British Leyland

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British Leyland
Industry Automotive
Fate Renamed
Predecessors
Successor Rover Group
Founded 1968; 50 years ago (1968)
Defunct 1986; 32 years ago (1986)
Headquarters Longbridge (Austin Rover), Birmingham
Cowley, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Key people
Products Motor vehicles
Brands
Number of employees
 250,000
Subsidiaries

British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later BL, in 1978.[1][2] It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which constituted 40 percent of the UK car market,[3] with roots going back to 1895.

Despite containing profitable marques such as Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover, as well as the best-selling Mini, British Leyland had a troubled history.[4] In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group, later to become MG Rover Group, which went into administration in 2005, bringing mass car production by British-owned manufacturers to an end. MG and the Austin, Morris and Wolseley marques became part of China's SAIC, with whom MG Rover attempted to merge prior to administration.

Today, Mini, Jaguar Land Rover and Leyland Trucks (now owned by BMW Group, Tata Group and Paccar, respectively) are the three most prominent former parts of British Leyland which are still active in the automotive industry, with SAIC-owned MG Motor continuing a small presence at the Longbridge site. Certain other related ex-BL businesses, such as Unipart, continue to operate independently.

History[edit]

BLMC share

BLMC was created on 17 January 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC),[5] encouraged by Tony Benn as chairman of the Industrial Reorganisation Committee created by the Wilson Government (1964–1970).[3] At the time, LMC was a successful manufacturer, while BMH (which was the product of an earlier merger between the British Motor Corporation, Pressed Steel and Jaguar) was perilously close to collapse. The Government was hopeful LMC's expertise would revive the ailing BMH, and effectively create a "British General Motors". The merger combined most of the remaining independent British car manufacturing companies and included car, bus and truck manufacturers and more diverse enterprises including construction equipment, refrigerators, metal casting companies, road surface manufacturers; in all, nearly 100 different companies. The new corporation was arranged into seven divisions under its new chairman, Sir Donald Stokes (formerly the chairman of LMC).

1962 Austin Cambridge

While BMH was the UK's largest car manufacturer (producing over twice as many cars as LMC), it offered a range of dated vehicles, including the Morris Minor which was introduced in 1948 and the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, which dated back to 1959. Although BMH had enjoyed great success in the 1960s with both the Mini and the 1100/1300, both cars were infamously underpriced and despite their pioneering but unproven front wheel drive engineering, warranty costs had been crippling and had badly eroded those models' profitability.

After the merger, Lord Stokes was horrified to find that BMH had no plans to replace the elderly designs in its portfolio. Also, BMH's design efforts immediately prior to the merger had focused on unfortunate niche market models such as the Austin Maxi (which was underdeveloped and with an appearance hampered by using the doors from the larger Austin 1800) and the Austin 3 litre, a car with no discernible place in the market.

Triumph GT6 Mk III

The lack of attention to the development of new mass-market models meant that BMH had nothing in the way of new models in the pipeline to compete effectively with popular rivals such as Ford's Escort and Cortina.

Immediately, Lord Stokes instigated plans to design and introduce new models quickly. The first result of this crash programme was the Morris Marina in early 1971. It used parts from various BL models with new bodywork to produce BL's mass-market competitor. It was one of the strongest-selling cars in Britain during the 1970s, although by the end of production in 1980 it was widely regarded as a dismal product that had damaged the company's reputation. The Austin Allegro (replacement for the 1100/1300 ranges), launched in 1973, earned a similarly unwanted reputation over its 10-year production life.

1975 Austin 1800

The company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued Britain in the 1970s. Industrial action instigated by militant shop stewards frequently brought BL's manufacturing capability to its knees. Despite the duplication of production facilities as a result of the merger, there were multiple single points of failure in the company's production network which meant that a strike in a single plant could stop many of the others. Both Ford and General Motors had mitigated against this years before by merging their previously separate British and German subsidiaries and product lines (Ford had created Ford of Europe, whilst GM nurtured closer collaboration between Vauxhall Motors and Opel), so that production could be sourced from either British or Continental European plants in the event of industrial unrest. The upshot was that both Ford and Vauxhall ultimately overtook BL to become Britain's two best selling marques, a title they hold to the present day[when?]. At the same time, a tide of Japanese imports, spearheaded by Nissan (Datsun) and Toyota exploited both BL's inability to supply its customers and its declining reputation for quality – by the end of the 1970s, the British government had introduced protectionist measures in the form of import quotas on Japanese manufacturers in order to protect the ailing domestic producers (both BL and Chrysler Europe), which it was helping to sustain.

