Leyland Motors

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Leyland Motors

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Leyland Motors

Leyland Motors Limited was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries and buses. It gave its name to the British Leyland Motor Corporation formed when it merged with British Motor Holdings, later to become British Leyland after effectively becoming nationalised. British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL, then in 1986 Rover Group.

History

Beginning

Leyland Motors has a long history dating from 1896, when the Sumner and Spurrier families founded the Lancashire Steam Motor Company in the town of Leyland in North West England. The company's first vehicle was a 1.5-ton-capacity steam powered van. By 1905 they had also begun to build petrol-engined wagons. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was renamed Leyland Motors in 1907 when they took over Coulthards of Preston. They also built a second factory in the neighbouring town of Chorley which still remains today as the headquarters of the LEX leasing and parts company.

In 1920 Leyland Motors produced the Leyland 8 luxury touring car, a development of which was driven by J.G. Parry-Thomas at Brooklands. Parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when a chain drive broke. At the other extreme, they also produced the Trojan Utility Car in the Kingston on Thames factory from 1922 to 1928.

Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Sir Henry Spurrier in 1964. Sir Henry inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relations—reputedly never losing a day's production through industrial action.

World War 2

During the war, Leyland Motors along with most vehicle manufacturers was involved in war production. Leyland built the Cromwell tank at its works from 1943 as well as medium/large trucks such as the Leyland Hippo and Retriever.

After the war, Leyland Motors continued military manufacture with the Centurion tank.

Post war

In 1946, AEC and Leyland Motors worked to form the British United Traction Ltd.

In 1955, through an equity agreement, manufacture of commercial vehicles under licence from Leyland Motors commenced in Madras, India at the new Ashok factory. The products were branded as Ashok Leyland.

On the other hand, Leyland Motors acquired other companies in the post war years:

* 1951: Albion Motors
* 1953: Collaboration with Danish Automobile Building (DAB), a bus manufacturer, later with a majority stake in the 1970s
* 1955: Scammell Lorries Ltd—military and specialist lorry manufacturer
* 1960: Standard Triumph, cars, vans and some agricultural machinery interests
* 1962: Associated Commercial Vehicles (ACV), which incorporated AEC, Thornycroft, Park Royal Vehicles and Charles H. Roe. Then Leyland Motors was renamed Leyland Motor Corporation
* 1965: Minority (25%) interests in Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works
* 1967: Rover cars

Donald Stokes took over as head of the company in 1964 and in 1968 it merged with British Motor Holdings (BMH) to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). BMH brought with it more famous British goods vehicle and bus and coach marques, including Daimler, Guy, BMC, Austin and Morris into the new organization.

British Leyland era

The BLMC group was difficult to manage because of the many companies under its control, often making similar products. This, and other reasons, led to financial difficulties and in December 1974 British Leyland had to receive a guarantee from the British government.

In 1975, after the publication of the Ryder Report, BLMC nationalised as British Leyland (BL) and split into 4 divisions with the bus and truck production becoming the Leyland Truck & Bus division within the Land Rover Leyland Group. This division was split into Leyland Bus and Leyland Trucks in 1981. In 1986 BL changed its name to Rover Group. The equity stake in Ashok Leyland was controlled by Land Rover Leyland International Holdings, and sold in 1987.

Leyland name post-British Leyland

Buses

The bus operations were divested as a management buy-out to form Leyland Bus, and was subsequently bought by Volvo Buses in 1988, which discontinued most of its product range.

Trucks

* 1987 The Leyland Trucks division of Rover Group (formerly BL) merged with DAF Trucks of The Netherlands, and was floated on the Dutch stock exchange as DAF NV. The new company traded as Leyland DAF in the UK, and as DAF elsewhere.
* 1993 DAF NV went into bankruptcy. The UK truck division was bought through a management buy-out and became Leyland Trucks. The van division was also bought through a management buy-out and became LDV Limited. The Spare Parts Operation (Multipart) was also subject to a management buy-out before eventually becoming part of the LEX organisation.
* 1998 Leyland Trucks was acquired by the US truck manufacturer PACCAR. Leyland Trucks now operates as a division of PACCAR from the Leyland Assembly Plant in North West England manufacturing around 14,000 trucks per year of which about a third are sold in the EU.

Products

Buses

Historically, Leyland Motors was a major manufacturer of buses used in the United Kingdom and worldwide. It achieved a number of firsts or milestones that set trends for the bus industry. It was one of the first manufacturers to devise chassis designs for buses that were different to trucks with a lower chassis level to help passengers to board; and its chief designer John George Rackham, who had experience at the Yellow Coach Company in Chicago before returning to England, created the Titan and Tiger ranges in 1927 that revolutionised bus design. After 1945, it created another milestone with the trend-setting Atlantean rear-engined double-decker bus design produced between 1956 and 1986.

