The British Car Industry

[@DavidSmith-ze2wi]

I worked for British Leyland from 1966 until the 80s. What a chaotic affair. The engines were ancient, the body designs were cobbled together using existing panels they though would fit to save money. We had almost monthly management changes. The machinery where I worked had war department on them and most were worn out from the war years. The workforce were largely disaffected and most of us knew we were on a sinking ship. Ghastly time.

[@tomhermens7698]

I had many breakdowns on a rover in the 1970's Swore I would never buy another British car. I haven't and I have been happy ever since that decision!!!!

[@mikethespike7579]

It used to be said that the VW Beetle is the first car in the UK that could be driven all the way from London to Edinburgh without breaking down.

[@bruceburns1672]

True , I live in Australia and had Morris and Volkswagen cars in my young surfing days , the British cars were absolute junk in comparison , all the board riders had Volkswagens because they were indestructible , meanwhile British cars disappeared when the Japanese invasion came , that would have been worldwide also , same with the motorbike industry .

[@shadeburst]

Why did the Beetle have twin exhaust pipes? So that when it broke down you could pick it up like a wheelbarrow and push it.

[@bitterspice5525]

Probably the first that could drive from Glasgow to Edinburgh. My dad had company cars and the Rovers were trash.

[@AJ-qn6gd]

@@shadeburst if it broke down, IF not when !

[@edgarbeat2851]

I drove my beetle 1956 34hp to Belgium, France, Germany Hessisc, back to Belgium then back up to the Netherlands in 2009. Back in 2007 to Bad Camberg . In-between those years, all I did was change the oil and set tappets. I own a mini van. No way would I do that trip in an Austin mini. The beetle was key word Developed for its invroment. Key being matched gearing, over square meaning low piston speed less friction. I am 39.

[@andycampbell4102]

It's often said the BMW taught austin/rover how to make a car. It was infact honda, primarily with the acclaim. In the earlier 80's Leyland service departments were shocked by the reduction in warranty claims for the acclaim. Not to mention not seeing the vehicle from one year to the next for annual servicing.

[@mudskipper0075]

Honda we’re treated like shit by Rover ,BMW should never have had a sniff at ownership…

[@ianmilleris]

@@mudskipper0075 I think you are right. The Honda partnership gave Rover some decent cars and decent engines - they’d been using ancient engines or American ones. No real investment and no long term planning. Probably doomed due to all the factories being scaled up ‘workshops’ rather than modern production lines.

[@georgebisacre9413]

In the 1980's I used to deliver silencers to Land Rover in the Midlands and it was hard work I used to tell drivers to take a book with them, Delivering to the night shift was nt too bad untill midnight, after that it didnt happen quickly

[@davidluck4608]

I served an apprenticeship and worked at AEC (ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT COMPANY) of Southall Middlesex between 1969 and 1976. Another one of the problems with BL was that they should have had the cars and commercial vehicles as two separate entities. AEC’s order books were full and they had a loyal customer base, yet “stokes” closed down a highly respected and viable custom manufacturer of Lorries and Buses. Yet it seems to be the same throughout British industry to take over the opposition and then close them down. Better to remain a family business free of the stock exchange😇

[@gpo746]

Austin Rover ditched the Triumph Acclaim after 3 years , It was only a stop gap car to replace the Allegro . The Acclaim was a wonderful car , only to be replaced by the Maestro and Montego. Both horrible rot boxes .

[@gemspotting6252]

Acclaims I rotted like buggery too - the maestro and montego were very underrated cars - like with all Leyland cars, woeful early quality problems plagued both - within 3years of the launch, AR had got their act together and both had evolved into decent machines - but then, the same can be said for the allegro, the metro, the SD1, the princess etc etc - not the marina though - that was shite from day 1 lol

[@hannahmillington5781]

Alternative names for "British Car Industry" - "San Marino Football Team", "Saddam Hussein Hiding Techniques", "Tasty Low Fat Food", "Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbour"

[@colinsmith6494]

My dad brought a cream coloured montego it was only 12 months old on the way back from the showroom it overheated he took it back the next day and paid the extra money for a Sierra and never had any problems with it

[@sutherlandA1]

14:22 the cavalier estate used panels stamped in Australia also, in exchange Vauxhall sent back chevette wagon and van panels for use in the Holden Gemini

[@tomfinney6498]

Shocking stuff!! I served my time as a mechsnic , not just a 'fitter' in a Triumph/Rover/Jaguar franchise , had lot of pride in the trade .

