Best of Two Worlds
Page 24
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IT is generally recognized that Britain cannot hope to continue indefinitely her present high rate of direct commercial-vehicle exports. Countries with industrial aspirations are demanding increasingly that vehicles should be either produced or assembled locally. Enterprising British manufacturers are sympathetic towards this trend and to a growing extent are exporting vehicles in knocked-down form for assembly abroad.
This, however, is not enough. It must be ungrudgingly admitted that, although British vehicles are unsurpassed, there are countries whose sentiments lie elsewhere than in the United Kingdom. Such is the case with South America, where Spanish and German interests are predominant. In the circumstances, it is greatly to the credit of British manufacturers that they have been able to sell vehicles in such large numbers to Latki America. Given Spanish backing, however, the possibilities are much improved. This is the significance of a link which has been forged between a leading British commercial-vehicle manufacturing group and a State-owned Spanish company. The agreement between them to pool ideas, announced this week, should be greatly to the benefit of both. The Spanish influence in styling will be of great value in designing vehicles for Latin countries. Any attempt by a British designer to emulate Latin ideas can never be as successful as the indigenous product.
Another advantage of this new Anglo-Spanish link lies in combating strong German competition in South America. A basically Spanish vehicle, assembled in Spain but incorporating British units, should be cheaper than one made entirely in the United Kingdom, because of the lower cost of labour. It should thus be possible to secure orders that might otherwise go to foreign competitors in countries having a lower standard of living than the United Kingdom.