At its peak, BLMC owned almost 40 manufacturing plants across the country. Even before the merger BMH had included theoretically competing marques that were in fact selling substantially similar "badge engineered" cars. The British Motor Corporation had never properly integrated either the dealer networks or the production facilities of Austin and Morris. This had been done partly to appease poor industrial relations - workers at Cowley for example still perceived themselves as "Morris" employees and still, therefore they refused to assemble cars badged as Austins, and the converse was true at the former Austin plant at Longbridge. The upshot was that both plants were producing badge engineered models of otherwise identical cars so that each network would have a product to sell. This meant that Austin and Morris still, to an extent, competed with each other and meant that each product was saddled with effectively twice the logistics, marketing and distribution costs that it would have if sold under a single name or if production of a single model platform was concentrated in one factory. Although BL did eventually end the wasteful double sourcing - for example production of the Mini and the 1100/1300 was concentrated at Longbridge, whilst the 1800 and Austin Maxi ranges moved to Cowley, the production of sub assemblies as well as component suppliers were scattered all over the Midlands which greatly increased the cost of keeping the factories running.

BMH and Leyland Motors had expanded and acquired companies throughout the 1950s and 1960s in order to compete with one other, with the result that when the two conglomerates were brought together into BL there was even more internal competition. Rover competed with Jaguar at the expensive end of the market, and Triumph with its family cars and sports cars against Austin, Morris and MG. Internal politics became so bad that one marque's team would attempt to derail another marque's programs.[6]

Individual model lines that were similarly sized were therefore competing against each other, yet were never discontinued nor were model ranges rationalised quickly enough; in fact the policy of having multiple models competing in the same market segment continued long after the merger – for instance BMH's MGB remained in production alongside LMC's Triumph TR6, the Rover P5 competed with the Jaguar XJ, whilst in the medium family sector, the Princess was in direct competition with upscale versions of the Morris Marina and cheaper versions of the Austin Maxi, meaning that economies of scale resulting from large production runs could never be realised. In addition, in consequent attempts to establish British Leyland as a brand in consumers' minds in and outside the UK, print ads and spots were produced, causing confusion rather than attraction for buyers.

BL marketing and management attempted to draw more obvious distinctions between the marques – most notable was the decision to pitch Morris as a maker of conventional mass-market cars to compete with Ford and Vauxhall and Austin to continue BMC's line of advanced family cars with front-wheel drive and fluid suspension. This resulted in the Morris Marina and the Austin Allegro. The policy's success was mixed. Since the dealership network was still not sufficiently rationalised it meant that Austin and Morris dealers (which had, in BMC/BMH days, each offered a full range of cars both advanced and traditional) had their product range halved and found that they could no longer cater to many previously loyal customers' tastes. The policy was also carried out haphazardly: The advanced, Hydragas-sprung Princess began life in 1975 sold as an Austin, a Morris and a Wolseley before being rebadged altogether under the new Princess name. The Princess (and the Mini, which BL also turned into a marque in its own right) was sold across the Austin-Morris dealership network, making any distinction between the two even more vague to many customers.

The company also wasted many of its scant funds on concepts, like the Rover P8 or P9,[7] that would never be produced to earn money for the company.

These internal issues, which were never satisfactorily solved, combined with serious industrial relations problems (with trade unions), the 1973 oil crisis, the three-day week, high inflation and ineffectual management meant that BL became an unmanageable and financially crippled behemoth which went bankrupt in 1975.

