I have read two books which address the decline and fall of the British Car
industry. The easiest to get was recently published and I is called *Earning
the American Dream*.: A Memoir of the Failure of B.M.C.by Gordon Whitby Whitby
was west coast service manger for BMC and in on most major events, such as
the Bonneville trials of both MG and Healey. He puts the blame on the
arrogance of management. . A review is to be found at
http://classicmgmagazine.com/BMC.pdf
The second is a study which I think is called *The Decline of the British
Car Industry using Triumph, MG, and Austin.* It was published by the
University of Illinois Press, and is no longer available. I was luck to get
an interlibrary loan.The tittle is probably not accurate, but the idea is
there. He says that the factories ran smoothly when the shop stewards ran
the show, but when management decided they knew better, than things
deteriorated rapidly.
Neither blame the unions for the problem. That isn't to say that when
management poisoned the well, the unions didn't react.
Jack
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