Boy, Do I Feel Stupid!

Toyota was the last car manufacturer to pull out of the Australian market. It did so because the scale of operation was insufficient as a sole manufacturer in the country. Its hand was forced by the decisions of two other car makers. How did Toyota Toyota president and CEO Max Yasuda feel about the closure? To quote Australia's Drive:

As Yasuda explains, the decision to close the local operation

Honda's UK Plant Closure

Nearly 200,000 Civics made in Europe, with sales there under 45,000 


I am apolitical but politics can and does affect our lives. Trade tension between the USA and China, China with many nations, the US with the EU, potentially the EU and the UK. All done by politicians. Of course industry, media and individuals use such events to prove their opinions right. A minimal knowledge of a subject

Nissan Sunderland's New Infiniti Models

Nissan in Sunderland is in an area of the UK which is less prosperous than average. Imagine how important the Nissan plant is there. It produces the Nissan Note, Juke, Qashqai and Leaf models.











Now an additional 60,000 capacity is being added for the Q30 and QX30 models. They will both be made for the global markets. I know nothing much about Infiniti as they do not grace the roads of

GM Ellesmere Port, UK 50 Years

Canal boats passed through this port many years ago and it now houses the National Waterways Museum with the largest collection of canal boats in the world. I have a connection to the town of Ellesmere Port I won't bore you with here, bu it caught my eye when I found out that the GM car plant located there is 50 years old. I wrote about the plant back in 2005, found by clicking here.






The

Green JLR Engine Plant

JLR has completed the largest solar rooftop panel installation at it's new engine plant in the midlands of England. It is hoped to generate over 30% of the plant's power requirement, the equivalent of the electricity consumed by over 1,600 homes. This will reduce the plant's CO2 footprint by over 2,400 tonnes per year. There will also be monitoring of power use to maximise efficiency, plus other

BMW MINI Engine Milestone: 2012

The three-millionth engine has been produced at BMW Group's UK engine plant circa Birmingham. Four-cylinder petrol engines have been built at Plant Hams Hall for over a decade. The engines go to plants in Germany, Austria and Oxford, UK, currently powering the BMW X1, 1 Series and new BMW 3 Series, as well as all MINI petrol models. Facilities are to be upgraded at the Hams Hall plant to enable

Work Practices

In many developing nations, workers rights are generally limited by the fact laws favour business and there are plenty to take your job if you don't comply. Wages are also low. It was like that once in western nations too, but labour laws were enacted to protect the workers.


There are those that feel that in some countries worker protection has gone too far and it undermines competitiveness.

New Model At Nissan Sunderland

Nissan UK keeps on growing. Back in 1986, Nissan UK assmebled 5,000 Primeras. Local content increased, as did numbers. In 1991, the 100k figure was passed with 125,000 Primeras made. The Micra was added in 1992 and 246,000 cars were produced in 1993 at the plant. The Almera joined the production line in the year 2000, when the 300k mark was passed (327,000). 2010 was the first time 400k was

UK Car Making On The Up In 2012

It must be said that UK car making isn't as big as it should have been due to the total mismanagement of the industry in the 70s. Having said that, it is surprisingly strong when compared to the dark days of the 80s. Most local brands went under, the American brands largely left (GM seems to want to close the last plant) but the Japanese came in. They liked what they saw and liked even more what

GM Luton

I know this is about cars but I'll stray into vans occasionally.

IBC Vehicles Limited at Luton, Bedfordshire, was formed in 1987 as a joint venture between GM and Isuzu and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of GM since 1998. In 2003, IBC became a dedicated commercial vehicle plant and now produces vans under the Vauxhall, Opel, Renault and Nissan brands. Officially, it employs 1750 workers and

Ryton's Demise

The Ryton Car Plant was in Warwickshire, bordering on a small village named Ryton-on-Dunsmore. It was originally built by the Rootes Group around 1940 to build aeroplane engines during World War II. The Rootes Group got into financial difficulties in the 1960s and Ryton was taken over Chrysler. I had a Hillman Avenger, a car from that time. It was a GLS Alpine (see pic below, Alpine just as mine

Ellesmere Port Vauxhall

Getting information on the above mentioned plant is not easy. However, car production started there in 1963 and is the only GMV plant making cars after the Luton plant ceased production in the year 2000.

Today the Ellesmere Port plant builds the Astra and Astra Van; in 2006 at the rate of 147,500. GM has put all it's European plants under pressure to meet efficiency targets or be closed.