3athgate end looms
Page 7
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EYLAND has set aside £40m to over the likely cost of closing :s Bathgate plant in West othian. The figure was revealed the year-ending accounts long with.Land Rover-Leyland's 68m loss for 1983, a figure 50 or cent higher than in 1982.
The Scottish factory, which -lakes engines and export lorry its for Third World markets is enerally expected to close within months, but the plan is ieing fought in the Cabinet by ;cottish Secretary George 'ounger who is anxious to avoid he loss of the 1,800 jobs there. While BL as a whole made an iperating profit of £4.1m last 'ear (1982: £125.8m loss) and :ut its pre-tax net loss from :292m to £151m, Land Rover.eyland is still in deep trouble, vith its pre-tax net loss up from
:42m to £66m.
Most of the loss was incurred )1/ Leyland Vehicles, the Leyland rrucks dominated truck, bus and parts division, which made a E70m operating loss.
The Land Rover group, which hitherto has offset the losses by Leyland Vehicles, lost £14m, and the figure would have been higher still had Freight Rover, the apparently revivified Sherpa van builder, not made a small undisclosed profit last year.
It has been increasing its fleet sales, notably to British Tolecorn, and now has a range of vans up to 3.5 tonnes available in a growing and increasingly competitive market.
The truck division, while now back firmly in second place in the British market with a share of around 15 per cent, has been dogged by the elimination of many of its Third World markets.
It has already axed 1,057 jobs from its Albion, Leyland and Scammell plants, and extraordinary charges set aside in last year's figures include £40m for possible further restructuring of Land Rover-Leyland, once Government approval is given. E27m has already been spent on restructuring.
The BL statement is characteristically coy about what this means, but few doubt that it means the end of Bathgate, a plant which has long fitted uneasily into the Leyland empire and which was located there some 25 years ago as a Govern