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Press announcements in 2008 confirmed large job losses at the Leyland Trucks site because of a severe decline in demand. These reductions are symptomatic of the long-term employment decline in the Automotive Industry in Lancashire that goes back to the 1970s. It does however still remain an important local sector and there are examples of new developments that give some optimism for the future.
Lancashire Business Park , the large strategic site in central Lancashire that used to be wholly devoted to truck manufacture, is still a location for many automotive industry jobs but is now also a vibrant employment park for a wide range of public and private organisations.
The Lancashire motor vehicle industry is long-established and is an important part of the county's engineering base, but since the mid-1970s, there has been a significant long-term trend of job losses in the sector.
About 120 manufacturing companies are directly classified to the industry of which over 60% have only 10 employees or less. The 4,400 employees in the sector are equivalent to 4.4 % of Lancashire's manufacturing workforce (GB=5.6%).
The companies in Lancashire represent many aspects of automotive related production activities including the final assembly of a range of vehicles, the manufacture of vehicle bodies, trailers and caravans and the supply of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines. In addition, there are numerous companies not directly included in the sector that make electrical equipment for vehicles, automotive textile and trim suppliers, associated rubber and plastic goods as well as numerous sub contractors who supply the automotive industry with all manner of components and engineering services.
Quite apart from those engaged both directly and indirectly in motor vehicle production, there are a large number of employees in the county in the non-manufacturing 'after-market' . This includes such activities as the sale of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, and their parts, the maintenance and repair of vehicles and the retail sale of automotive fuel and lubricants. The total employment in these sectors alone in Lancashire was 13,200 in 2006.
The motor vehicles industry has had a presence in Lancashire for more than a hundred years and of all companies it is (External) Leyland Trucks which has had the closest association with the county. The company began as a small operation in 1896 when the Sumner and Spurrier families founded the Lancashire Steam Motor Company, working out of a smithy in Leyland turning out wagons and chassis units. It became Leyland Motors in 1903 and steadily built a secure base supplying trucks and heavy lorries. In 1951 it took over Albion Motors at Scotstoun, Glasgow. Four years later, Scammell Lorries became part of the group followed by Standard Triumph International. By this time, Leyland Trucks claimed to be the world's biggest truck producer.
Largely because of this association with Leyland Trucks, the motor vehicles industry was a major post-war growth sector in Lancashire, directly creating more than 8,000 jobs over the 30 years to the late 1970s, as well as many others indirectly in associated supply industries (Figure 1). However, it was over this late 1960s/early 1970s growth period that the seeds of Leyland's later troubles were sown. The company's success and high profitability led to a merger (effectively a take-over) of the British Motor Corporation (ex-Austin and Nuffield organisations) to create British Leyland, the third-biggest vehicle manufacturer in the world. Years of under-investment in the volume cars business was tackled by subsidising it for three years with profits from the truck business which was a big money earner. Between 1968 and 1980 Leyland had no completely new trucks to offer while its competitors offered new cabs and engines and prepared for the competition expected in the enlarged European Community which Leyland failed to do, relying instead on its traditional markets in English-speaking Commonwealth countries. Critical to Leyland's fortunes too was the failure of its engine renewal programme during the 1970s. Its "500 engine", intended for medium-to-heavy trucks proved a disaster, its tendency to "blow up" on motorways causing a mass desertion of customers. Leyland's share of the domestic market shrank from 30% in 1973 to 17% in 1980.
Figure 1 Employment in the Lancashire Motor Vehicle Industry, 1948 to 2006Graph showing how the number of jobs in Lancashire's motor vehicle industry has changed since 1948 - see text for details
Source
Ministry of Labour; ONS ERII Records; Annual Business Inquiry
The present Leyland Trucks production facility occupies a substantial site on the outskirts of the town, but it represents only part of a much larger area that was previously used by the company and that nowadays forms the Lancashire Business Park in Leyland . Businesses and other organisations that are located on the site include (External) Albion Automotive , which is also an important local employer in the automotive sector, (External) Enterprise plc , and (External) Central Lancashire NHS . The Business Park is close to the intersection of three motorways and is a very popular development. The 238 acre site is the managed by the county council's economic development company LCDL.
The former Leyland Test Track is now the site for one of two new waste management facilities in Lancashire built by (External) Global Renewables . These state of the art facilities will drastically reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill.
In the late 1970s a rescue by the British government saw major new investment in Leyland Trucks which went into the construction of a new assembly plant, new R&D facilities and a test track as well as a renewal of the truck range. These investments were however too late. In 1980 as the first of the new truck range came on stream the truck market collapsed. Leyland could not cope with the recession in the UK heavy truck market when annual demand nearly halved from 80,000 in 1980 to 44,000 two years later. Then, Leyland's export markets closed down as developing countries worldwide ran out of foreign currency to pay for imports. On top of this, competition from stronger truck producers intensified as they sought to make up in Europe sales lost when truck demand in the oil producing countries slumped.
There then began a long process of restructuring and disinvestments at Leyland Trucks that culminated, via temporary ownership from 1987 by DAF Trucks of the Netherlands, to its collapse in February 1993, and finally to its acquisition by (External) Paccar in 1998. More than 2,600 jobs were lost in short order, of which 1,200 were in the Lancashire trucks and parts operations, reducing the local workforce to 1,400 and to just 700 in the assembly plant. In all, largely because of the troubles at Leyland, over the 1980-93 period there was a net loss of more than 14,000 motor vehicle jobs in Lancashire.
