Will JCB pick up Bathgate?
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
J. C. BAM FORD Excavators is one of several companies which are having discussions with Leyland over the purchase of the Bathgate engine manufacturing business, which will close in 1986.
Leyland will not reveal who the other prospective purchasers are, or even how many there are, but following a report in The Financial Times last week it said: "We have had discussions on the future of the Bathgate engine operation with a number of interested parties, including JCB and Marshall of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
"The main purpose of these discussions is to secure a continuing manufacturing base at Bathgate in the engine plant after Leyland Trucks withdraws from the site in 1986.
"No discussions have taken place with any party which involves manufacture of the Bathgate produced 98-Series engines at any other location."
JCB used to be a major user of 98-series engines until a strike at Bathgate two years ago prompted the construction equipment manufacturer to switch to Perkins engines.
JCB is reported to buy around 8,000 engines a year. Marshall took over Leyland's agricultural tractor manufacturing business in 1982 and continues to use 1,500 to 2,000 98Series engines a year.