British Motor Holdings
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British Motor Holding (BMH) was a British motor company created in an attempt to halt the decline in Britain's manufacturing base in the 1960s.
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 succombed 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 USA market, and was at that time hugely profitable.
The marques
BMH thus inherited a plethora of British automotive marques:- From Jaguar Cars came
- * Jaguar
- * Daimler
- * Coventry Climax
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).
| British Leyland | The rise and fall of British Leyland - the car companies and the brands () | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SS Cars | Jaguar | Jaguar | BMH | British Leyland | Jaguar | Ford | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daimler | BSA | BSA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lanchester | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BMC[1] | Austin Rover | BAe | BMW | BMW/MINI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Riley | Nuffield Organisation | BMW | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morris Garages (MG) | BMW | MGR | Nanjing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morris | Morris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wolseley[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Austin | Austin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanden Plas | Ford [3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rover | Rover | BMW/MGR [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Rover | Ford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alvis[5] | BAE Systems | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Standard | Standard Triumph | Leyland | BMW/Triumph[6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dawson | Triumph | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[2] The Wolseley trademark is registered (UK 1490228) to MG Rover Group Ltd for automobiles only. It is believed that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the brand has not been -reassigned as of July 2006 to a different company. The UK building materials supplier Wolseley plc owns the rights to the Wolseley name for all other purposes. Wolseley plc is a descendant of the original Wolseley company.
[3] The Vanden Plas trademark is owned by Ford (through Jaguar) for use within the USA and Canada, and as (UK 1133528, E2654481) to MG Rover Group Ltd for use in the rest of the world. It is belived that Nanjing Automotive may have purchased this from MG Rover, however the trademark has not been recorded as reassigned as of 17 July 2006. This is why Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas models are branded as Daimlers in Britain. The last Rover to use the Vanden Plas name was the Rover 75 Vanden Plas, a long wheelbase limousine model.
[4] The Rover trademark is owned by BMW and was only licenced to MG Rover Group Ltd. BMW has indicated the Rover brand name is for sale and there is speculation that Nanjing or Chinese rivals SAIC wish to purchase the brand outright.
[5] Alvis was purchased from British Leyland by United Scientific Holdings plc in 1981, in 2002 Alvis merged with part of Vickers Defence Systems to form Alvis Vickers which was purchased by BAE Systems in 2004. BAE Systems did not acquire Alvis through their ownership of Austin Rover Group / Rover Group in the early 1990s. Production of Alvis branded cars ceased in 1967. The trademark is owned by Alvis Vehicles Ltd
[6] The use of the Triumph name as a trademark for vehicles is shared between BMW and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The former for automobiles and the latter for motorcycles. The motorcycle and car business separated in the 1930s.
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