Page "Automotive industry in the United Kingdom" Paragraph 24

In the context of BMC's wide, complex, and expensive-to-produce model range, Ford's conventionally-designed Cortina challenging for the number one spot in the domestic market, and the heavy reliance of the British economy on motor vehicle production, in 1968 the Government brokered the merger of the successful Leyland-Triumph-Rover and the struggling BMH, to form Europe's fourth-largest car maker, the British Leyland Motor Corporation ( BLMC ).

The new company announced its intention to invest in a new volume car range, and to equip its factories with the latest capital-intensive production methods.

Notable British cars of this era included the 1959 Mini — designed by Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Corporation, and Malcolm Sayer's 1961 E-type Jaguar.