New name for BL as chief quits
Page 4
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A new name and new management team are in prospect for BL, as new chairman Graham Day settles into his post.
The name change, expected to be approved by the hoard next month, will change the State-owned motor group's corporate title to the Rover Group, but will not affect the trading names of the commercial vehicle and car businesses.
Former chairman Sir Michael Edwardes changed the group's name from British Leyland to BL in 1978 as part of a policy of using the Leyland name only for commercial vehicles and of banishing the tarnished image it acquired in the early Seventies.
Now, it acknowledges that the old image has persisted and it wants one more closely identified with its most popular products.
First sign of an expected change in top management was last week's resignation of David Andrews, the former executive director responsible for the Land Rover-Leyland Group and who led a bid to take over Land Rover in the face of the Government-supported bid from General Motors.
He has been on leave of absence since he launched the takeover bid and is not expected to remain in the British motor industry.
Ray Horrocks, in charge of the car business until Day's appointment last month, has been fulfilling Andrews' role since then, but is also expected to resign from the management team.