>This car had lots of company. The failure of the British motorcycle
>industry at the same time was due to exactly the same reasons. A kind of
>national arrogance, unwillingness to commit to forward planning, sloppy
>construction, building to a price (low), general inability to recognize and
>react to superior competition, and complete disinterest on the part of
>stockholders saw the world's largest and most successful motorcycle industy
>disappear in the space of a decade. It was merely a harbinger of the death
>of the British auto industry which was among the world's largest just a
>three decades before.
>How could names like Austin, Morris, MG, Sunbeam, Triumph completely
>disappear without a massive national outcry? Imagine the reaction in the
>US if Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Lincoln, Cadillac and Chrysler simply
>disappeared as automobile marques in a few short years - to be replaced by
>Japanese, Korean and European vehicles. Imagine the response in the US if
>BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Honda and Toyota simply bought every American
>nameplate and replaced them with clones of their own products. It happened
>in Britain.
Now hang on, an American calling the British arrogant?? :-)
I've seen far more Japanese cars in the US than in Britain or Europe. The
US car industry was a joke until a couple of years ago, when it pulled
its socks up and started trying to catch up with foreign imports.
In fact, I looked at some US offerings at the London Motor Show and was
disappointed at the poor quality engineering and materials. Just compare
a 98 Corvette with a 98 Jaguar and you'll see what I mean.
And you mention motorcycles: Take a look at a modern all-British Triumph
and compare it with an argricultural Harley Davidson. :-)
Some British car companies may be owned by foreign investors, but at
least they produce decent products.
There's nothing unusual in this foreign investment - British companies
are very good at buying US companies. Look at Burger King - owned by
Britain, but still very much American.
There seems to be an arrogance among some Americans that makes them think
that they are the most technologically advanced country on earth. But the
USA is about the only part of the world where you can't use a GSM digital
phone - you're still struggling with analogue, your car radios don't
boast RDS, and you're not adopting digital radio broadcasting next year.
Ummm, glad I live in good ol' Blightly.
Having said all this, you're a good bunch generally, so don't take this
badly! ;-)
Philip Raby
Editor, MG World
PO Box 163, Bicester OX6 3YS, UK
Tel: 01869 340061 Fax: 01869 340063 Mobile 0467 767361
www.chp.ltd.uk
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