British Motor Holdings

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British Motor Holdings Ltd (BMH) was a British motor company created in an attempt to halt the decline in Britain's manufacturing base in the 1960s.

[edit] History

The Wilson Labour Government (1964–1970) came to power at a time when British manufacturing industry was in decline and decided that the remedy was to promote more mergers, particularly in the motor industry. Chrysler was already buying into the Rootes Group, Leyland Motors had acquired Standard Triumph and Rover and had become a major automotive force. The British Motor Corporation (BMC) was suffering a dramatic drop in its share of the home market, and in 1966 it succumbed to the pressures, and along with Pressed Steel, the car body manufacturer, merged with Jaguar Cars to form British Motor Holdings.

From the Jaguar perspective, the merger came about because Sir William Lyons, the managing director and founder of Jaguar Cars Ltd was nearing retirement, and did not have a viable succession plan within the company. His only son John Lyons had been killed in a car accident in 1955, and his other board members were of a similar age to himself. Another factor was that bodyshells for Jaguar production were fabricated by Pressed Steel, a supplier critical to Jaguar Cars and now controlled by BMC.

From the BMC perspective, Jaguar Cars was attractive because it was a success in the US market, and was thereby hugely profitable at a time when BMC lacked the funds to invest sufficiently in modern production facilities or new models.

[edit] The marques

BMH thus inherited a plethora of British automotive marques:

• From Jaguar Cars came

• Jaguar
• Daimler
• Coventry Climax
• Guy

• From BMC came

• Austin
• Morris
• MG
• Riley
• Wolseley
• Vanden Plas
• BMC

[edit] Short lived

BMH, however, had a short life because in 1968, still struggling, it merged with the prosperous Leyland Motor Corporation to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC).

v • d • e The rise and fall of British Leyland – the car companies and the brands
Marque	1900s					1910s					1920s					1930s					1940s					1950s					1960s					1970s					1980s					1990s					2000s					2008–
Jaguar												SS Cars												Jaguar							Jaguar			BMH	British Leyland							Jaguar				Ford										Tata
Daimler	Daimler					BSA										BSA
Lanchester	Lanchester
Mini																											BMC															Austin Rover				BAe		BMW				BMW MINI
Riley	Riley																			Nuffield Organisation																												BMW
MG												Morris Garages (MG)																																				BMW			MGR				Nanjing
Morris							Morris									Morris
Wolseley	Wolseley
Austin	Austin																							Austin
Vanden Plas			Vanden Plas																																																Ford
Rover		Rover																						Rover									Rover																		BMW MGR			Ford		Tata
Land Rover																																																			Ford					Tata
Alvis												Alvis																																				BAE Systems
Standard		Standard																					Standard Triumph								Leyland Motors																	BMH
Triumph	Dawson										Triumph																																					BMW Triumph