ABSTRACT
The post-war years down to the mid-sixties was a period of very considerable success for the British motor industry as output expanded, jobs multiplied and new markets were cultivated. Before discussing the motor industry's significance within the local economy, this chapter emphasizes that Coventry was and remains a centre of final assembly for vehicles directed at the volume passenger market and that this principally involved Rootes and Standard. Most of Coventry's motor vehicle output was directed towards the final, fashion conscious and essentially volatile end of the trade, which helps to explain why the local industry was particularly vulnerable to periodic booms and slumps. The importance of size helps to explain why both Rootes and Standard featured so prominently in the spate of mergers which occurred in the motor industry during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the formation of the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968.
