ABSTRACT
The post-war years down to the mid-1960s were a period of very considerable success for the British motor industry as output expanded, jobs multiplied and new markets were cultivated. 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. At the end of the war Coventry's motor and aircraft manufacturers quickly looked to the future, but their plans could only be realised within the framework of the Labour government's own policies for reconstruction. Sufficient statistical evidence has been marshalled to outline the broad areas in which Coventry's volume producers lagged behind in the motor industry. Closely linked with the economies-of-scale explanation is the contention that investment levels in Coventry's motor industry after 1950 were below those necessary to promote high output and profitability.
