The British Motor Corporation or BMC was once one of the
world’s largest vehicle producers. It was formed in 1952 as a result of a merger
between Austin and Morris. BMC would become one of the world’s largest car
manufacturers, responsible at its peak for around 39% of British car exports.
The British car industry did not keep up with the times and
was very much in decline by the time it was nationalised by the government in
1975 and re-named British Leyland. This
would later become the Austin Rover Group. The group was later sold to British
Aerospace in 1998 but just 3 years later they sold it to BMW. The truth was
that it had been costing British Aerospace too much money to keep it going. Some of the cars had been developed under
partnership with Honda so it was a great surprise to many when BMW purchased
the company.
BMW would invest heavily in the group for the next 6 years
before they too came to the conclusion that they were spending too much money
to keep it afloat. Enter the Pheonix Consortium who bought the business for just
£10, acquired a large loan and thousands of unsold cars. With little investment
in R&D and an agreement to build cars in India, it could not establish its
reputation as a quality car builder and suffered against fierce competition
from other manufacturers.
The five Phoenix directors made sure that they lined their
pockets to the tune of more than £16 million in salaries while the MG Rover
group itself continued to lose money. The last vehicles rolled off the
production line in 2005 and the company went into administration. It would
finally be sold to a Chinese consortium called SAIC who moved production to
China albeit with the exception of MG sports cars and a small operation still
at Longbridge employing a few hundred people.
The huge sprawling factory at Longbridge is now a shadow of
its former past. Most of it has been demolished and has made way for new
developments. This short story just gives you an insight into its history and
everything could have ended there it were not for two interesting developments.
British Leyland would continue in India as it does today and it still has strong
connections to the UK. Website:
http://www.ashokleyland.com/
You could be forgiven for thinking that BMC faded into
history and died in all but name but you would be wrong. Licenses for some BMC
products were passed on to a small Turkish company that kept the original name
and logo and started to produce vehicles. Scroll forward to present day and you
may be surprised to know that BMC is a large producer of light vehicles, trucks
and buses and even exports some of its products to the UK.
http://www.bmc.com.tr/hakkimizda/?lang=en
Visitors to Turkey might have noticed a very prominent
Leyland Sherpa lookalike in villages and towns around the country. Mostly in a
flat bed style rather than a van these vehicles are a legend in Turkey. They
have been a huge success story over here and parts for these vehicles are readily
available at a fraction of the cost of more modern vehicles. The flatbed pickups
were suitably named Levend ( notice the similarity with Leyland ) and they were
produced in their old shape right up until 1999 and then in
the new format until 2009! Below is one of the Sherpa UK versions.
Ask any Turkish villager about the Levend. They are known
for their durability, their strength and character and they are loved for their
general ruggedness and capabilities as a good farming vehicle or city delivery
truck. No one has a bad word to say about them and they are still revered and
sought after. There is a very healthy second hand market for them in Turkey.
So, BMC lives on. It may no longer be British but just like Ashock
Leyland both companies retain their pedigree and on reflection it is a great
shame that the Leyland Sherpa was often ridiculed and lost ground to the Ford
Transit when in reality, as proven in Turkey, it turned out to be something
special with a long production span and a proud reputation.
