Irvine 'not British'
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VOLVO TRUCK and Bus (GB) has lost the British label for its Irvine, Scotland, manufacturing plant but has been given the chance to re-apply.
At a meeting of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' Council members last week, it was decided that as the British label applied only to the Irvine plant, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volvo, it should be taken away.
If, however, Volvo was to reapply for a British label for both its UK branches then the SMMT would re-consider the application.
Volvo's other UK branch is its sales headquarters which has recently been moved from Heathrow to Irvine. Volvo is not sure whether it will bother to re-apply, as it feels it has already observed the correct procedure for applying for the British label.
A spokesman for Volvo said the company would be planning its next move over the next few months. He pointed out that if a company seeks a British label for producing lorries and buses, it would be normal to apply just for the manufacturing plant. Why another application needed to be made for the sales headquarters, he did not fully understand.
The spokesman said that Volvo was disappointed with the result but was "encouraged" that the SMMT felt Volvo met all the criteria as a British manufacturer. "But the point is that we still make trucks and buses in Scotland. We do not need an SMMT stamp of approval for that," he said.
Leyland Vehicles, which lodged the main protest at Volvo's British label (CM March 5), welcomed the decision. It would clearly have been inequitable to have granted British manufacturer status to the minor subsidiary of a major importer, a company spokesman said.
"Leyland now considers the Volvo issue closed and is satisfied with the outcome," he said. "It will continue to campaign for a change in the SMMT rules so there is a much higher level of local content required," he added. A figure of 75 per cent would ensure a genuine commitment to British manufacturers, he said.
He thought that Volvo stood little chance of winning back its British classification, as the opposition to it from the SMMT Council members was very high. And in the future such important issues as British classification would be decided at Council level and not by SMMT officials, he said.