Former Maudslay plant, latterly making AEC dump trucks. 1961 Leyland Motors acquires Standard Triumph. 1994 Maestro and Montego go out of production. A new plant opened by BMC in 1961 to manufacture light trucks and tractors. After the war, Leyland Motors continued military manufacture with the Centurion tank. It was partly nationalised in 1975, when the UK government created a holding company called British Leyland, later BL, in 1978.It incorporated much of the British-owned motor vehicle industry, which constituted 40 percent of the UK car market,with roots going back to 1895. Former Scammell plant building specialist heavy trucks. This was the result of a management buyout who decided to sell the company to the Bus & Truck division of Volvoin 1988. Following the report's recommendations, the organisation was drastically restructured and the Labour Government (19741979) took control by creating a new holding companyBritish Leyland Limited(BL) of which the government was the major shareholder, effectively nationalising the company. The company is a leader in the heavy transportation sector within India and has an aggressive expansionary policy. Coventry Canley. At this point, while building about 10,000 trucks per annum, Leyland was more and more depending on outside engines as production of their own 98-series was steadily declining. In 1988 the business was sold by the British Government to British Aerospace (BAe), and shortly after shortened its name to just Rover Group. Also known as the Ward End works. Cross Gates, Leeds.
In 1986 BL changed its name to Rover Group and in 1987 theTrucks Division Leyland Vehiclesmerged with the Dutch DAF company to formDAF NV, trading as Leyland DAF in the UK and asDAFin the Netherlands. After 1945, it created another milestone with the trend-setting Atlantean rear-engined double-decker busdesign produced between 1956 and 1986. All the latest news from the car auction world. Several of these names (including Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini) are now in other hands. Became a Land Rover-only plant in 1981 when Rover SD1 production was moved to the Cowley plant. 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. JRT later split up into Rover-Triumph and Jaguar Car Holdings (which included Daimler). MG and the Austin, Morris andWolseley marques became part of China's SAIC, with whom MG Rover attempted to merge prior to administration. However, any benefits from the broader number of models were far outweighed by higher development costs and greatly reduced economies of scale. 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. 1896 Leyland Motors Ltd (commercial vehicles), 1952 Austin-Healey created by Austin division of BMC (see below), 1959 Mini: the car initially launched as the, 1910 Daimler merged with the BSA car armaments-and-motorbikes engineering company BSA (last BSA car, 1939), 1931 Lanchester purchased by BSA/Daimler (last Lanchester 1956), 1938 Morris Motors purchases Wolseley and Riley and from 1943 they are jointly referred to as the Nuffield Organisation, 1944 Standard acquires Triumph, forming Standard Triumph, 1951 Leyland Motors purchase the share capital of Albion Motors, 1952 Morris and Austin merge to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC), 1955 Leyland Motors acquires Scammell Lorries Limited of Watford. 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. 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.
The last Rover to use the Vanden Plas name was the Rover 75 Vanden Plas, a long wheelbase limousine model. 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. 1960 Jaguar buys Daimler for the latter's production facilities. 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. Engines were decided from the outset to be in the higher power category to be competitive with rival vehicles. This was Leyland's answer to the Ford cargo in the non-HGV 7.5-ton truck sector. 1994 Rover Group Car Holdings Ltd sold to BMW, collaboration with Honda ends. 1963 Jaguar acquires the engine and fork lift truck manufacturing company Coventry Climax, 1966 BMC changes its name to British Motor Holdings (BMH), 1968 Leyland merges 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 and Eastern Coach WorksBodies previously built by the NBC, 1970s Majority stake in Danish partner DAB, to form Leyland-DAB, producer of the Leyland-DAB articulated bus, 1974 Cessation of production of cars in Australia, 1975 Publication of the Ryder Report: British Leyland effectively was nationalised due to financial difficulties, with formation of new holding company, 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.
In 1986 it was renamed as the Rover Group, later to become MG Rover Group, which went intoadministration in 2005, bringing mass car production by British-owned manufacturers to an end. Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Closed. Birmingham Drews Lane / Common Lane. No.2 plant continued to produce bodies for assembly at Canley until closure in 1980. The nomenclature "T45" refers to the truck range as a whole and encompasses models such as the lightweight 7.5-ton Roadrunner, Freighter (fourwheel rigid truck), Constructor (multi-axle rigid tipper or mixer chassis - its chassis owing much to the outgoing Scammell 8-wheeler Routeman), and Cruiser (basic spec low weight tractor unit). No.1 plant became the first major British BLMC car assembly plant to close, in 1978. 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.
