Continental invasion
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Understandably, foreign car manufacturers' success in grabbing nearly half the sales in the UK car market just recently has gained much more attention than the less dramatic, but longer-standing success, which truck imports have had. There are now definite signs that the truck trend is being reversed and if the impressive new generation of British heavies can show reliability to match performance I think the importers will have to accept a considerably smaller share of this market.
In the light of this and other events among the heavies, I was interested to read Fodens' chairman Bill Foden's evidence to the Commons' expenditure committee on the motor vehicle industry (CM last week). Speaking of the take-over of Seddon-Atkinson, 'he said: " . the components one could eventually foresee being supplied by International Harvester, whereas at the moment they are supplied by British industry. One can see generally a little bit more control of the British truck market moving out of the country." I recall that when CM's editor interviewed Seddon chairman Harry Redmond last autumn, Mr Redmond saw things the opposite way round —he foresaw their British components being used by IH production lines in the States.
When Bill Foden was asked by the MPs whether he thought the Government should have questioned the take-over, he said: "An honest answer is, yes."