Trucks

1920s

* Q-type 4 ton
* SQ2 7 ton
* SWQ2 10 ton six-wheeler
* Bull

1930s

* Beaver
* Bison
* Buffalo
* Bull
* Hippo
* Octopus 22 ton eight-wheeler
* Steer
* Lynx
* Cub
* Badger

1940s

* Comet
* Hippo
* Beaver

1960s

* Leyland 90
* Beaver
* Comet
* Steer
* FG

1970s

* Terrier
* Boxer
* Clydesdale
* Marathon

The Marathon was Leyland's answer to the booming "max cap" truck fad at the start of the 1970s. Imports such as the Volvo F88 and Scania 110/140 were selling very well in the UK due to the previously unheard of levels of driver comfort, reliability, quality and performance.

Leyland had insufficient money for development of a complete new vehicle at the time, so designers were instructed to utilise as many existing in-house components as possible. It was perceived at the time that the resulting model would be a stopgap until the new T45 range was ready for production toward the latter half of the 1970s.

The cab was a re-worked version of the "Ergomatic" tilt cab of 1965, heavily modified with different lower panels, raised height etc, and was available in day and sleeper cab form. Engines were decided from the outset to be in the higher power category to be competitive with rival vehicles, the only existing engine within the Leyland empire suitable for such an application following the demise of the ill-fated fixed-head 500 series was the AEC AV760 straight-six, which was turbocharged and designated the TL12. Other engine options included a 200bhp Leyland L11, Cummins 10 and 14 litre engines at 250/330 bhp.

Production began in 1973, and various shortcomings were noted, including below par heating and ventilation, and pronounced cab roll. however roadtesters of the time were very impressed by the truck's power and performance. In 1977 the "Marathon 2" was launched, an updated and revised vehicle that attempted to address some of the previous criticisms of the earlier vehicle. Relatively few Marathons of all types were sold before production ended in 1979 with the introduction of the T45 "roadtrain" range of vehicles.

1980s

* Roadrunner

This was Leyland's answer to the Ford cargo in the non-HGV 7.5 ton truck sector. Launched in 1984, it utilised a Leyland straight-six engine until 1986 when a 5.9L Cummins was introduced. It was notable at the time for its low level passenger side windscreen, featured as a safety aid to enable the driver to see the kerb, although this was deleted on later models. The basic cab had a long service life, becoming later on the Leyland DAF 45.

* T45 Roadtrain

The Leyland Roadtrain was a range of heavy goods vehicle tractor units manufactured by Leyland Trucks between 1980 and 1990. The nomenclature "T45" refers to the truck range design as a whole and encompasses models such as the lightweight 7.5 ton roadrunner, Freighter (4 wheel rigid truck) constructor (multi axle rigid tipper or mixer chassis-its chassis owing much to the outgoing Scammell 8-wheeler Handyman) and Cruiser (basic spec low weight tractor unit). The Roadtrain itself was a max weight model with distance work in mind.

The cab design was a joint effort between Leyland, BRS and Ogle Design and was seen as the height of modernity when compared with its predecessors, the idea being to have one basic design to replace the various different outgoing models (for example, the Bathgate built G cab on the Terrier, the Ergomatic cabbed Lynx, Beaver etc). This did indeed make good economic sense, however there has been speculation that Leyland did in fact alienate a number of customers who had traditionally purchased other marques from within the Leyland empire—Albion, AEC, Scammell, etc.—who were now left with no alternative but to have a Leyland branded vehicle or purchase from elsewhere.

Throughout its production run engine choices included the AEC-based TL12, a straight carry over from the preceding "stopgap" model Marathon range, The Rolls-Royce Eagle 265/300 and the Cummins 290 L10 and 14-litre 350 coupled to a Spicer or Eaton transmission, although all versions produced a distinctive whine from the propshaft knuckle joint when approaching 60 mph (97 km/h). The TL12 engine was dropped early on in the production run, most large fleet buyers choosing the Rolls-Royce engine.

The Roadtrain was available in day and sleeper cabbed form, in high and low datum versions—this refers to the cab height—high datum versions were intended as long haul vehicles with higher mounted cabs and more internal space. 6x2 versions were built in high cab form only on a chassis that was basically that of the ageing Scammell trunker.

In 1986 the high roofed Roadtrain interstate was introduced, a top of the range long distance truck with standing room inside.

The Roadtrain was a common sight throughout most of the 1980s, with a great many of the major fleet users in the UK such as Tesco, Blue Circle (unusually with high datum day cabs) and BRS running them. The Firm of Swain's based at Rochester in Kent had a number of roadtrains in its fleet which enjoyed a comparatively long service life (up until the late 1990s) before being replaced by the newer DAF 85.

