British Leyland bounces back
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MA proud still-British (government plots permitting) Leyland, which celebrates its 90th birthday this month, is bouncing back, reports the May edition of Transport Engineering. No wonder General Motors wanted to buy Leyland, says a headline it predicts output this year double what it was in 1982.
The article says that Leyland's repair and maintenance scheme, which so far has over 1,000 vehicles under contract, is particularly promising. A typical standard maintenance contract price (excluding tyres) for T45 Roadtrain over five years covering 150,000km a year is 3.69p/km (5.94p/mile) and for a Roadrunner over two years at 50,000krn a year is 1.33p/km (2.14p/mile). However, the magazine censures Leyland's sales literature, describing as arrogant its claim that the firm's cab provides 'supreme' comfort.
• Graham Day, taking over as chairman and chief executive of BL, the personal choice of Mrs Thatcher to become the first full-time chairman since the departure in 1983 of Sir Michael Edwardes, refuted suggestions that he is a "hatchet man" Financial Times, May 2. He advised employees to wait to see how changes affect them. Day joined BL from British Shipbuilders.