Coventry Browns Lane. The only existing engine within the Leyland empire suitable for such an application (following the demise of the ill-fated fixed-head 500 series and AEC's underdeveloped and unreliable V8) was the AEC AV760 straight-six, which was turbocharged and designated as the TL12. The trademark is owned by Alvis Vehicles Ltd. This is why Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas models are branded as Daimlers in Britain. On the other hand, Leyland Motors acquired other companies in the post war years: Donald Stokes, previously Sales Director, was appointed managing director of Leyland Motors Limited in September 1962originally a Leyland student apprentice he had grown up with the company. Closed in 1972, when van assembly transferred to nearby Common Lane. 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. Bought by Morris and established at Washwood Heath, making fuel pumps and carburettors (c1300 workers). Parry-Thomas atBrooklands. This went on to be one of the most popular cars in Britain of the 1980s. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was renamed Leyland Motors in 1907 when they took over Coulthards of Preston, who had been making steam wagons since 1897. This model was produced for a relatively short time until 1993 with the launch of the brand new cabbed DAF 85. Their first products included steam lawn mowers. Leyland Trucks was taken over by US giant PACCAR in 1998 and integrated with Foden. 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.
Closed upon the collapse of MG Rover in 2005. Closed 1986. In 1977 Sir Michael Edwardes was appointed chief executiveby the NEB and Leyland Cars was split up intoAustin Morris(the volume car business) andJaguar Rover Triumph(JRT) (the specialist or upmarket division). Closed by Volvo 1993. The new corporation was arranged into seven divisions under its new chairman, Sir Donald Stokes (formerly the chairman of LMC). 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. Llanelli. As such, it was a no-frills vehicle of a simple and sturdy design, with five- or six-speed transmissions rather than the multi-speed units used on European models. The Roadtrain itself was a max weight model with distance work in mind. 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 Firm of Swain's based at Rochester in Kent had a number of roadtrains in its fleet which enjoyed a comparatively long service life (until the late 1990s) before being replaced by the newer DAF 85. Birmingham Adderley Park. The use of the Triumph name as a trademark for vehicles is shared between BMW and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. 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. In 1977, the redesigned "Marathon 2" was launched, an updated and revised vehicle that attempted to address some of the previous criticisms of the earlier vehicle. BMC is also the name of a commercial vehicle manufacturer in Turkey, formerly the Turkish subsidiary of the British Motor Corporation. The original Gosford Street building is now the Coventry University Business School's William Morris Building. The Leyland name and logo continues as a recognised and respected marque across India, the wider subcontinent and parts of Africa in the form of Ashok Leyland. Sales were never quite satisfactory, however, with the vacation closure extended in 1986 to reduce unsold stock. The cabin was a simplified all-steel version of that used by the Roadrunner, designed to enable local assembly. British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL, then in 1986 to Rover Group. The T45's cab is called theC40and its 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 outgoing models (for example, the Bathgate built G cab on the Terrier, the Ergomatic cabbed Lynx, Beaver etc.). However, a small number remain in use throughout the country as towing-and-recovery vehicles. 1981 Alvis sold to United Scientific Holdings and Alvis plc formed. Cowley, Oxfordshire. Leyland Cars Ltd is renamed, 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. Vehicle assembly ceased 1980, but became an axle plant. The first joint venture car with Honda - the Triumph Acclaim, goes into production at Cowley.
6x2 versions were built in high cab form only on a chassis that was basically that of the ageing Scammell trunker. 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. Bus chassis assembly transferred to Leyland 1973, subsequently the Jaguar engine and axle plant. Former Daimler plant. The company became an infamous monument to the industrial turmoil that plagued Britain in the 1970s. Ironically, since 1987, when the London-based Hinduja Group bought the Indian-based Ashok Leyland company, it is once again a British-owned brand. British Leyland also provided the technical know-how and the rights to their Leyland 28BHP tractor forAuto Tractors Limited, a tractor plant in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relationsreputedly never losing a day's production through industrial action. 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. Solihull, West Midlands. Scotstoun, Glasgow. In 1975, after the publication of the Ryder Report and the company's bankruptcy,BLMC was nationalised as British Leyland (BL) and split into 4 divisions with the bus and truck production becoming theLeyland Truck & Busdivision within the Land Rover Leyland Group. All Rights Reserved. Leyland Trucks depended on British sales as well as export markets, mainly commonwealth and ex-commonwealth markets. 1967: Aveling-Barford was acquiredThis company mainly made road rollers and dumper trucks. Parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when the car overturned. Birmingham 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. Holyhead Road, Coventry. The truck assembly ceased in 1985, and the plant closed in 1986. The products were branded as Ashok Leyland. Two thirds of the plant has now been demolished and cleared for new uses. Kingsbury Lane, London. Between 1975 and 1980 these shares were vested in the National Enterprise Board which had responsibility for managing this investment.