1970s restructuring[edit]

1976 Leyland National
British Leyland 270 tractor fitted with aftermarket loader in the USA.

Sir Don Ryder was asked to undertake an enquiry into the position of the company, and his report was presented to the government in April 1975. Following Ryder's recommendations, the organisation was drastically restructured and the Labour Government created a new holding company, British Leyland Limited (BL), of which it was the major shareholder, effectively nationalising the company.[8] Between 1975 and 1980, these shares were vested in the National Enterprise Board which had responsibility for managing this investment. The company was reorganised into four divisions:[9]

  • Leyland Cars – the largest car manufacturer in the UK, employing some 128,000 people at 36 locations, and with a production capacity of one million vehicles per year.
  • Leyland Truck and Bus – the largest commercial and passenger vehicle manufacturer in the UK, employing 31,000 people at 12 locations, producing 38,000 trucks, 8,000 buses (including a joint venture with the National Bus Company), and 19,000 tractors per year. The tractors were based on the Nuffield designs, but built in a plant in Bathgate, Scotland.
  • Leyland Special Products – the miscellaneous collection of other acquired businesses, itself structured into five sub-divisions:
  • Leyland International – responsible for the export of cars, trucks and buses, and responsible for manufacturing plants in Africa, India and Australia, employing 18,000 people
1977 Rover SD1

There was positive news for BL at the end of 1976 when its new Rover SD1 executive car was voted European Car of the Year, having gained plaudits for its innovative design. The SD1 was actually the first step that British Leyland took towards rationalising its passenger car ranges, as it replaced two cars competing in the same sector, the Rover P6 and Triumph 2000. More positive news for the company came at the end of 1976 with the approval by Industry Minister Eric Varley of a £140 million investment of public money in refitting the Longbridge plant for production of the company's "ADO88" (Mini replacement), due for launch in 1979.[10] However, poor results from customer clinics of the ADO88, coupled with the UK success of the Ford Fiesta, launched in 1976, forced a snap redesign of ADO88 which evolved into the "LC8" project – eventually launched as the Austin Mini Metro in 1980.

In 1977 Sir Michael Edwardes was appointed chief executive[11] by the NEB. Edwardes quickly reversed the Ryder Report's policy of giving prominence to the "Leyland" brand, and returned focus back to the individual brands. Leyland Cars was thus renamed BL Cars Ltd, consisting of two main divisions; Austin Morris (the volume car business) and Jaguar Rover Triumph (JRT) (the specialist or upmarket division). Austin Morris included MG. Land Rover and Range Rover were later separated from JRT to form the Land Rover Group. JRT later split up into Rover-Triumph and Jaguar Car Holdings (which included Daimler). At the same time the public use of the "British Leyland" name ceased, being abbreviated simply to "BL", whilst the company's "plughole" logo was redesigned with the central "L" removed. The Austin-Morris division was given its own unique brand identity with the introduction of the blue and green "chevron" logo, which was later expanded in use when the car manufacturing operations were further consolidated into the Austin Rover Group in the 1980s.

BLCV[edit]

Coventry Climax forklift truck

In 1978 the company formed a new group for its commercial vehicle interests, BL Commercial Vehicles (BLCV) under managing director David Abell. The following companies moved under this new umbrella:

  • Leyland Vehicles Limited (trucks, tractors and buses)
  • Alvis Limited (military vehicles)
  • Coventry Climax (fork lift trucks and specialist engines)
  • Self-Changing Gears Limited (heavy-duty transmissions)

BLCV and the Land Rover Group later merged to become Land Rover Leyland.

BL Ltd[edit]

In 1979, British Leyland Ltd was renamed BL Ltd (later BL plc) and its subsidiary, which acted as a holding company for all the other companies within the group The British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd, renamed BLMC Ltd.[12]

1983 Austin Metro

BL's fortunes took another much-awaited rise in October 1980 with the launch of the Austin Metro (initially named the Mini Metro), a modern three-door hatchback which gave buyers a more modern and practical alternative to the iconic but ageing Mini. This went on to be one of the most popular cars in Britain of the 1980s. Towards the final stages of the Metro's development, BL entered into an alliance with Honda to provide a new mid-range model which would replace the ageing Triumph Dolomite, but would more crucially act as a stop-gap until the Austin Maestro and Montego were ready for launch. This car would emerge as the Triumph Acclaim in 1981, and would be the first of a long line of collaborative models jointly developed between BL and Honda.

A rationalisation of the model ranges also took place around this time. In 1980, British Leyland was still producing four cars in the large family car sector—the Princess 2, Austin Maxi, Morris Marina, and Triumph Dolomite. The Marina became the Ital in August 1980 following a superficial facelift, and a year later the Princess 2 received a major upgrade to become the Austin Ambassador, meaning that the 1982 range had just two competitors in this sector. In April 1984, these cars were discontinued to make way for a single all-new model, the Montego. The Acclaim was replaced in that same year by another Honda-based product, the Rover 200-series.

