Had a presentation on what killed the British Automotive Industry

Everyone was too busy fucking little boys.

>>16313725
Workforce was terrible, always going on strike. Also build quality in 70s particularly was appalling, ruined the reputation of brands like Rover. People rather bought German cars because they wouldn't fall apart and rust away.

Smug commies

Because British Leyland.

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>>16313818

Lucas had a hand in it too.

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>be BL
>badge-engineer Hondas
>decide to have a go at the wiring and 4-cyl engines yourself
Absolute Madmen

>>16313725
Unions, poor build quality because union workers were lazy scum, low production because union strikes, and their terrible reputation from the 70s continued even after thatcher smashed the unions and everything got much better in the 80s

>>16313839
>tfw you will never own an MG ZS because even though it's a Civic, even in 2005 it was already a 15 years old Civic with a Rover engine and wiring which probably makes it one of the worst cases of "could've been good" ever

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>>16313941
It's so sad, I even forgot my picture.

>>16313839

That's the one that always kills me. They take one of the most desirable luxury coupes of the time, the Acura Legend and add higher quality Connolly leather and burled walnut. And then, in the proper english style, they then gave it Lucas electrics as well for the coup de grace.

Laughable.

>>16313950
On the upside you could still fit the interior trim into a Honda if you really wanted.

>>16313725
Northern People.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ztUlve9jc

>>16313725
Serves them right, they were so incompetent that they couldn't even put the steering wheel on the proper side.

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Joseph Lucas, Inventor of the Intermittent Windshield Washer

^^^ His second invention, the Intermittent Headlamp, wasn't so well received.

>>16313725

What really killed the British car industry?

Weak-ass management who knew no matter what they did, they'd be bailed out an equally weak-ass government?

Over-bearing trade unions who'd knew they would bleed the system dry?

The 1980's motto of "greed is good" so everything was up for grabs? Where quantity trumped quality so any old crap was pushed into the dealerships?

The spells under foreign ownership where they tightened the screws so brand recognition turned into money?

>dat quadratic steering wheel

>>16314145
Honestly, a bit of all of that plus focusing on "muh yuro common market".
The managment was stuck in its own bubble with its own ideas while engineering and its unions had another, both sides refused to listen to each others, changes were forced by both of them without enough time to make things work resulting in incompatible things being stuffed into the same plans.
The idea that it would be the perfect car to flood the european common market left everybody with no actual focus and the idea that they should make "a car for everyone", resulting in a final product that had a little something for every kind of driver but was really fitting to none and had better alternatives in every alley.

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>>16313725
Watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ztUlve9jc
Jeremy Clarkson made some documentaries back in the day and the British car industry was covered in one. This is it.

>>16313725
The KGB got into the unions and convinced them with their communist bullshit and siezed the fucking industry up.
Same happened with the coal industry, the shipping industry, British Rail, and the steel industry.

Everything got automated, and white-collar engineers don't have unions. The only vestiges are the rail unions and the public sector unions. The second-biggest union is retail workers, and they mostly just negotiate for better pay and lobby government for better pay.

Go online and find Jame's May's Cars of the People
Season 2, Episode 1. Dailymotion has them uploaded.

It's very informative and a good watch, all of them are.

>>16313807
french workers aren't exactly corporate friendly and french manufacturers still exist.

1. Strikes and build quality.
2. Poor management.
3. Strong pound.
4. Japan.

I owned a 240z and a triumph tr6 at the same time. The difference was night and day.

>>16314662
>soshallism
The French state still owns 14% of PSA and 20% of Renault

>>16314662
They were saved by their factories abroad, particularly in eastern Europe and now in China.

The British car industry is still alive and kicking but owned by everyone but the British.

>>16313725
Driving on the wrong side of the road killed it, which means they only get like 5% of cool cars ever made, and they're all Japanese.

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>>16313725

The British are pretty terrible at engineering and manufacturing in general, always have been.

The Titanic was shit.
The Concorde was shit.
British cars are known for breaking down every time it rains.

You guys were doomed from the start.

>>16313725
>Why, GB, why?
British """""""""""""""""Culture""""""""""""""""""""
They thought they were owed something by the rest of the world because they had "won" WW2.

>>16314728
And what about the 60s and 70s when they were still doing a lot better than than Brits? Same as the Germans and Swedes (relatively speaking).

>>16315186
Less concurrence from said brits and germans, plus loads and loads of exports to the former colonies.
In that period, the average french customer did not yet have a very high income and that's why smaller Citroëns, Renaults, Peugeots but also now deceased Simca and Panhard did well : they were more affordable than the german barges, they were smaller and thus more fitting the french cities (which unlike german cities, were not rebuilt with larger roads after WW2), mechanics and affiliated workshops were common. That's also why for quite a long time, the only "big" french car that really worked was the Citroën DS, that had its price lowered to better fit the market, the rest of the production was actually quite small cars.

>>16315280
Or maybe you could read a history book not written by a McCarthyist.

>>16315125
>pretty terrible at engineering and manufacturing in general

and yet they did everything first

>>16313807
>People rather bought German cars because they wouldn't fall apart and rust away.

how things have changed