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===Badge-engineered models===
===Badge-engineered models===


In contrast to the continued development of competing models, British Leyland continued th epractice of [[badge engineering]] of models which had started under BMC; selling essentially the same vehicle under two (or more) different [[marque]]s.
In contrast to the continued development of competing models, British Leyland continued the Ëpractice of [[badge engineering]] of models which had started under BMC; selling essentially the same vehicle under two (or more) different [[marque]]s.


* [[Riley One-Point-Five]]/[[Wolseley 1500]]
* [[Riley One-Point-Five]]/[[Wolseley 1500]]

Revision as of 08:14, 25 May 2005

The British Leyland Motor Corporation ("BLMC"), was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in Britain in 1968. Ultimately it would become nationalized as British Leyland then known just as BL.

History

BLMC, later to become just "BL" was created from the merger of British Motor Holdings and Leyland Motor Corporation, to combine most of the remaining British car manufacturing companies. These two companies were the results of mergers themselves. The corporation 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 company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued Britain in the 1970s. At its peak, BL owned nearly 40 different manufacturing plants across the country. Rivalry between the individual marques which had previously been competitors prior to the merger resulted in a product range which was incoherent and full of duplication. This, combined with serious industrial relations problems (principally, the company's relations with hard-line Socialist Trade Unions of the time), and ineffectual management meant that BL became an unmanageable and financially crippled behemoth whose bankruptcy in 1975 was inevitable.

Many of the brands were divested over time and continue to exist to this day, although the British Leyland name came to an end in 1982. From Austin to Morris the most direct heir of the company was the MG Rover Group which collapsed in April 2005.


British Leyland also produced commercial vehicles, light vans and agricultural tractors.

Timelines


Note: The car brands of BSA were divested, BSA was not merged into Jaguar.

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.

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)
1960 Jaguar buy the car-making interests of BSA, including Daimler
1961 Leyland Motors acquire Standard Triumph
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
1975 Publication of the Ryder Report, British Leyland effectively nationalised due to financial difficulties, company changes its name to BL Ltd.
1977 Michael Edwardes appointed as Chairman by Labour Government. Begins massive cull of excess BL assets.

History of Divestments

  • 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
  • 1982 Michael Edwardes steps down as Chairman, British Leyland renamed Austin Rover Group (ARG)
  • 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
  • 1986 Austin Rover renamed as Rover Group, Austin badges disappear the following year
  • 1986 Leyland Trucks & Vans sold to DAF. Vans became independent LDV in 1993, and Trucks became Leyland Trucks also in 1993, is taken over by US giant PACCAR in 1998 and integrated with Foden.
  • 1986 Leyland Bus floated off; bought by Volvo 1988
  • 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
  • 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 now independent as the MG Rover Group
  • 2005 MG Rover collapses amid severe financial difficulties. Closure of Longbridge assembly plant.

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. Badge engineering of models continued for a while but most were dropped.

Badge-engineered models

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

See Also

Other nationalized British Companies

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