Jaguar divested and Austin Rover Group[edit]

Jaguar XJ-S

By 1982 the BL Cars Ltd division renamed itself Austin Rover Group, shortly before the launch of the Austin Maestro and Michael Edwardes was replaced by Harold Musgrove as chairman and chief executive. The emergence of the Austin Rover brand effectively put an end to the separate Austin-Morris and Jaguar-Rover-Triumph divisions, since by this time, Jaguar now resided in a separate company called Jaguar Car Holdings, and this was later de-merged from BL completely and privatised in 1984. That same year, with both the Morris Ital and the Triumph Acclaim being discontinued, their respective brands were effectively shelved, leaving only the Austin and Rover marques, whilst Land Rover moved into the Freight Rover Group alongside the light trucks division. After the divestment of Unipart and the van, truck and bus divisions in 1987 (see below), leaving just two subsidiaries - Austin Rover (volume cars) and Land Rover (SUVs) this essentially remained the basic structure of BL and subsequently the Rover Group until the 2000 break-up.


This is incorrect. Prior to leaving BL Michael Edwardes restructure the company into two distinct parts - Cars Division which consisted of Austin Morris, Rover and Jaguar. Its chief executive was Ray Horrocks. The other division was Commercial Vehicle whose chief executive was David Andrews. The CEO of Austin Morris and Rover was Harold Musgrove. John Egan was the CEO of Jaguar which was privatised in 1984. When Michael Edwardes left the company in October 1982 his role as chairman of BL Ltd was taken on by Sir Austin Bide in a non executive capacity. This amendment is submitted by John McKay, Communications Director of BL Ltd 1977-1982.

Rover Group sale[edit]

1988 Range Rover

In 1986 Graham Day took the helm as chairman and CEO and the third joint Rover-Honda vehicle – the Rover 800-series – was launched which replaced the 10-year-old Rover SD1. Around the same time, BL changed its name to Rover Group and in 1987 the Trucks Division – Leyland Vehicles merged with the Dutch DAF company to form DAF NV, trading as Leyland DAF in the UK and as DAF in the Netherlands. In 1987 the bus business was spun off into a new company called Leyland Bus. This was the result of a management buyout who decided to sell the company to the Bus & Truck division of Volvo in 1988.[citation needed]That same year, the British government controversially tried to re-privatise and sell-off Land Rover, however this plan was later abandoned. 1987 saw the Austin name dropped on the Metro, Maestro and Montego, signalling the end for the historic Austin marque, in a push to focus on the more prestigious (and potentially more profitable) Rover badge. In 1988 the business was sold by the British Government to British Aerospace (BAe), and shortly after shortened its name to just Rover Group. They subsequently sold the business to BMW, which, after initially seeking to retain the whole business, decided to only retain the Cowley operations for MINI production and close the Longbridge factory. Longbridge, along with the Rover and MG marques, was taken on by MG Rover which went into administration in April 2005.

1985 Leyland T45 Cruiser

Many of the brands were divested over time and continue to exist on the books of several companies to this day.[citation needed]

Ashok Leyland[edit]

A present-day Ashok Leyland Truck in India

Until the 1980s, the Leyland name and logo were seen as a recognised and respected marque across India, the wider subcontinent and parts of Africa in the form of Ashok Leyland, a company formed from the partnership of the Ashok group and British Leyland. However, now the Leyland logo is no longer used and the company has been largely Indian in its owning for over three decades. Now a part of the giant Hinduja Group, Ashok Leyland manufactures buses, trucks, defence vehicles and engines. The company is a leader in the heavy transportation sector within India and has an aggressive expansionary policy. Ironically, since 1987, when the London-based Hinduja Group bought the Indian-based Ashok Leyland company. Today, Ashok-Leyland is pursuing a joint venture with Nissan and through its acquisition of the Czech truck maker, Avia, is entering the European truck market directly. With its purchase, in 2010, of a 25 per cent stake in UK-based bus manufacturer Optare, Ashok Leyland has taken a step closer to reconnecting with its British heritage, as Optare is a direct descendant of Leyland's UK bus-making division.

