10.10.2004, 10:20
Jetzt ist also der GKN Anteil an AgustaWestland verkauft, Westland hat aber noch gute Chancen weiterhin viel zu produzieren, Süd-Korea, Belgien, Großbritannien, Indien und die USA sind nur ein paar der EH101 Verkaufsmöglichkeiten, für MASC ist der EH101 AEW Favorit (zirka 14 Stück benötigt), mit dem Future Lynx sollte Westland eignetlich einen großen UK Auftrag kriegen (80 Stück?).
Zitat:Helicopter sale given green lighthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3728958.stm
Westland makes Apache and Lynx helicopters
The government has given the go-ahead for the £1.06bn sale of Yeovil-based helicopter maker AgustaWestland.
GKN's disposal of its 50% stake in Agusta to Italian partner Finmeccanica is not to be investigated by the Competition Commission, it was decided.
The deal signals the end of British ownership in the helicopter industry.
But the government says Agusta's production of military helicopters for the UK must remain under the control of a UK-registered company.
In the absence of any UK bidders, there was nothing we could do
Arthur Taylor
Amicus
This means Finmeccanica would have to have government approval before selling off or winding up the defence-related assets of AgustaWestland.
Arthur Taylor, regional secretary of the union Amicus for the South West, told BBC News Online: "We are in talks with Westland and Finemeccanica to secure as many jobs as possible and make sure the site has a future.
"There was no point in opposing this: it has been on the cards for a long time and in the absence of any UK bidders, there was nothing we could do."
"We are waiting for orders from the government now.
"We need the Future Lynx [helicopter] contract as the site is in danger without it and we have been putting pressure on Geoff Hoon about this."
Heseltine row
GKN says the sale will allow it to concentrate on its car components business, and other aerospace activities.
Before Westland merged with Agusta in 2000, the company was at the centre of a political storm.
The Westland affair in the mid-1980s led to the resignation of former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine.
Mr Heseltine quit Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet following a row over a rescue package for the company which was suffering from serious financial problems.
The company survived and Westland and Agusta joined together, creating a business with an order book totalling £5.33bn.
The factory in Yeovil employs more than 4,000 people.