After 1993 employment levels in the industry saw some recovery, but this trend was relatively short-lived and since the beginning of the new millennium employment levels have continued their inexorable decline. Table 1 details the fact that for a number of years, parts and accessories for motor vehicles has been the largest employment constituent of the local industry whilst employment in motor vehicles manufacture proper is now only a fraction of its previous size. This is partly the result of many of the former constituent parts of Leyland Trucks now trading as independent companies or as parts of other groups.
In total, directly provided employment in the motor vehicles industry in 2006 represented just 0.7% of all employee jobs in the county and only 4.4% of all manufacturing jobs. All parts of the county share in the industry but nearly 40% of all jobs are based in South Ribble where motor vehicle manufacturing comprises 24% of the manufacturing employee base. Blackpool is an authority with a history of relatively high employment levels in this sector, but the end of production of the (External) TVR sports car in the town led to a significant reduction in employment levels. In 2006, the number was below 300, whereas two years earlier it was over 700.
Figure 2 Motor Vehicle Employment by Local Authority, 2006Bar chart showing motor vehicle industry employee jobs for each of Lancashire's local authorities as a percentage of the Lancashire total - see text for details
Source
Annual Business Inquiry
The results emphasise the fact that motor vehicle industry in the county has borne the brunt of severe restructuring pressures over the past couple of decades. The most high profile event was that associated with the collapse of the former Leyland Group and commercial vehicle production but has impacted across all parts of the industry and through the supply chain as part of the drive towards sustainable improvements in quality, cost and delivery. These pressures have come about as a result of major vehicle manufacturers adopting pan-European or indeed global restructuring strategies for the location of their production or assembly facilities and in sourcing components and sub-assemblies in response to powerful new competitive pressures in markets world-wide. Some local automotive production has been moved to lower cost overseas locations and has entailed the closure of local facilities.
The (External) British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland preserves the history of the road transport industry in the UK.
Photograph of vintage buses in the British Commercial Vehicle Museum
The aim is mark the role of Leyland in the development of the British commercial vehicle and to maintain a representative display of vehicles of special significance in the development of the British commercial vehicle industry.
Vehicle manufacturers have responded to the challenge of competitiveness by restructuring their product development and production processes, re-evaluating their sourcing policies and improving skill and production levels. New techniques such as just-in-time production and increased emphasis on quality control have reduced production times and improved cost efficiency. The process has resulted in substantial job losses but these have been accompanied by large productivity gains and improvements in profitability. Leyland Trucks has been at the forefront of the adoption of modern management and production techniques.
The automotive industry in Lancashire is still well represented among the major local industrial and commercial companies in Lancashire. Leading players include (External) Leyland Trucks (now a wholly owned subsidiary of (External) Paccar Inc. ) which designs and manufactures a range of trucks at its modern automated assembly plant at Leyland. (External) Albion Automative Ltd designs and manufacturing commercial vehicle driveline systems, chassis components and engine crankshafts.
(External) Lunar Caravans was established in 1969, and has its UK headquarters in Lostock Hall, Preston. The company manufactures a wide range of touring caravans and motor homes.
Leading component suppliers to the vehicle industry include (External) TRW Automotive (the former Lucas Body Systems) who design and manufacture switch and electronic controls for the automotive industry worldwide in their Burnley factory.
(External) Sanko-Gosei , the Japanese-owned company at Skelmersdale, who supply plastic injection moulded components for automotive markets. (External) Lex Multipart in Chorley provides a purchasing inventory control, warehousing and distribution service for the industry to a worldwide client base. (External) Setco Automotive at Haslingden manufactures heavy duty braking systems and commercial vehicle clutches. There are also a number of commercial vehicle body builders, including the (External) Optare Group that acquired the former East Lancashire Coachbuilders business.
For many years a particular strength of the county's automotive components industry has been the manufacture of vehicle silencer and exhaust systems. (External) Arvinmeritor was previously a major international producer with a strong presence in the county, but now its business interests in the locality have been acquired by (External) WST Engineering Automotive Components in Adlington near Chorley. Other companies in the sector are (External) Bosal (UK) Ltd at Bamber Bridge and (External) Tenneco Walker UK Ltd in Burnley that manufacturers low-emission exhaust systems.
Nor is the county lacking in the important automotive technical services and design activities. (External) Assystem UK Ltd at Bamber Bridge is an important player in the field of automotive engineering design, computer aided design and manufacture and the design and supply of automated manufacturing systems. Also in Leyland is (External) Torotrak , a technology transfer and development company that is dedicated to finding innovative improvements to transmissions for future vehicles.
Backing up all this activity is a number of smaller and niche market companies producing a wide range of products for the automotive market from auto-electrical and electronic components, springs, radiators, sea belt components and car care products to vehicle bodies, replica car kits, customised and specialised vehicles, trailers, caravans and folding campers. A large network of sub-contract engineering service companies, part of the "hidden" automotive industry provide further support in the form of tooling, jigs and fixtures, automotive castings, components and general machining.
This page was compiled by Bryan Moulding .
All enquiries from the media should be sent to Corporate.Communications@lancashire.gov.uk .
Any other questions about the content of this page may be sent to EconInfo@lancashire.gov.uk .
For all enquiries about the county council's services , contact the Customer Service Centre on 0845 0530000 (01772 530000) or at Enquiries@css.lancscc.gov.uk .
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