During the time of British Leyland's transition into Austin Rover during the 1980s, a version of the Rover SD1 was licence built in India as the Standard 2000 from 1985 to 1988, briefly reviving the Standard brand which had been axed in 1968.[13]

British Leyland also provided the technical know-how and the rights to their Leyland 28 BHP tractor for Auto Tractors Limited, a tractor plant in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Established in 1981 with state support, ATL only managed to build 2,380 tractors by the time the project was ended in 1990 – less than the planned production for the first two years.[14] The project ended up being taken over by Sipani, who kept producing tractor engines and also a small number of tractors with some modest success.[15]

Timelines[edit]

British Leyland – car companies and marques
Marque 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Jaguar SS Cars Jaguar Jaguar
&
Daimler 		BMH BLMC / British Leyland Jaguar
&
Daimler 		Ford (PAG) Tata
Daimler Daimler BSA BSA
Lanchester Lanchester
Rover Rover Company Rover Company Rover Company Austin Rover Group
&
Land Rover Group (BL plc) 		Rover Group (BAe) Rover Group
(BMW) 		MG Rover Group (PVH)
Land Rover Ford (PAG)
Alvis Alvis BAE Systems
Standard Standard Standard Triumph Leyland Motors British Motor Heritage
Triumph Dawson Triumph BMW
Riley Riley Nuffield Organisation BMC BMH
MG Morris Garages (MG) Rover Group
(BMW) 		MG Rover Group (PVH) SAIC
&
NAC 		SAIC
Morris Morris Morris
Wolseley Wolseley
Austin Austin Austin
Vanden Plas Vanden Plas
Mini BMW
Princess BMC BLMC / British Leyland
Austin-Healey Austin (BMC) & Donald Healey
Marque 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Notes for the timeline table[edit]

  • The car brands of BSA were divested, BSA was not merged into Jaguar.
  • Mini was not originally a marque in its own right. See Mini and MINI (BMW) for more detail.
  • The BMC trademark is registered (1564704, E1118348) to MG Rover Group Ltd in the UK. BMC is also the name of a commercial vehicle manufacturer in Turkey, formerly the Turkish subsidiary of the British Motor Corporation. It is believed that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the brand has not been reassigned as of 17 July 2006.
  • The Wolseley trademark is registered (UK 1490228) to MG Rover Group Ltd for automobiles only. It is believed that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the brand has not been reassigned as of July 2006 to a different company. The UK building materials supplier Wolseley plc owns the rights to the Wolseley name for all other purposes. Wolseley plc is a descendant of the original Wolseley company.
  • The Vanden Plas trademark is owned by Ford (through Jaguar) for use within the USA and Canada, and as (UK 1133528, E2654481) to MG Rover Group Ltd for use in the rest of the world. It is believed that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the trademark has not been recorded as reassigned as of 17 July 2006. This is why Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas models are branded as Daimlers in Britain. The last Rover to use the Vanden Plas name was the Rover 75 Vanden Plas, a long wheelbase limousine model.
  • The Rover trademark was owned by BMW and was only licensed to MG Rover Group Ltd. BMW sold the brand to Ford in September 2006.
  • Alvis was purchased from British Leyland by United Scientific Holdings plc in 1981, in 2002 Alvis merged with part of Vickers Defence Systems to form Alvis Vickers which was purchased by BAE Systems in 2004. BAE Systems did not acquire Alvis through their ownership of the Rover Group in the early 1990s. Production of Alvis branded cars ceased in 1967. The trademark is owned by Alvis Vehicles Ltd.
  • The use of the Triumph name as a trademark for vehicles is shared between BMW and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The former for automobiles and the latter for motorcycles. The motorcycle and car business separated in the 1930s.

Merged companies[edit]

The car firms (and car brands) which eventually merged to form the company are as follows.

The dates given are those of the first car of each name, but these are often debatable as each car may be several years in development.

