British owned car manufacturers?

[marshalla]

5lab said:

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

marshalla said:

Westfield
Carbodies = London Taxi Co. = 20% chinese, damnit!
Ginetta

Edited by marshalla on Sunday 11th March 11:26

[Neil1300R]

McSam said:

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.

Ford owns less than that these days. Under 10%, basically owned by two private equity companies.
Engine factory is not Aston's its Ford - who have a contract to produce the engines for Aston. Deal re-signed last year.

Are Aston British - yes, designed, manufactured and head-quartered in the UK.

[Cyder]

ewenm said:

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".

Don't be silly, people don't want to hear that the UK car industry is currently thriving and recruiting more and more staff. All they want to hear is how we're doomed and the country has gone to ratst.

The truth of the matter is that it really doesn't matter where the company is registered or who the shareholders are. By building cars in this country these companies are pumping millions of pounds into the UK economy.

[mickrick]

If a foreign investor buys a car company, regardless of where it's built, or where the company is registered, it's not British owned is it.
So in my eyes it's no longer a British car.
I'm not denying building foreign cars in U.K is good for jobs and the economy.
But would you now say Bentley, Jaguar, or Land Rover are British cars. I wouldn't.
Aston Martin I would say is a multi-national.
My Nissan, I haven't a clue! They build them in Barcelona, and the NE of U.K.
Opel, Renault, and someone else I can't remember right now, are also tied in with Nissan.

Morgan Car Company, on the other hand (I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong here) is owned by the Morgan family, and built in Malvern. A truely British car! Except they use Ford and BMW engines!
Also as has been pointed out, Jensen.
Noble I believe, are now built in South Africa.

Edited by mickrick on Monday 12th March 19:28

[Vilhelm]

mickrick said:

If a foreign investor buys a car company, regardless of where it's built, or where the company is registered, it's not British owned is it.
So in my eyes it's no longer a British car.
I'm not denying building foreign cars in U.K is good for jobs and the economy.
But would you now say Bentley, Jaguar, or Land Rover are British cars. I wouldn't.
Aston Martin I would say is a multi-national.
My Nissan, I haven't a clue! They build them in Barcelona, and the NE of U.K.
Opel, Renault, and someone else I can't remember right now, are also tied in with Nissan.

Morgan Car Company, on the other hand (I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong here) is owned by the Morgan family, and built in Malvern. A truely British car!
Also as has been pointed out, Jensen.
Noble I believe, are now built in South Africa.

The Noble M600 is made in England, but I don't think Noble are British owned, so your point still stands.