Production ended in 1990 with the sale of Leyland Trucks to Dutch firm DAF, although as a postscript DAF relaunched the model in low datum form (it was already manufacturing the large DAF 95) as the DAF 80, using the Roadtrain cab with the DAF 330 ATi engine (quite ironic, given that this engine had its roots in the Leyland O.680). This model was produced for a relatively short time until 1993 with the launch of the brand new cabbed DAF 85.

Due partly to the cab's propensity to rust and also to the admittedly short life of commercial vehicles, any Roadtrain in commercial operation is now a very rare sight indeed, although a small number of vehicle remain in use throughout the country as recovery vehicles.

The army made use of an 8x6 version of Roadtrain as a hook loader until recently. This is known to the British Army as DROPPS, Demountable rack offload and pickup system which has seen action Iraq and Afghanistan and are still in service, due to be replaced by MAN version.

Diesel Multiple Units

* British Rail British United Traction
* Pacer (train)
* British Rail Class 155

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Austin Motor Company

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Austin Motor Company

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Austin Motor Company

The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 an merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by Nanjing Automotive.

History

1905 - 1918: Formation and development

Herbert Austin (1866–1941), former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, and later to be made first Baron Austin of Longbridge, founded The Austin Motor Company in 1905, at Longbridge, which was then in Worcestershire. (Longbridge became part of Birmingham in 1911 when its boundaries were expanded.) The first car was a conventional 5-litre four-cylinder model with chain drive, of which about 200 were made in the first five years. In World War I Austin grew enormously in fulfilling government contracts for everything from artillery to aircraft, and the workforce expanded from around 2,500 to 22,000.

1919 - 1939: Interwar success

After the war Herbert Austin decided on a one-model policy based on the 3620-cc 20-hp engine. Versions included cars, commercials and even a tractor, but sales volumes were never enough to fill the vast factory built during wartime. The company went into receivership in 1921 but rose again after financial restructuring.

Critical to the recovery was the appointment in 1922 of a new finance director, Ernest Payton with the backing of the Midland Bank, and a new works director in charge of car production, Carl Engelbach, at the insistence of the creditors' committee. This triumvirate of Austin, Payton and Engelbach steered the company's fortunes through the inter-war years.

In a quest to expand market share, smaller cars were introduced, the 1661 cc Twelve in 1922 and, later the same year, the Seven, an inexpensive, simple small car and one of the earliest to be directed at a mass market. At one point, the "Baby Austin" was built under licence by the fledgling BMW of Germany (as the Dixi); by the Japanese manufacturer Datsun; as the Bantam in the United States; and as the Rosengart in France. (the American Austin Car Company operated as a largely independent subsidiary from 1929 to 1934, and was revived under the name "American Bantam" from 1937 to 1941).

With the help of the Seven, Austin weathered the worst of the depression and remained profitable through the 1930s, producing a wider range of cars which was steadily updated by the introduction of all-steel bodies, Girling brakes, and synchromesh gearboxes. However, all the engines retained the same side valve conformation. Deputy chairman Ernest Payton became chairman in 1941 on the death of Lord Herbert Austin. In 1938 Leonard Lord joined the company board and became chairman in 1946 on the death of Ernest Payton.

1939 - 1958: The war years and afterwards

During the Second World War Austin continued building cars but also made trucks and aircraft, including the construction of the Lancaster bombers of 617 squadron, better known as the Dambusters.

The postwar car range was announced in 1944 and production of it started in 1945 The immediate postwar range was mainly similar to that of the late 1930s but did include the 16 hp significant for having the company's first overhead valve engine.

In 1952 Austin merged with the Nuffield Organisation (parent company of Morris) to form the British Motor Corporation with Leonard Lord in charge. Austin was the dominant partner and its engines were adopted for most of the cars; various models amongst the marques would soon be badge-engineered versions of each other.

Also in 1952, Austin did a deal with Donald Healey, the renowned automotive engineer. It led to a new marque, Austin Healey, and a range of sports cars.

Legal agreement with Nissan

In 1952 Austin entered into a legal agreement with the Nissan Motor Company of Japan, for that company to assemble 2000 imported Austins from partially assembled sets and to sell them in Japan under the Austin trademark. The agreement called for Nissan to make all Austin parts locally within three years, a goal Nissan met. Nissan produced and marketed Austins for seven years. The agreement also gave Nissan rights to use Austin patents, which Nissan used in developing its own engines for its Datsun line of cars. In 1953 British-built Austins were assembled and sold, but by 1955, the Austin A50 – completely built by Nissan and featuring a slightly larger body with 1489 cc engine – was on the market in Japan. Nissan produced 20,855 Austins from 1953-59.

1959 - 1969: An era of revolution

With the threat to fuel supplies resulting from the 1956 Suez Crisis Lord asked Alec Issigonis to design a small car and the result was the revolutionary Mini, launched in 1959. The Austin version was called the Austin Seven at first. But Morris' Mini Minor name caught the public imagination and the Morris version outsold its Austin twin, so the Austin's name was changed to Mini to follow suit. In 1970, British Leyland dropped the separate Austin and Morris branding of the Mini. From then, it was simply "Mini", under the Austin Morris division of BLMC.