Other merger events[edit]

Several of these names (including Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini) are now in other hands. The history of the mergers and other key events is as follows:

Divestments[edit]

  • 1969 The last Riley Elf, 1300, and 4/72 models were built, thus ending the Riley marque
  • 1975 Innocenti passed to Alejandro de Tomaso
  • 1975 The final Wolseley, a Saloon, is built, thus ending the Wolseley marque
  • 1978 A further reorganisation sees Land Rover being separated from Rover, and established as a standalone company within BL. Leyland Cars Ltd is renamed BL Cars Ltd, and is split into two divisions – Austin Morris and Jaguar Rover Triumph.
  • 1979 Collaboration with Honda begins, sacking of Derek Robinson ("Red Robbo")
  • 1978 Closure of Triumph assembly plant in Speke – production moved to Canley
  • 1980 Closure of MG and Triumph assembly plants in Abingdon and Canley
  • 1980 Vanden Plas is discontinued as a marque name but remains as a trim level name on selected models of other marques.[16]
  • 1981 Closure of Rover-Triumph plant in Solihull. The first joint venture car with Honda - the Triumph Acclaim, goes into production at Cowley.
  • 1981 Alvis sold to United Scientific Holdings and Alvis plc formed
  • 1981 Prestcold, the industrial refrigerator manufacturer is sold to Suter plc. Assets ultimately now owned by Emerson Electric.
  • 1982 Coventry Climax is de-merged and becomes a standalone company.
  • 1982 The Princess marque, launched in 1975, is discontinued upon the launch of the Austin Ambassador
  • 1982 Michael Edwardes steps down as chairman; BL Cars Ltd renamed Austin Rover Group (ARG)
  • 1982 Leyland Tractors sold to Marshall Tractors, tractor production at Bathgate assembly plant ends
  • 1982 Production of British Leyland cars ceases in New Zealand
  • 1983 Closure of Bristol bus plant, production transferred to Leyland National plant at Workington
  • 1984 Morris Ital goes out of production, signalling the end of the Morris badge
  • 1984 Jaguar floated off (including Daimler and the US rights to Vanden Plas); bought by Ford in 1989
  • 1984 Final Triumph Acclaim rolls off the production line, ending the Triumph name
  • 1985 Closure of Bathgate truck assembly plant. Bathgate narrowly avoided a shut down in 1981, but instead became responsible for engine production and export market trucks. Leyland's truck exports then proceeded to collapse as oil prices dropped, making the end inevitable.[17]
  • 1986 BL plc renamed Rover Group plc, Austin badges disappear the following year
  • 1986 Leyland Bus floated off; bought by Volvo in 1988
  • 1987 Leyland Trucks division (including Freight Rover vans) merged with DAF to form DAF NV/Leyland DAF. Vans became independent as LDV in 1993, as did Trucks as Leyland Trucks. Leyland Trucks was taken over by US giant PACCAR in 1998 and integrated with Foden.
  • 1987 Unipart, BL's spare parts division, acquired by management buy-out
  • 1988 Rover Group plc is privatised; sold to British Aerospace, and renames itself Rover Group Car Holdings Ltd; its two remaining subsidiaries being Austin Rover and Land Rover.
  • 1989 The mass market car subsidiary, still named Austin Rover Group Ltd, shortens its name to simply Rover Group Ltd - thus ending the use of the Austin brand in the public domain.
  • 1994 Rover Group Car Holdings Ltd sold to BMW, collaboration with Honda ends
  • 1994 Maestro and Montego go out of production.
  • 1998 Metro/100-series goes out of production – the last of the former Austin models.
  • 2000 BMW decides to break up and sell the Rover empire; Land Rover sold to Ford
  • 2000 Mini, Triumph, and Riley trademarks retained by BMW, but BMW's other interests sold off
  • 2000 Remainder of company became independent as the MG Rover Group
  • 2007 MG Rover goes into administration with huge debts, and its assets are taken over by Nanjing Automobile (Nanjing Automobile Corporation, NAC).
  • 2007 SAIC takes over NAC and relaunches production at Longbridge.
  • 2006 Ford acquires the rights to the Rover brand name from BMW, though without any immediate plans for using it on production cars.[18]
  • 2008 Ford completes the sale of Jaguar, Rover and Land Rover to Tata Motors, of India

Notable BL and BMC and related models[edit]