[@Stefan_Dahn]

Pride for what?

[@Wasengenyie]

@@Stefan_Dahn shame on you!

[@astolatpere11]

Poor Britain. Won the war and lost the peace. While Germany and Japan rebuilt their industrial infrastructure, US and Britain pumped out cars. By the 1960s, first the Germans, then the Japanese started producing cars from modern factories with modern workforce rules producing modern cars. They also were more profitable.

[@mikethespike7579]

Germany and Japan pumped all the money they got after the war from the US Morgan Plan into their industries. What did the UK do with their share? They financed the building of monuments, parks, museums, nice stuff maybe, but nothing you can butter your bread and pay the rent with. That's why the German and Japanese industries were able to overtake the UK so quickly after the war.

[@paulthesquid3595]

Well'l poor stupid britain declared war on Germany got a bloody hooter Dunkirk and went cap in hand to get the USA to bail them out not to mention the part Russia played in it. And simply most english cars were shite as i remember at 68 years old there Germany certainly won the peace hands down good on them.

[@Rowlph8888]

That's what happens when your entire country gets ruined and the elites all get killed at the perfect time when modernity is taking off exponentially. Britain was held back by vested interests and the lack of support for the industry generally

[@arbjful]

@General Melchett these countries would have rebuilt their economies with or without outside help anyway, their work ethics are different from British

[@alexanders.170]

Well, maybe it's just an example of growth by destruction. The war was an enormous shake up of the social and political fabric of Germany. After the war Millions were dead, the cities laid in ruins and 10 Million refugees from the east flooded the country. On the other hand, infrastructure was surprisingly well intact, education was high, everything needed to rebuild (which drove consumption and investment) the new American 'overlords' offered security and a new political and economic model was implemented which focused on the creation of a strong middle class, a consent model to conflict, investment and federalism (thus creating many boom regions). All of this set of an unprecedented dynamic of growth.

[@tom85078]

Wilmot Breeden Ltd in Fordhouse Lane,also made the bumpers for the Austin Taxi FX4 london black cab...

[@matthewperris]

At 5m30s I'm sure that's the theme from Carry On Camping!

[@glennmiddleton3324]

A lack of investment in R&D and technology killed British car industry, Labour should have insisted on cuts to jobs and invested more in higher paid technical jobs.

[@jackthebassman1]

Labour dare not stand up to the unions, who felt invincible and of course soon priced their members out of jobs. Poor quality products costing more to produce than they could sell for = factories closed. Strong unions and weak management bear the brunt of the blame.

[@glennmiddleton3324]

@@jackthebassman1 Really doesn't address my point.

[@jackthebassman1]

@@glennmiddleton3324 Glen, I really think it does

[@glennmiddleton3324]

@@jackthebassman1 It doesn't Jack, it doesn't address the lack of investment in the car industry.

[@jackthebassman1]

@@glennmiddleton3324 The point is Glen, Leyland or BMC, or BLVC or in one of its many guises was ruined by poor productivity, restrictive practices, constant disruption, making it completely unprofitable. Whenever anything was tried to improve productivity it was met with “down tools lads, we’ll stop these changes”, the government couldn’t do anything about it because the Labour Party labour was sponsored by union barons. If you were there at the time you might remember the constant strikes especially at BL, and especially incited in by “Red Robbo”, a shop steward drunk on his own power, as many were. At the time I had left my trade in the accident repair industry earning around £25:00 a week, got my HGV license and joined my dad at Tarmac Roadstone, my earnings went to around £100:00 a week and I was very happy thank you. As Tarmac was a union closed shop I had to join the TGWU and never thought much about it, until those strike riddled days when the shop steward was calling to slow down the job and wanted us all to go on strike for more money. I said I wasn’t going to strike and was told there would be a picket line across the road to which I replied “someone is going to get hurt then, I’m very happy with my wages and I’m NOT going on strike. As it happened the strike didn’t materialise because the drivers realised what a good job they had. Interesting discussion Glenn, but maybe that will enlighten you as to my thoughts.

[@robotronuk]

Ironic that Halewood is one of Fords last factories left in the UK, opposite of the predictions in the 1980s

[@mikew742]

Austin Rover, British Leyland, whatever name you want to use, their cars were complete dogshit, combined with woeful productivity due to outdated processes and the unions, is it any wonder they collapsed.

[@paulhunter123]

wow the robots are way ahead of the cars they are making

[@sdrape4964]

Soooo... Was the Montego enough to save Leyland??? 😁😁😁

[@adeptronic]

Nothing can save companies from socialism.