The principle of a transverse engine with gearbox in the sump and driving the front wheels was carried on to larger cars with the 1100 of 1963, (although the Morris-badged version was launched 13 months earlier than the Austin, in August 1962), the 1800 of 1964 and the Maxi of 1969. This meant that BMC had spent 10 years developing a new range of front-drive, transverse-engined models, while most competitors had only just started to make such changes.

The big exception to this was the Austin 3-litre. Launched in 1968, it was a rear-wheel drive large car, but it shared the central section of the 1800. It was a sales disaster, with fewer than 10,000 examples being made.

But BMC was the first British manufacturer to move into front-wheel drive so comprehensively. Ford did not launch its first front-drive model until 1976, while Vauxhall's first front-drive model was launched in 1979 and Chrysler UK's first such car was launched in 1975. Front-wheel drive was popular elsewhere in Europe, however, with Renault, Citroen and Simca all using the system at the same time or before BMC.

In 1966, BMC and Pressed Steel merged with Jaguar and became British Motor Holdings. In 1968, BMH merged with Leyland Motors and Austin became a part of the big British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) combine.

1970 - 1979: An era of turbulence

By 1970, Austin was part of the British Leyland combine which produced some of the most maligned cars ever to roll off British production lines. Austin's most notorious model of this era was the 1973 Allegro, successor to the 1100/1300 ranges, which was criticised for its bulbous styling, doubtful build quality, indifferent reliability and rust-proneness. It was still a strong seller in Britain, though not quite as successful as its predecessor.

The wedge-shaped 18/22 series was launched as an Austin, a Morris and a more upmarket Wolseley in 1975. But within six months, it was rechristened the Princess and wore none of the previous marque badges, becoming a kind of brand in its own right, under the Austin Morris division of British Leyland which had been virtually nationalised in 1975.

The Princess wasn't quite as notorious as the Allegro, and in fact earned some praise thanks to its practical wedge shape, spacious interior and decent ride and handling, but build quality was suspect and the curious lack of a hatchback (which would have ideally suited its body shape) cost it valuable sales. It was upgraded at the end of 1981 to become the Ambassador (and gaining a hatchback) but by this time there was little that could be done to disguise the age of the design, and it was too late to make much of an impact on sales.

By the end of the 1970s, the future of Austin and the rest of British Leyland (now known as BL) was looking bleak.

1980 - 1989: The Austin Rover era

The Austin Metro - launched in October 1980 - was heralded as the saviour of Austin Motor Company and the whole BL combine. 21 years after the launch of the Mini, it gave BL a much-needed modern supermini to compete with the recently-launched likes of the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Chevette and Renault 5. It was an instant hit with buyers and was one of the most popular British cars of the 1980s. It was intended as a replacement for the Austin Mini but, in fact, the Mini outlived the Metro by two years.

In 1982, most of the car division of the by now somewhat shrunken British Leyland (BL) company was rebranded as the Austin Rover Group, with Austin acting as the "budget" and mainstream brand to Rover's more luxurious models. The MG badge was revived for sporty versions of the Austin models, with the MG Metro 1300 being the first of these.

Austin revitalised its entry into the small family car market in March 1983 on the launch of its all-new Maestro, a spacious five-door hatchback which replaced both the elderly Allegro and Maxi and was popular in the early years of its production life, though sales had started to dip dramatically by the end of the decade.

April 1984 saw the introduction of the Maestro-derived Montego saloon, successor to the Morris Ital. The new car received praise for its interior space and comfort, but early build quality problems took time to overcome. The spacious estate version - launched in early 1985 - was one of the most popular load carriers of its era.

In 1986 Austin Rover's holding company BL plc became Rover Group plc and was privatised by selling it to British Aerospace (BAe).

Plans to replace the Metro with a radical new model, based on the ECV3 research vehicle and aiming for 100mpg, led to the Austin AR6 of 1984-1986, with several prototypes tested. The desire to lose the Austin name and take Rover 'upmarket' led to this project's demise in early 1987.

In 1987, the Austin badge was discontinued and Austin Rover became simply the Rover Group. The Austin cars continued to be manufactured, although they ceased to be Austins. They became "marque-less" in their home market with bonnet badges the same shape as the Rover longship badge but without "Rover" written on them. Instead any badging just showed the model of the car- a Montego of this era, for instance, would have a grille badge simply saying 'Montego', whilst the rear badges just said 'Montego' and the engine size/trim level. The Metro was facelifted in 1990 and got the new K-series engine. It then became the "Rover Metro", while the Maestro and Montego continued in production until 1994 and never wore a Rover badge on their bonnets in Britain. They were, however, sometimes referred to as "Rovers" in the press and elsewhere.

