From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Pricing disagreements and lack of co-operation from tyre supplier Dunlop for a new £950 car.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 158\1\ scan0201 | |
| Date | 24th August 1938 | |
| Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} c. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} 1339 Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}5/R.24.8.38. TYRE PRICES. With reference to Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}2/E22838, perhaps we have inadvertently given the impression that we have some personal prejudice against Dunlops - this is not so, the only reason we quarrel with Dunlops is because they will not help us when it comes to a question of price. In order to produce the £950 car, we are having to get co-operation from all our past suppliers. Most of them have been very helpful, to quote only a few - Smiths Instruments, Aerolite Pistons, Stromberg Carburetters, S.U. Petrol Pumps and India Tyres. Dunlops, on the contrary, hold out on prices until they realise they are going to lose the business, and then come down. This makes a great deal of extra work for us, and puts us in an unfair position with regard to the competition we have to get in order to bring Dunlops to reason. We attach a note from Leslie which shows the Dunlop attitude of mind. For the same article Dunlops want to charge us four times the price for experimental samples and 22½% more for production quantities. Sankeys have had little business from us in the past, we have worked with Dunlops for many years. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||