After the merger, Lord Stokes was horrified to find that BMH had no plans to replace the elderly designs in its portfolio. Sir Henry inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Became part of Rover Powertrain following the creation of MG Rover in 2000, but was closed and demolished following the 2005 collapse.
Both were the best selling double-deck bus chassis of their time. 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 compete effectively with popular rivals such as Ford's Escort and Cortina. This resulted in the Morris Marina and the Austin Allegro. Production of Alvis branded cars ceased in 1967. 1998 Metro/100-series goes out of production the last of the former Austin models. 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 1946, AEC and Leyland Motors worked to form the British United Traction Ltd.
Jaguar and Daimler remained in a separate company called Jaguar Car Holdings, but were later sold off and privatised in 1984. 1985 Closure of Bathgate truck assembly plant. 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. The plant still employs 2000 workers. Launched in 1984, it utilised a Leyland 698 straight-six engine until 1986, when a 5.9L Cummins was introduced. 1987 Leyland Trucks division (including Freight Rover vans) merged with DAF to form DAF NV/Leyland DAF. IV/Morris Oxford Farina VI/Riley 4/72/Wolseley 16/60, Riley Pathfinder/Riley Two-Point-Six/Wolseley 6/90, Morris Mini Traveller/Austin Mini Countryman, Austin 1100/Austin 1300/Morris 1100/Morris 1300/MG 1100/Riley Kestrel/Riley 1300/Vanden Plas Princess/Wolseley 1100. Closed in 1980. Closed by Ford in the late 1990s. Former Thornycroft plant, latterly a specialist heavy truck plant. In 1972 it became BLMC's main van assembly plant. 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. The first result of this crash programme was theMorris Marina in early 1971. EVERYBODY ELSE: If you're in the market for a vehicle, any vehicle, car, van, motorbike or commercial and don't want to pay FULL RETAIL PRICE Register HERE. 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. Former Alvis plant, latterly producing military vehicles. 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. 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. Closed by Leyland in 1984, but reopened in 1985 as Optare bus plant. 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 11.6-litre (710cuin) DAF 330 ATi engine (quite ironic, given that this engine had its roots in the Leyland O.680). Brislington, Bristol. 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. Closed by Ford in 2005. The basic cab had a long service life, becoming later on the Leyland DAF 45. Fallings Park, Wolverhampton. The TL12 engine was dropped early on in the production run, with most large fleet buyers choosing the Rolls-Royce engine. The early 1980s were very hard, with export sales drying up in many places such as oil-dependent Nigeria. Watford, Hertfordshire. 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. 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). Mini was not originally a marque in its own right. 2022 GAUK Motors. The equity stake inAshok Leylandwas controlled by Land Rover Leyland International Holdings, and sold in 1987. Closed 1988. The Wolseley trademark is registered (UK 1490228) to MG Rover Group Ltd for automobiles only. Birmingham Castle Bromwich, Former Fisher and Ludlow body plant, acquired by BMC in 1953. BMH brought with it into the new organisation more famous British goods vehicle and bus and coach marques, including Daimler, Guy, BMC,Austin and Morris. Closed in 1982. This, and other reasons, led to financial difficulties and in December 1974 British Leyland had to receive a guarantee from the British government. The following companies moved under this new umbrella: BLCV and the Land Rover Group later merged to becomeLand Rover Leyland. The UK truck division was bought through a management buy-out and became Leyland Trucks. The Spare Parts Operation (Multipart) was also subject to a management buy-out before eventually becoming part of the LEX organisation. Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Sir Henry Spurrier in 1964. In 1968 Leyland Motor Corporation Limited merged with British Motor Holdings (BMH) to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC). Truck manufacture continues under PACCARownership. Today, MINI, Jaguar Land Rover and Leyland Trucks (now owned by BMW Group, TATA 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. 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. This division was split intoLeyland Busand Leyland Trucks in 1981. Former Albion truck and bus plant. Other engine options included a 200bhp Leyland L11, as well as Cummins 10- and 14-litre engines at 250 and 330bhp, respectively. Plant demolished in 1993 and sold for redevelopment. Radiator and pressings plant opened in the early 1960s, employing c 4,000 workers in the 1970s.Now owned by Calsonic Llanelli Radiators. Closed 1980. 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. Cardiff. 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.