Possible revival

The rights to the Austin name passed to British Aerospace and then to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were subsequently sold to MG Rover, created when BMW sold the business. Following MG Rover's collapse and sale, Nanjing Automobile Group owns the Austin name and Austin's historic assembly plant in Longbridge. At the Nanjing International Exhibition in May 2006, Nanjing announced it might use the Austin name on some of the revived MG Rover models, at least in the Chinese market. However, Nanjing is for the moment concentrating on reviving the MG brand. The MG brand is traditionally used for sports cars and Nanjing has no rights to the Rover name, so a revival of the Austin name would seem a logical brand for selling more standard cars. It might also be argued that a British name would be more respected in the European market than a Chinese name.

Plant

Austin's original plant was in Rotherham, however Herbert Austin relocated to an abandoned paint works at Longbridge, Birmingham. Due to its strategic advantages over Morris' Cowley plant, Longbridge became British Leyland's main factory. Following the Austin marque's discontinuance in 1989, Rover and MG continued to use the plant. The collapse of MG Rover meant it was not used from 2005 until MG production restarted in 2008.

Models

Cars

Small cars
o 1910–11 Austin 7 hp
o 1922–39 Austin 7
o 1959-2000 Seven (Mini), as BMC
o 1980–90 Metro, as Austin Rover


Small family cars
o 1911–15 Austin 10
o 1932–47 Austin 10 hp
o 1939–47 Austin 8 hp
o 1951–56 A30
o 1956–59 A35
o 1956–62 A35 Countryman
o 1954-61 Nash Metropolitan/Austin Metropolitan
o 1958–61 A40 Farina Mk I
o 1961–67 A40 Farina Mk II
o 1963–74 1100
o 1967–74 1300
o 1973–83 Allegro


Large family cars
o 1906–07 Austin 25/30
o 1907–10 Austin 18/24
o 1908–11 Austin 40 hp
o 1908–10 Austin 60 hp
o 1913–14 Austin 15/20
o 1914–16 Austin 30 hp
o 1919–30 Austin Twenty
o 1922–40 Austin "Heavy" 12
o 1927–35 16/18 hp
o 1927–39 Austin 20/6
o 1931–36 Austin "Light" 12/6
o 1933–39 Austin "Light" 12/4
o 1937–39 Austin 14 hp
o 1938–39 Austin 18 hp
o 1939–47 Austin 12
o 1945–49 Austin 16 hp
o 1947–52 A40 Devon/Dorset
o 1948–50 A70 Hampshire
o 1950–54 A70 Hereford
o 1952–54 A40 Somerset
o 1954–58 A40/A50/A55 Cambridge
o 1954–59 A90/A95/A105 Westminster
o 1956–59 A95 Westminster Station wagon.
o 1956–59 A105 Westminster
o 1959–61 A55 Cambridge
o 1959–61 A99 Westminster
o 1961–69 A60 Cambridge
o 1961–68 A110 Westminster
o 1964–75 1800/2200
o 1967–71 3-Litre
o 1969–81 Maxi 1500
o 1975–84 18-22/Princess/Ambassador
o 1983–94 Maestro
o 1984–94 Montego



Limousines
o 1939 Austin 28 hp
o 1947–54 A110/A125 Sheerline
o 1946–56 A120 Princess
o 1947–56 A135 Princess
o 1956–59 Princess IV
o 1958–59 A105 Westminster Vanden Plas



Sports cars
o 1920-23 Austin 20 Sports Tourer
o 1948–50 A90 Atlantic Convertible
o 1949–52 A90 Atlantic Saloon
o 1950–53 A40 Sports
o 1953–56 Austin-Healey 100
o 1958–70 Austin-Healey Sprite
o 1959–67 Austin-Healey 3000
o 1971 Austin Sprite
* Australian Austin cars
o 1962-66 Austin Freeway
o 1970–73 Austin Kimberley
o 1958-62 Austin Lancer
o 1970–73 Austin Tasman

Military vehicles

* WWI Austin Armoured Car
* WWII Austin Ten Utility Truck
* WWII Austin K2
* WWII Austin K4
* 1958-67 Austin Gipsy
* Austin Champ
* c. 1968 Austin Ant

Taxis

* 1929-34 High Lot
* 1934-39 Lowloader
* 1948-58 FX3
* 1958- FX4—London Taxi

Ambulances

* LD3
* WWII Austin K2

Commercial vehicles

* Austin also made commercial vehicles, one of which was the FG, previously the Morris FG. The FG was the workhorse that kept Britain running in the 1960s. These Austin FGs and later the Leyland FGs all had petrol or diesel longstroke engines, producing good torque, but very little in the way of speed (40 mph was a good speed out of these vehicles). Leyland were to take over the FG, but before they did, in 1964, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned six rolling chassis FGs to be coach built by a Middlesex company, Palmer Coachbuilders. These six vehicles, registration 660 GYE to 666 GYE, were outdoor broadcast scenery vehicles.