A small British Leyland badge on one of their many products.
Cars manufactured by BMC, BMH and British Leyland 1955–1979
Car type 1950s 1960s 1970s
5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Group name British Motor Corporation BMH British Leyland Motor Corporation British Leyland (BL)
City car Austin Se7en / Morris Mini-Minor / Wolseley Hornet / Riley Elf / Mini
Small family Morris Minor
Austin A35
Riley 1.5 / Wolseley 1500
Austin A40 Farina
Austin 1100/1300 / Morris 1100/1300
Triumph Herald
Triumph 1300 Triumph Toledo
Austin Allegro
Large family Austin Cambridge
Morris Oxford series II / Morris Oxford series III / Morris Oxford Farina Leyland Princess
Austin 1800/2200 / Morris 1800/2200
Austin Maxi
Triumph 1500
Morris Marina
Executive Jaguar XJ6
Triumph 2000
Rover P6 Rover SD1
Austin 3-Litre
Triumph Dolomite
Limousine Daimler DS420
Sports MG Midget
MG MGB
Jaguar E-Type Jaguar XJS
Triumph Spitfire
Triumph TR6
Triumph Stag
Triumph TR7
Off-road Land Rover
Range Rover

Competing models[edit]

In some cases, British Leyland continued to produce competing models from the merged companies at different sites for many years. However, any benefits from the broader number of models were far outweighed by higher development costs and greatly reduced economies of scale.

Sadly, potential benefits associated with rationalising parts usage were lost, as for example, the company made two completely different 1.3-litre engines (BMC A series and the Triumph 1.3-litre), two different 1.5-litre engines (BMC E series and Triumph), four different 2-litre engines (4-cylinder O series, 4-cylinder Triumph Dolomite, 4-cylinder Rover and 6-cylinder Triumph) and two completely different V8 engines (Triumph OHC 3-litre V8 and Rover 3.5-litre V8).

Examples of competing cars were:

Badge-engineered models[edit]

In contrast to the continued development of competing models, British Leyland continued the practice of badge engineering of models which had started under BMC; selling essentially the same vehicle under two (or more) different marques.

Factories[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Volume car production plants[edit]

  • Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The MG sports car plant. Closed in 1980 and some of the site was demolished for redevelopment
  • Birmingham Adderley Park. Originally the main Wolseley assembly plant (until 1927), then the main Morris Commercial assembly plant, latterly for vans only. Closed in 1972, when van assembly transferred to nearby Common Lane.
  • Birmingham Acocks Green, Rover engine and transmissions plant.
  • Birmingham Castle Bromwich, Former Fisher and Ludlow body plant, acquired by BMC in 1953. Functioned as body plant for Mini and Jaguar models, employing c9,000 workers in the 1970s, Plant taken over completely by Jaguar in 1977, and became the main Jaguar assembly plant after the closure of the Browns Lane Coventry plant in 2005. The plant still employs 2000 workers.
  • Birmingham Cofton Hackett, Engine plant built in 1968 adjacent to Longbridge to produce the E-Series engine for the Austin Maxi and later the Allegro. Became part of Rover Powertrain following the creation of MG Rover in 2000, but was closed and demolished following the 2005 collapse.
  • Birmingham Drews Lane / Common Lane. Also known as the Ward End works. The Plant dates from 1913 and was built by Electric & Ordnance Accessories, a subsidiary of Vickers. Was then a Wolseley assembly plant (until 1948), later a component plant, and in 1968 the Austin-Morris Division's transmission plant. In 1972 it became BLMC's main van assembly plant. Van production was suspended in 2008 and did not resume, due to the collapse of the LDV Group. The plant was subsequently demolished for redevelopment.
  • Birmingham Garrison Street, Bordesley Green, c800 workers making Triumph components. Closed
  • Birmingham Longbridge. Originally the Austin plant, and at one time the largest manufacturing plant in the world. The largest British car plant in the 1970s, employing c25,000 workers and famous as the home of the Mini. Closed upon the collapse of MG Rover in 2005. Two-thirds of the plant has now been demolished and cleared for new uses. Successor Nanjing restarted limited car assembly on a much smaller scale for the MG TF but stopped production in 2016 and is now the R&D centre for Nanjing.
  • Birmingham SU Carburettors. Bought by Morris and established at Washwood Heath, making fuel pumps and carburettors (c1300 workers). Closed early 1980s
  • Birmingham Tyseley, Rover engine and transmission plant, employing c4,000 workers in the 1970s. Closed mid-1980s
  • Cardiff. Opened by Rover in 1964 to manufacture transmissions and axles for Rover and Land Rover vehicles. Closed in November 1984, following major rationalisation of production facilities within the Austin Rover Group. All facilities corresponding to Land Rover output were transferred to Solihull East Works on cessation of Rover SD1 production.
  • Cowley, Oxford. Formerly comprising the main Morris plant and the Pressed Steel body plant, and one of the largest British car production sites throughout the BLMC era. In 1993 the original Morris plant was sold to developers and demolished, with car production being concentrated on the former Pressed Steel site which is now owned by BMW and used for assembly of the modern Mini.[20]
  • Coventry Courthouse Green engine plant. Formerly Morris Engines Ltd., closed late 1981. The original Gosford Street building is now the Coventry University Business School's William Morris Building.
  • Coventry Browns Lane. Originally a World War II Shadow factory, built for Daimler, which subsequently became the main Jaguar assembly plant. Closed by Ford in 2005. It was demolished and is now a housing development.
  • Coventry Canley. Originally owned by Standard, latterly the main Triumph car plant and the largest factory in the city. Closed in 1980. Plant demolished in 1993 and sold for redevelopment.
  • Coventry Radford. Former Daimler plant. Bus chassis assembly transferred to Leyland 1973, subsequently the Jaguar engine and axle plant. Closed by Ford in the late 1990s.
  • Leicester Rearsby Components plant, formerly the assembly plant for Auster Aircraft. Closed by British Leyland in 1981, subject to a management buyout, passed to Adwest and closed in 2003.
  • Liverpool Speke. Former Hall Engineering Group car body plant purchased by Standard-Triumph in 1959 (Speke No.1), plus new Triumph assembly plant opened in 1970 (Speke No.2). No.2 plant became the first major British BLMC car assembly plant to close, in 1978. No.1 plant continued to produce bodies for assembly at Canley until closure in 1981. The site was later demolished and is now a supermarket.
  • Llanelli. Radiator and pressings plant opened in the early 1960s, employing c 4,000 workers in the 1970s.Now owned by Calsonic Llanelli Radiators
  • Solihull, West Midlands. The former Rover plant. Became a Land Rover-only plant in 1981 when Rover SD1 production was moved to the Cowley plant. Survives as a Jaguar Land Rover plant, now owned by TATA Motors.
  • Swindon. Former Pressed Steel Company bodywork plant, now owned by BMW for manufacture of Mini body panels.

