Gardner: inns are read
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• The much anticipated takeover of Gardner Engines by Perkins is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Perkins broke its official silence on the move — an open secret in the commercial vehicle business — Last week, but neither it nor Hawker Siddeley, Gardner's parent for the past nine years, will say how much the deal is wc Gardner, whose fortur are locked into those of collapsing double-deck hi market, has been losing money and has been hit by Cummins' entry into I medium power market o the past four years.
Its workforce is being from 660 to 530 this yea Hawker Siddeley has inv heavily in a flexible manufacturing line.
For the immediate fun Perkins is keeping the L Gardner and Sons name will continue to manufact automotive, industrial an marine engines at the Patricroft plant at Eccles Manchester. Gardner en
!e sold and serviced by own distribution network. rkins first broke into the y diesel market two 3 ago when it paid Vickers million for the Rolls-Royce els business. It has only .td rights to use the Rolls ! and sells truck engines Aim Eagle.
rkins group managing tor John Devaney says ner's engines will !lenient Perkins' existing in the bus and marine :ets especially. Gardner is a 75 per cent share of proprietary bus engine market with sales of about 1,200 a year, but those sales are falling.
Devaney said: "This acquisition is part of our ongoing strategy to look at the long-term future of the Perkins Group and to ensure that our product offerings meet the widespread needs of our customers, both within the UK and elsewhere around the world."
Perkins — part of Massey Ferguson and with factories throughout the world — exports over 80% of its production of 400,000 engines annually to 160 countries.
Gardner, rooted more in the British commercial vehicle market, has begun to export small numbers of engines to the Finnish and Belgian bus markets and is supplying a German builder, Neoplan, with engines for coaches supplied to the National Bus Company.
There is greater parity in the marine market. Perkins has supplied 70,000 engines in use at sea today, while around 20,000 Gardner diesels are in marine use.
• See p17