Aircraft

During World War I Austin built aircraft under licence, including the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, but also produced a number of its own designs. None of these progressed past the prototype stage. They included:

* Austin-Ball A.F.B.1 (fighter)
* Austin A.F.T.3 (fighter)
* Austin Greyhound (fighter)
* Austin Kestrel (two-seat biplane)
* Austin Osprey (fighter)
* Austin Whippet (post-war civil aircraft)

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British Motor Holdings

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British Motor Holdings

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British Motor Holdings

British Motor Holdings Ltd (BMH) was a British motor company created in an attempt to halt the decline in Britain's manufacturing base in the 1960s.

History

The Wilson Labour Government (1964–1970) came to power at a time when British manufacturing industry was in decline and decided that the remedy was to promote more mergers, particularly in the motor industry. Chrysler was already buying into the Rootes Group, Leyland Motors had acquired Standard Triumph and Rover and had become a major automotive force. The British Motor Corporation (BMC) was suffering a dramatic drop in its share of the home market, and in 1966 it succumbed to the pressures, and along with Pressed Steel (a car body manufacturer), merged with Jaguar Cars to form British Motor Holdings. The entity formally came into existence on 14th December 1966.

From the perspective of Jaguar, the merger came about because Sir William Lyons, the managing director and founder of Jaguar Cars Ltd, was nearing retirement, and did not have a viable succession plan within the company. His only son John Lyons had been killed in a car accident in 1955, and his other board members were of a similar age to himself. Another factor was that bodyshells for Jaguar production were fabricated by Pressed Steel, a supplier critical to Jaguar Cars and now controlled by BMC.

From the perspective of the BMC , Jaguar Cars was attractive for a merger because it had had success in the US market, and was thereby hugely profitable at a time when BMC lacked the funds to invest sufficiently in modern production facilities or new models.

The marques

BMH thus inherited a plethora of British automotive marques:

From Jaguar Cars came

• Jaguar
• Daimler
• Coventry Climax
• Guy

From BMC came

• Austin
• Morris
• MG
• Riley
• Wolseley
• Vanden Plas
• BMC

Merge with the Leyland Motor Corporation

By 1968, BMH's short life came to an end. As it still struggled to make significant profit, it merged with the prosperous Leyland Motor Corporation to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC).

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British Leyland ~ Timelines

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British Leyland ~ Timelines

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British Leyland ~ Timelines

Notes for the timeline table

* 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 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 re-assigned 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 licenced 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

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.

* 1895 Wolseley Motor Company
* 1896 Lanchester Motor Company
* 1896 Leyland Motors Ltd (commercial vehicles)
* 1896 Daimler
* 1898 Riley
* 1903 Standard Motor Company
* 1904 Rover
* 1905 Austin
* 1912 Morris
* 1913 Vanden Plas
* 1919 Alvis
* 1923 MG created by Morris
* 1923 Triumph Motor Company
* 1924 BSA used as a car brand
* 1935 Jaguar
* 1947 Land Rover created by Rover
* 1952 Austin-Healey created by Austin division of BMC
* 1959 Mini : the car initially launched as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor became popularly known just as the 'Mini' and BMC recognised this by initially re-badging the Austin as the Austin Mini, and subsequently deleting both marque names from the car and effectively making Mini a marque name in its own right.

Other merger events

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:

* 1910 Daimler purchased by the armaments-and-motorbikes engineering company BSA
* 1931 Lanchester purchased by BSA (last Lanchester 1956)
* 1938 Morris incorporates Wolseley and Riley forming the Nuffield Organisation
* 1944 Standard acquire Triumph, forming Standard Triumph
* 1946 Austin acquire Vanden Plas
* 1952 The Nuffield Organisation and Austin merge to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC)
* 1955 Leyland Motors acquire Scammell Lorries Limited of Watford
* 1960 Jaguar buy the car-making interests of BSA, including Daimler
* 1961 Leyland Motors acquire Standard Triumph
* 1962 Leyland Motors acquired ACV, the renamed AEC (Associated Equipment Company) company.
* 1963 Jaguar acquire the engine and fork lift truck manufacturing company Coventry Climax
* 1965 Rover acquire Alvis
* 1966 BMC merge with Jaguar to form British Motor Holdings (BMH)
* 1967 Leyland absorb Rover
* 1968 Leyland merge with British Motor Holdings to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC)
* 1969 Joint venture with the National Bus Company to build Leyland National buses, and also to continue the manufacture of Bristol buses previously built by the NBC
* 1970s Majority stake in Danish partner DAB, to form Leyland-DAB, producer of the Leyland-DAB articulated bus
* 1972 BLMC take control of Innocenti
* 1974 Cessation of production of cars in Australia
* 1975 Publication of the Ryder Report, British Leyland effectively nationalised due to financial difficulties with new holding company formed British Leyland Ltd later BL plc with the government as the principal (but not the only) shareholder
* 1977 Michael Edwardes appointed as Chairman by Labour Government. Begins massive cull of excess BL assets.
* 1982 BL buys out the National Bus Company from the bus plant joint venture.

