"A new five-part account of the British Leyland years from 1974 to 1977 on AROnline.
Linked below, the first part, sets the scene for the company’s 1960s decline – from lofty heights – and its subsequent need for a Government bail-out in the closing days of 1974…
Setting the scene, in August 1959, BMC unveiled the Mini. It may have been small, but its impact on our expectations of what the British motor industry could achieve was enormous. Since 1945 the politicians and analysts had exhorted the British motor industry to produce a volume car that would appeal to export markets in the same way as the Volkswagen Beetle. Virtually all previous attempts had failed, at the manufacturers’ expense, not the politicians, it might be added. Now, in the summer of 1959, it had arrived. However, the Mini was not the car the politicians and analysts had screamed for – it was mechanically complex and expensive to build and perhaps not as reliable as conventional rear-wheel-drive cars. Despite this, demand for the Mini soon led to production easily outstripping the other BMC volume cars. It has been commented before that probably no other company would have allowed Issigonis to develop a car like the Mini. The fact remains that in the Mini and ADO16 he created two of Britain’s most popular cars ever. However, beneath the façade lurked problems. The main one was labour relations.... "
British Leyland, The Grand Illusion – Part One (of Five) - Export or Die:-
https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/brit ... xport-die/