[@edgarbeat2851]

Nope

[@sdrape4964]

@@BB-xx3dv 😂

[@drstevenrey]

Why do they always proudly emphasize that half of the market is theirs. Half is never enough. I don't want half a glass of wine.

[@mikethespike7579]

A car manufacturer can be happy if they have half the market of a country like the UK.

[@stevescholey3479]

Ah well, they you go, a learning for any future manufacture. Product Portfolio, Product Brand, Price, Customer and never cost reduce on quality.

[@Arltratlo]

lol, German made bots... in the same time,German car factories been filled to the rim with bots, in the 1970s..

[@carlbirtles4518]

15:30 Pity about the Vauxhall Nova. If the Americans hadn’t screwed up with the electronics, Novas would have been less easy to steal and more of them would be on British roads.

[@UseitLoseit]

Extra £40 for a German model Sierra!

[@matthewmoore5698]

Cavalier was called the rep mobile

[@adamlee3772]

Not just the Cavalier. Any car in that class was called a rep-mobile. Sierra, Montego, 405, all were classed as rep-mobiles.

[@JohnSmith-ei2pz]

Yes decent cars unlike the Ford & BL crap!

[@bluegtturbo]

The Rover216 was a good little car.

[@hd8437]

Mind the pedestrian Richard!

[@frederickbowdler8169]

quite obvious to any business that saturated market means no profit for weakest at least 8 or so firms fighting over over 2 million total sales so 150 ooo cars tops for Rover .

[@UliMuliko]

15:06 grease cup is smashed

[@Rowlph8888]

Shocking decline from pretty much the biggest market share in the car industry, to virtually 0 within a few decades. That's what happens if you don't properly support the industry properly

[@Stefan_Dahn]

That's what happens, when you are lazy and sitting on your hands.

[@marct7813]

Having worked in automotive for 46 years as a supplier and just retired, I'll go with my old friend and manager - There is no common sense in the automotive industry.

[@bossman1974]

British cars 🚗 had terrible quality problems, that is why people stopped buying them😊

[@AJ-qn6gd]

Not just the car manufacturers but everyone who supplied them had the same lackadaisical attitude to quality control !

[@NoosaHeads]

Nissan Washington was set up on the express proviso that there would be only one union representing all the workers. As a result there wasn't one strike between 1985 and 2015. Abingdon, Luton, Dagenham etc all had many different unions. From this, we can see that it is unions that stifle factories and create unemployment. Unions, ironically, are the worst enemy a worker can have. However, if the worker is lazy, frequently absent, incompetent or dishonest, unions are wonderful for this kind of parasite. When Ford started production, they had no unions and paid workers TWICE the normal rate. Eventually the factory became unionised, then the wages progressively dropped until they were about the same as Chrysler or General Motors.

[@teamtoken]

The problem in Britain wasn’t Unions, it was management. Accountants, MBA’s and Finance dolts were running the show. These feckless wonders had no business being in Car manufacturing and completely killed it. The Japanese were heavily unionised in the 80’s and absolutely slaughtered the UK car industry when it came to producing quality products profitably. The reason was far better management. Same story with the Germans

[@mikethespike7579]

That was a good move by Nissan. This mixture of unions and their jealousies was a scourge to British industry and is probably one of the main reasons for its demise. I'll never forget suddenly being told by colleagues at the company I worked in in the late 1960s that they can't work together with me because I'm in the wrong union. My boss told me he had no choice but to hand me my papers if I don't join their union. The trouble was, my union refused to accept anyone who was a member of a different union and leaving it put you onto a black list which could later be put against you if you were looking for employment somewhere else.

[@peterfireflylund]

@@teamtoken the Japanese unions had nothing in common with the UK unions, apart from the name. They were more like “company clubs” than European labour unions. German unions never became as strong and crazy as the UK unions. Having a living memory of being near starvation after the war probably helped in both Japan and Germany.

[@Seminal_Ideas]

Same with the shipbuilding industry and the aircraft industry. Now pale shadows of their former selves.

[@l3eatalphal3eatalpha]

Now we have fewer and weaker unions than ever. Companies are becoming more successful and pay and conditions should get better, eh?

[@michaelwhiles5282]

These media types always know everything and how to fix everything - bet most have never done a proper days work. Never supporting British industry = pay day 😵🤪😵‍💫

[@drstevenrey]

Good, they have advanced robots. But they build ugly, silly rock-boxes.