Divestments

* 1969 The last Riley Elf, 1300, and 4/72 models were built, thus ending the Riley marque
* 1975 Innocenti passed to Alejandro de Tomaso
* 1976 Final Wolseley, a 2200, is built, thus ending the Wolseley marque
* 1978 Land Rover separated from Rover to form a separate company, still part of BL
* 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
* 1981 Closure of Rover-Triumph plant in Solihull
* 1981 Alvis sold to United Scientific Holdings and Alvis plc formed
* 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
* 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
* 1986 BL plc renamed Rover Group, 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 privatised; sold to British Aerospace
* 1994 Rover Group 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 BMW 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
* 2005 MG Rover goes into administration with huge debts, and is taken over by Nanjing Automobile.
* 2006 Ford acquires the rights to the Rover brand name from BMW, though without any immediate plans for using it on production cars.
* 2008 Ford completes the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors, of India.

List of notable BL and BMC and related models (up to 1986)

# 1948 Land Rover (Rover)
# 1948 Morris Minor (Nuffield)
# 1952 Rover 90 (Rover)
# 1952 Morris Oxford (BMC)
# 1954 Austin Cambridge (BMC)
# 1959 Triumph Herald (Standard-Triumph)
# 1959 Austin Gipsy (BMC)
# 1959 Mini (BMC; Initially badged as the Austin Se7en and Morris Mini-Minor)
# 1961 Jaguar E-type (Jaguar)
# 1961 Riley Elf (BMC)
# 1961 Wolseley Hornet (BMC)
# 1961 Austin Healey Sprite (BMC)
# 1961 MG Midget (BMC)
# 1962 Triumph Spitfire (Leyland-Triumph)
# 1962 Morris 1100 (BMC)
# 1962 MG MGB (BMC)
# 1963 Triumph 2000 (Leyland-Triumph)
# 1964 Mini Moke (BMC)
# 1964 Austin 1800/2200 (BMC)
# 1964 Rover 2000 (Rover)
# 1968 Jaguar XJ6 (BLMC)
# 1969 Austin Maxi (BLMC)
# 1970 Triumph Dolomite (BLMC)
# 1970 Triumph Toledo (BLMC)
# 1970 Range Rover (BLMC)
# 1971 Morris Marina (BLMC)
# 1971 Triumph Stag (BLMC)
# 1973 Austin Allegro (BLMC)
# 1975 Princess (BL)
# 1975 Triumph TR7 (BL)
# 1975 Jaguar XJS (BL)
# 1976–1987: Rover SD1 (BL)
# 1980–1990: Austin Metro (BL)
# 1980–1984: Morris Ital (BL)
# 1981 Triumph Acclaim (BL)
# 1982 Austin Ambassador (ARG)
# 1983 Austin Maestro (ARG)
# 1984 Austin Montego (ARG)
# 1984 Rover 200-series (ARG)
# 1986 Rover 800-series/Sterling (ARG)

Competing models

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:

* Morris Minor and Austin A40/Austin 1100
* Austin 1300 and Triumph Herald/Triumph Toledo
* Morris Marina, Austin Allegro, and Triumph Dolomite
* Triumph 2000, Rover 2000, and Austin Princess
* Triumph Spitfire, MG Midget and Austin-Healey Sprite
* Triumph TR6/Triumph TR7 and MG MGB
* Rover 3500 and Jaguar XJ6.

Badge-engineered models

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.

* Riley One-Point-Five/Wolseley 1500
* MG Magnette ZA/ZB/Wolseley 4/44
* MG Magnette ZB/Wolseley 15/50
* Morris Oxford MO/Wolseley 4/50
* Morris Six/Wolseley 6/80
* Austin A99 Westminster/Wolseley 6/99
* Austin A110 Westminster/Wolseley 6/110
* Austin 1800/Morris 1800/Wolseley 18/85/Austin 2200/Morris 2200/Wolseley Six
* Austin A55 Cambridge/MG Magnette Mk. III/Morris Oxford V/Riley 4/68/Wolseley 15/60
* Austin A60 Cambridge/MG Magnette Mk. IV/Morris Oxford VI/Riley 4/72/Wolseley 16/60
* Riley Pathfinder/Riley Two-Point-Six/Wolseley 6/90
* Austin Se7en/Morris Mini-Minor
* Morris Mini Traveller/Austin Mini Countryman
* Riley Elf/Wolseley Hornet
* Austin 1100/Austin 1300/Morris 1100/Morris 1300/MG 1100/Riley Kestrel/Riley 1300/Vanden Plas Princess/Wolseley 1100
* Austin-Healey Sprite/MG Midget.

