Britain Orders Industry Report
The Financial Times reports that the UK is following former colony Australia's lead in ordering a government investigation into its flagging auto manufacturing industry. Minister for Business and Enterprise Affairs Baroness Shriti Vadera has put former Ford man Richard Parry-Jones in charge of the 10-member committee charged with tackling the twin challenges of competition from low-cost manufacturing centers and emerging low-carbon technologies. The committee will make recommendations to the government, which has vowed to use "all levers of government, both regulatory and fiscal" to address Britain's moribund auto industry. Once home of a thriving auto industry, with dozens of brands and world-class products, Britain has seen nearly every one of its domestic brands swallowed up by companies from countries like Germany, the United States, India, China and Indonesia. Although nobody expects Britain's car industry to return to its 1960's zenith, here's hoping the Parry-Jones committee comes up with solutions which are a little more inventive than simply writing checks to Toyota.
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mikey -- good to see someone else remembers the Morris Minor. When I was a kid in western Kansas we had an eccentric but lovable neighbor named Charley Morris. He bought a Morris Minor for his wife to drive. The little car was quite a curiosity. I guess it was the similarity in name that prompted the purchase, because the nearest Morris dealer must have been at least 300 miles away. Kids were fascinated by the "flipper" turn indicators that popped out of the B pillar. If that car was still being made today, they could sell advertising space on the turn signals to Viagra.
Yes I remember them well.We had our share in Canada,winter was not kind to them.
I guess the question is, why now? Why not 30 years ago? Unfortunately, with RPJ heading up this project they'll end up with an overpriced downmarket BMW wanna be.
I'm trying to think of one aspect of the UK that political involvement has helped... I'll have to come back to you...