BRITISH LEYLAND
Page 31
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1. I think it is inevitable that road transport will grow in continental Europe. As economies grow, actual tonnages being moved will increase and the traditional forms of goods movement in Europe will become less and less able to cope and compete with the door to door flexibility of the truck.
2. British Leyland is perhaps unique in that it has a foot in both camps — we manufacture the high-volume light and medium vehicles and are also very strong in the premium, high-durability truck market. As the tariffs reduce in the next five years we shall be building a thoroughly sound service and sales network so that we can be fully geared to sell a wide range of vehicles by the time that the market is tariff-free. We already have over 300 service outlets in the EEC.
Vehicles developed particularly with Europe in mind are in the pipeline.
3. We have yet to see the results of any multi-national co-operative agreements between commercial vehicle manufacturers. While I think it is possible that some of the smaller manufacturers may be obliged either to merge totally or combine their technical resources in order to survive, I doubt whether any of the big manufacturers will merge. Thus far, me-rgers which cross national frontiers have not been particularly successful. It is, however, possible that some manufacturers may take licences from others for manufacture of certain components in limited markets.
4. I believe that some increase over the current 32-ton UK maximum is inevitable in the medium or long term. Any gross weight increase will contribute to industrial efficiency and the fight against inflation. A gvw of 40 tons would appear to be a good compromise, with an 11-tonne axle loading.
We are in the fortunate position of being able to design to meet almost any of the discussed regulations, largely using existing components.
5. Under increasing environmental pressures, I think that in the next 8 or 10 years we shall be seeing quieter trucks and buses which emit less visible smoke and toxic matter. The turbine project will offer considerable practical advantages to operators and drivers, and we believe that we are some way ahead of our competitors with this type of power unit. Also I believe the whole industry is looking at methods of improving both primary and secondary safety in commercial vehicles.
For the long term I think fuel economy will become increasingly important as the world's reserves of fuel oil diminish, and thus more attention will be paid to alternative power sources.