British owned car manufacturers?

[davepoth]

Dave Hedgehog said:

i thought they had put most of the money up for mclaren cars

Almost certainly the case. Most commercially held car companies will be "owned" by a wide variety of investment funds and private individuals. IIRC, the stockholders for GM come from more than 70 different countries.

[mickrick]

So we're at Morgan, and Jenson, and possibly Noble.
Ultima I would say is more kit orientated, as is Westfield.
The Atom, fair enough it's British, but I would consider it more of a toy than a serious motor car.

[mickrick]

xRIEx said:

mickrick said:

Caterham is now owned by a Malaysian Businessman...

Holding and limited companies both registered in the UK and headquarters are in the UK. Limited companies are a legal entity in their own right, I thought it was the nationality of the company you were concerned about, not the nationality of the shareholder(s).

I suppose in that case you'd discount TVR as well.

Edited by xRIEx on Sunday 11th March 11:53

Yes I'd discount TVR. They're not building new cars now, and it's Russian/German owned.

[mickrick]

So that's it then.
All sold off to foreign investors, bar three low volume manufacturers!

[rhinochopig]

mickrick said:

So that's it then.
All sold off to foreign investors, bar three low volume manufacturers!

There are dozens of small British manufacturers. More importantly is the high number of specialist UK companies working in car engineering. Europe can't compete on wages so one could argue that we're better off selling the science and technology rather than the product.


Anyway here are a few...

Ibex
Arden (or whoever they're called these days)
MEV
GD
Ultima
Z-Cars
Mac1
Etc.

[GAjon]

What about Ginneta?

[mickrick]

I don't think you read my first post...
"Aside from kit cars".

[rhinochopig]

mickrick said:

I don't think you read my first post...
"Aside from kit cars".

I did miss that. That said, the following do sell proper cars.

Ibex sell cars - The EA buy them.

Z-Cars whilst they do sell kits also sell cars and bespoke one offs

Radical

[dugsud]

rhinochopig said:

Z-Cars whilst they do sell kits also sell cars and bespoke one offs

I'm not sure a pig-shed near Filey counts as a car manufacturer....have you been there?

[mickrick]

No I wouldn't count Z-cars as a car manufacturer.
Never heard of Ibex though. They look like a serious bit of kit!
I would imagine they are serious money too.

[gherkins]

This is a pointless thread - all large manufacturers - like most large corporations - are multinational "publically-held" corporations.

If you check, the majority of Daimler's and BMW's shares are non-German owned. Even Volkswagen, which is a real mish-mash and is over 20% state owned (how's that for free market competition), has a vast holding from Qatar (possibly more than the total German ownership).

So, please name me the car companies that are German owned?

[LouD86]

In regards to the content of the car, and location of build, the Toyota Auris is the most british car on sale in the UK today. Engines produced in Wales, Car Built in Derby, and has the most UK sourced car parts and production when all added up today

[ewenm]

gherkins said:

This is a pointless thread - all large manufacturers - like most large corporations - are multinational "publically-held" corporations.

If you check, the majority of Daimler's and BMW's shares are non-German owned. Even Volkswagen, which is a real mish-mash and is over 20% state owned (how's that for free market competition), has a vast holding from Qatar (possibly more than the total German ownership).

So, please name me the car companies that are German owned?

Exactly. I don't get this obsession with what passport the shareholders of car companies hold. Rather than look at the funding, if you want to find "British" cars, look at the designers, the builders, the management.

[mickrick]

I'm not interested in German cars.
Sounds like you want to bury your head in the sand.
"Pointless thread" Admit it, we've sold out.

[McSam]

TomTheTyke said:

Aston Martin aren't 100% British, Ford still own a bit and the Kuwaitis are involved I think but I was under the impression they were majority British owned, although that's not good enough for OP, finding a 100% British company is difficult in this globalised world.

Yes - Ford's stake is down around 12% so that's much more like casual investment than any kind of ownership, and the syndicate that took the lion's share is headed by David Richards of Prodrive fame, who is now the chairman. Two Kuwaiti investment companies have money in there, as does an American collector.

It's reasonable to say that Aston Martin is an entirely British car company, with a British chair and a lot of British money - some money comes from elsewhere, but there are no controlling hands from other car companies.

That said, their engine plant is in Germany.

[ewenm]

mickrick said:

I'm not interested in German cars.
Sounds like you want to bury your head in the sand.
"Pointless thread" Admit it, we've sold out.

Or "Admit it, we've secured investment from all over the globe to enable us to continue to build cars in the UK, designed in the UK, managed in the UK".

[rhinochopig]

dugsud said:

rhinochopig said:

Z-Cars whilst they do sell kits also sell cars and bespoke one offs

I'm not sure a pig-shed near Filey counts as a car manufacturer....have you been there?

Yes. When was the last time you were there? They have a bigger site than the likes of Westfield now. Build facility, dyno facility, paint shop, machining shop. It's bloody huge.

[DJRC]

Coventary Plastics own a few brands now dont they? Spyker, Bowler, Zagato ?

[Caulkhead]

mickrick said:

I'm not interested in German cars.
Sounds like you want to bury your head in the sand.
"Pointless thread" Admit it, we've sold out.

What's your definition of 'British-owned'?

For example would you consider Ford to be American owned? To be sure you'd have to go and see who owns the majority of Ford shares and even then, if say the Chinese own most of Ford, does that make Ford chinese in your eyes? I notice you drive a Nissan - Renault own the biggest single share holding in Nissan so does that make it French or Japanese in your eyes?

[5lab]

london taxi company (LTI??) used to be the biggest british owned manufacturer of cars. No idea if they still are