Whither the British truck industry?
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FE FUTURE of the British ck manufacturing industry
been thrown into total array by the collapse of ;otiations last weekend he
General. Motors and Government to take over id Rover-Leyland.
lhe deal collapsed after ime Minister Margaret ill-clic:was advised by nservative Party chairman irman Tebbit that Conser:ive backbenchers would ate too big a protest if GM s given any control of nd Rover and Freight vcr.
3M had already accepted offer of a 49 per cent stake Land Rover, but Tebbit vised that even this was inTicient to appease the back
The GM negotiators, who not prepared to take over yland Trucks without the )fitable Laud Rover busi;s, have returned to the iited States, but Whitehall urces this week were pared only to admit that c talks have reached a icky patch-.
Some members of the Cabcommittee dealing with
• BE sell-offs only became
aware of die breakdown on Saturday morning, when they read it in daily newspapers, and Trade and Industry Secretary Paul Channon was expected to make a statement on Tuesday — after CM closed for press — detailing the breakdown and the options which remain open.
MPs were expected to debate the issue in an emergency session on Wednesday,
The Government's confusion and embarrassment is compounded by the BL hoard's announcement at the weekend that it believed a GM takeover is still the best option and should continue to he sought.
It believed a merger, which would have made Leyland the stronger partner to (Ms Bedford at the heart of GM's European truck expansion plans, would have helped strengthen Leyland's hand in exporting to mainland Europe and would have provided the funds it needs to 'develop new trucks in the Nineties.
Leyland Trucks lost Y:6I million in 1984, but is expected to reduce this in 1985 results expected shortly. Its UK market share is improving and it is expected to be back in profit in 1987.
Bedford's loss increased to 1:62.4 million in 1984 and hopes of making a profit in 1985 have been given up.
Leyland is left still too small to be a major force in the European and world truck market without a new partner, and GM, already thwarted in its attempts to buy into MAN in West Germany and Enasa in Spain, now has little chance of building on its European truck interests.
Speculation this week centred on GM looking at a partnership with Renault Vehicides lndustriek in France, but the French Government's attitude to that may not be encouraging.
GM has already hinted that it might close Bedford's truck operations, but the company told its staff this week that it has a strong product line and UK dealer network and will deterniine how hest it can meet current market conditions.