Truck and bus plants[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ A Catalogue of the Papers of Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd
  2. ^ British Leyland Motor Corporation, Ltd. – Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  3. ^ a b "The politics of building cars". BBC News. 7 April 2005. Retrieved 27 April 2010. 
  4. ^ Austin Rover Online Archived 30 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Pilkington, Alan (1996), Transforming Rover, Renewal against the Odds, 1981–94, Bristol: Bristol Academic Press, p. 199, ISBN 0-9513762-3-3 
  6. ^ https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/news/comment/2013-08/prototype-rover-p8-and-p9/
  7. ^ http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/concepts/concepts-and-prototypes/concepts-rover-p8p9/
  8. ^ http://civitas.org.uk/newblog/2013/06/was-british-leyland-really-an-industrial-policy-disaster-2/
  9. ^ BL Booklet – Graduate opportunities with British Leyland
  10. ^ "MotorWeek: Mini Go-ahead". Motor: 19. 11 December 1976. 
  11. ^ Michael Edwardes arrives Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ – Leyland Truck & Bus Archived 8 October 2003 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ Bajaj, J.L. (1994-08-27). "Divesting State Ownership: A Tale of Two Companies". Economic and Political Weekly. Mumbai, India: Sameeksha Trust. 29 (35): M-126. 
  15. ^ Bajaj, p. M-127.
  16. ^ A resume of the origin and life of Vanden Plas, www.vpoc.info Retrieved 11 July 2015
  17. ^ Kent, Gordon (September 1983). Kennett, Pat, ed. "Intertruck: Britain". TRUCK. London, UK: FF Publishing Ltd: 23. 
  18. ^ "Rover brand name passes to Ford". BBC. 19 September 2006. 
  19. ^ British Car Linage Archived 14 November 2003 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ^ Bardsley, Gillian; Laing, Stephen. Making Cars at Cowley. Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-3902-2. 

External links[edit]

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