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British Leyland

MG ZS 180

British Leyland

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British Leyland

MG ZS 180

British Leyland

British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC). It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd (later BL plc) in 1978. It incorporated much of the British owned motor vehicle industry, and held 40% of the UK car market, 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. In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group, later to become MG Rover Group, which went into administration in 2005, bringing an end to mass car production by British owned manufacturers—with MG becoming part of China's Nanjing Automobile.

History

BLMC was created in 1968 by the merger of British Motor Holdings (BMH) and Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC), encouraged by Tony Benn as chairman of the Industrial Reorganisation Committee created by the Wilson Government (1964–1970). At the time, LMC was a successful manufacturer, while BMH was perilously close to collapse. The Government was hopeful LMC's expertise would revive the ailing BMH. 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).

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. After the merger, Lord Stokes was horrified to find that BMH had no plans to replace these elderly designs. 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, which was a car with no discernible place in the market.

BMH had produced several successful cars, such as the Mini and the Austin/Morris 1100/1300 range (which at the time was the UK's biggest selling car). While these cars had been advanced at the time of their introduction, the Mini was not highly profitable and the 1100/1300 was facing more modern competition.

The lack of attention to development of new mass market models meant that BMH had nothing in the way of new models in the pipeline to effectively compete 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 program 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 which 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.

The company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued Britain in the 1970s. At its peak, BLMC owned nearly 40 different manufacturing plants across the country. Even before the merger BMH had included theoretically competing marques which were in fact selling substantially similar "badge engineered" cars. To this was added the competition from yet more, previously LMC marques. 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. The result was a product range which was incoherent and full of duplication. 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. This, 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.

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MG ZS 180 ~ British Leyland

1970s Restructuring

Sir Don Ryder was asked to undertake an enquiry into the position of the company, and his report, The Ryder Report, was presented to the government in April 1975. Following the report's recommendations, the organisation was drastically restructured and the Labour Government (1974–1979) took control by creating a new holding company British Leyland Limited (BL) of which the government was the major shareholder. The company was now organised into the following four divisions:

* Leyland Cars (later BL 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:

* Construction Equipment – Aveling-Barford, Aveling-Marshall, Barfords of Belton and Goodwin-Barsby
* Refrigeration – Prestcold
* Materials Handling – Coventry Climax (incorporating Climax Trucks, Climax Conveyancer and Climax Shawloader)
* Military Vehicles – Alvis and Self-Changing Gears
* Print – Nuffield Press (which printed the company's publications) and Lyne & Son

* 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

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 was a single car replacing two cars that competed 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) model, due for launch in 1979. However, the UK success of the Ford Fiesta, launched in 1976, redefined the small car class and ADO88 would soon be cancelled. Massive investment in the Longbridge plant would nevertheless take place in preparation for the introduction of the slightly larger "LC8" subcompact hatchback, which would be launched as the Austin Mini Metro.

In 1977 Sir Michael Edwardes was appointed Chief Executive and Leyland Cars was split up into 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)

BLCV

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 Limited (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

In 1979 British Leyland Ltd was renamed to simply 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 to BLMC Ltd.

BL's fortunes took another much-awaited rise in October 1980 with the launch of the Austin 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.

In 1982 most of the car division became the Austin Rover Group marking the end of the Morris and Triumph marques although Jaguar and Daimler remained in a separate company called Jaguar Car Holdings. The Austin Rover Group started a partnership with 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 Leyland Princess, Austin Maxi, Morris Marina and Triumph Dolomite. But the Dolomite was discontinued in August that year -and replaced by the Honda Civic based Acclaim- in a move that saw the Canley plant closed, with the Austin Maxi also being axed a year later. The Marina became the Ital in August 1980 following a major facelift, and a year later the Leyland Princess received a similar 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 Austin Montego.

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MG ZS 180 ~ British Leyland

Jaguar sale

In 1984 Jaguar Cars became independent once more, through a public sale of its shares. Ford subsequently acquired Jaguar. In 1986 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.

Rover Group sale

In 1988 the remaining Rover Group business was sold by the British Government to British Aerospace (BAe). 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. All MG (formerly MG/Rover) Products are now Made In China for the Chinese market by Nanjing. Nanjing have demolished the Longbridge site all but for a very small section, which is used to assemble the Chinese MG TF from complete knock down (CKD) for the European market (i.e. the whole car is Chinese-made, but it is partially disassembled, before being reassembled at Longbridge to avoid certain European Union taxes); this small operation employs 50 people. As only a negligible number of parts are made in Europe (oil sumps), this operation does not support many if any jobs outside the 'assembly operation' elsewhere in the UK or Europe, unlike in 1993 when 29,000 UK jobs and many other European jobs were supported by Rover.

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

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