[@turboslag]

Apart from the Morris Minor and Mini, BL, BLMC and Austin Rover never made a decent car. Always looked dull and outdated and using that bl00dy A series engine for as long as they did was a bad joke. Just think of some of the horrors that puked off their production lines, the Maxi, Allegro, the 1800, the Princess wedge, Meastro (more like mystery!!), Montego, all of which missed the hatchback revolution amongst other things. Build quality was appalling, as was reliability and durability. The Metro almost hit the spot, but build, reliability and delivery problems did for it. They just seemed to be blind to what Ford, Vauxhall, VW, etc were doing. Then there was that monstrosity the Rover 800, wtf were they on when they pitched that thing against the likes of BMW, Audi etc for the executive market?! Sad and disappointing to think that the once great and admired British motor industry has been wiped out and in such an embarrassing way, sold off to 3 crooks who then milked it dry for personal gain, then left it for dead. We do have the high points to look back on, as I mentioned, the Minor, the Mini and of course the E type, but apart from those I can't think of any others worthy of mention. Even worse, the Germans pinched the Mini, and the Chinks took MG, and made a success of them!

[@bradleymilton9372]

Back wen britian was great we don't manufacture anything anymore all foreign made

[@donaldremnant7018]

I am an ex Morris Cowley employee, of 25 years and believe the demise of the British car industry is to be laid of the door, such men and money makers, as Edwards and his crew. and he had the gall to lay, the blame upon the work force. I am proud that my work skills were used from 1957 for 25 years at Morris Motors, Cowley.

[@Arltratlo]

in this 25 years, over 10 million VW Käfer being build!

[@richardburns5925]

VW Kafer? German tin rubbish, air cooled put put put put put......engines. over rated over priced over here. Morris, Wolsely, Austin, Rover, Triumph, Land Rover, MG, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lotus........we made the best cars not Germany.

[@Arltratlo]

@@richardburns5925 Käfer, over 20 million sold, UK cars all together maybe 7.5 million.... and VW is still existing, the Brit car producers you just mentioned are only in history books! and the few not, are German, American and Chinese owned! and if you had made the best cars, why is nobody driving them right now! btw, Nissan will leave the UK after they spend the 60 million from Boris for staying!

[@richardburns5925]

@@Arltratlo nonsense, we make more cars now than ever, Nissan is going nowhere, German cars are rubbish, we are booming, progressive nation, that's why everyone wants to come here, they cross Europe to get to us! We started the industrial revolution, car for every man, British built is best, Chinese make monkey metal!

[@Arltratlo]

@@richardburns5925 hahaha, booming, its more dooming.... lol, you must be the biggest joker in your town...or just a professional liar like your PM!

[@matthewmoore5698]

Crap cars embarrassing

[@markholroyde9412]

It was the 80s, no one gave a fk, sorry you missed it snowflake..you have nothing at all today

[@simeonivanov3507]

Britain did not succeed like Germany, Japan ,France ,Italy, USA and even Swidon to manufacture a car for growing Middle class in 60 s what to be a reliable and quality machine. Even the Mini was rubbish. They can produce super luxury expensive vehicles like Rollse, Bentley, Jaguar and Aston, but that was cars only for top 2 percent of the population. All other cars what they produce was a bit better than Soviet cars and in many cases even worst .Usa lost the battle against the Japanese and The Germans only because of stupid green regulations. England lost because their cars was the worst quality ever .They still will keep some of the companies if it was only the old traditional industrial powers on the scene like Germany, France ,Italy and USA. But the immense and unbelievable rise of Japanese car industry with their brilliant engineering, quality control killed British motor industry, at least without full foreign takeover. Japanese take something like 30 percent of all automotive market in the world. AND THEY HAVE DONE THAT FAIR AND SQUARE. THEY ARE SIMPLY MUCH BETTER IN CAR ENGINEERING THAN US .

[@Stefan_Dahn]

There is no stupid green regulation.

[@simeonivanov3507]

@Ste Da ALL " green regulations ": are completely stupid and not any green. Its a for woke people like you who hate cars ,speed and the smell of petrol. Do not comment here if you do not like motors and engineers. Go and jump banana trees .

[@Wasengenyie]

China is now making better cars than Japan. I test drove a Mahindra scorpion made in India and was shocked. I dont see how western brands will compete.

[@rafuyhhre4543]

Even Japan is afraid that their red communist cousin will surpass them.