After decades of success, the UK risks losing its car industry to more muscular rivals
When Margaret Thatcher opened Britain’s first Nissan plant in 1986, it was a new dawn for the British car industry.
The factory was “confirmation from Nissan after a long and thorough appraisal, that within the whole of Europe, the United Kingdom was the most attractive country – politically and economically – for large scale investment and offered the greatest potential,” said Thatcher in a speech officially opening the plant.
After a years-long courtship, she had persuaded the company to set up a manufacturing hub in Sunderland, in a major political coup that revitalised the domestic industry.
Now, however, car makers are going into reverse. UK production of cars has tumbled from 1.7m per year to just 866,000 this year, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.