics, of usability and compromises, of charm and efficiency. Maybe, just maybe, there’s enough of us globally to not just maintain this brand we all love, quirks and all, to not just support a static or diminishing community as it is today, but to sustainably progress and create a new chapter for the next “March of Progress” book in 3, 5, 10, and 20 years time.

So if anyone from Morgan is reading - please, please, please build Super Four. Make it dynamically superior to anything else you’ve done before, make it go down the road with the delicacy and fluidity of the A110, give it bothcharacter and polish that comes from a focus on development, make it raspy and rorty despite the need for GPF compliant exhausts, give it way better ratios and a great gearbox, make it modern and customisable, make it so the doors shut properly (I know I know - it’s called charm when they don’t), but most of all… make it a landmark car in your history. Make it celebrated, revered and recognisable -the future of Morgan is not in the past, it’s in the progress and in the future. So let’s make it.

MattB, An impassioned and worthy post from the new brigade, thank you for the contribution.

Could I offer some thoughts on a couple of aspects of your posts?

“deliver new initiatives drive the strategic change objectives that Morgan must do to be successful. Quality improvements, new product launches, supplier management, whatever; the role of chief of staff is to be both a truth seeker and an enabler”.

Isn’t that Massimo’s job?

Maybe Nick is there to reinforce a policy of change that is clearly needed across a range of product quality and customer engagement issues as the shareholder looks to clear out ”deadwood” and entrenched behaviour.
I must confess his current title sounds more like "Manager - Office Blinds & Airconditioning".

“Make it celebrated, revered and recognizable”

I suggest the 4/4 has already achieved that. It was the longest-running production car in the world with a shape and style that has run since 1936. Its DND is very clearly on display in the new CX range. The issue is not necessarily product but process....

Interesting exchanges, but the clock is ticking on the internal combustion engine at the heart of the classic and CX models, which will cease to be sold from 2030 in the UK. Already we are seeing eg Volvo in Australia is ceasing to sell internal combustion engine models from 2026 much earlier than people expect, ,as the economics of internal combustion engines is diminishing. The movement away the the IC engine will grow apace in the coming years.

So the question you have to ask yourself would you buy an EV Morgan, especially from a company that will adopt the technology quite late in the evolutionary cycle and has relatively small development budgets! Not just from the engineering prospective but also the critical driver satisfaction and driving characteristic of the current range offers.

Anyone who has driven an EV (eg, Tesla) knows that "Driver Involvement" is very low on the list of design priorities, so I don't see how future Morgan EVs will be any worse TBH.

An EV Morgan? ..... such a personal thing ..... failing petrol stations lasting or synthetic fuel .... If I was faced with losing the Morgan I own completely I could see me being attatched enough to it to do an EV conversion just out of sentimentality.

Would I buy a new EV Morgan .... probably not ... well, not a 'trad-shaped' CX one ... it would have strayed too far for me to suspend my disbelief and would no longer have the 'vintage connection' that attracts me.

I could however see myself in an EV super3 (or, even better super4 as per the mock-ups on here) .... where it was a stand-alone interesting and quirky offering from a 100+ year old Company.

K

Yep, I'm the same - I fully intend to keep my current Mog until death do us part - I would never put myself in massive hock again for another car and there's not many out there that are driving a car that their Grandad had a hand in building. So if an EV conversion is the only option, I'd probably go for that.

I imagine in a few years there'll be some fairly reasonably priced DIY conversion kits (a bit like LPG conversions) that you could fit yourself and then get an insurance sign off by an authorised electrical engineer or similar.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion (hope!) that synthetic fuels will be the way forward, and EV's with be the BETAMAX of the car world......

Alternative fuels for the IC engine, maybe a life line but I suspect that unless it produces zero vehicle emissions it may well restrict vehicle use, as more and more of the road infrastructure and urban conurbations etc. will restrict polluting vehicles access and use.

If COP27 concept of compensation for past and current pollution takes hold, we may see an acceleration of change. Especially, as the post UK industrial revolution compensation would probably be immense.

I did read that China's CO2 output in 8 years is more than the UK total since the industrial revolution .... however, we'd pauper ourselves to be seen as the good guy while China shrugged their shoulders when it comes to compensation.

One interesting point regarding 'climate reparations' ..... are we to believe that the nations looking to be paid were never beneficiaries of the fruits of developed countries industry? ... no cars, steel, ships or consumer goods??

Back in the early days of industrialisation the UK was way and above the biggest source of CO2 (which is what often gets selectively examined in spite of the fact that was measured against what was then a pre-industrial world and has since paled into far less significance as the big polluters got into their stride) ... however, it was also the 'Workshop of the World' producing essentials like steamships and railways consumed by, and immeasurably benefiting, a Global Market.

In the same way as we acknowledge 'offshored' CO2 via extra-national production others need to acknowledge their historical 'offshored' share of ours.

K

Of course they benefitted and still do look what the British Empire and its railway infrastructure did for economic development of much of India and Africa. Strikes me a little bit of 'cake and eat it'...if we created the pollution to supply your infrastructure, you are the ultimate beneficiary and consumer therefore here's your allocation of the portion of the past pollution created by it.
In fact, most of our production went overseas from cloth to heavy engineering, so here's the CO2 tab for it. In the same way the EU is considering taxing the EU end user of imported goods where in essence thru offshoring production the CO2 incurred was exported for goods made abroad but now consumed in EU.

I've read that the oil and gas offshore CO2 emissions declared are underestimated, and possibly its 3 times higher that what is currently declared. Another article suggested the Ukraine war has accelerated the use of hydrocarbons with massive development in LPG resources that we are already past the point irretrievably of keeping temp rise below 1.5 degrees above pre Industrial Revolution temps

Is it just the cynic in me but although taxing the European consumer for the CO2 emitted in their name by foreign manufacturers sounds wonderfully ethical .... it also, conveniently, makes your competitor's products less (or even not) competetive against domestic producers .... another case of protectionism dressed up as virtue?? 🙂

K