Britain: An official handbook > 1977

230
VEHICLES,
AIRCRAFT AND
SHIPS
Motor Vehicles
Railway
Vehicles
BRITAIN 1977: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
the hardware industry, enabling the systems manufacturers to provide complete
solutions to meet the requirements of users.
An expanding sector of the industry is that which covers the manufacture of
radio communication equipment, radar and radio navigational aids for ships
and aircraft, alarms and signalling equipment, public broadcasting equipment
and other capital goods. British equipment is used extensively overseas, for
defence, civil aviation, shipping, health, educational and other purposes.
Manufacturers'
Employment Sales Exports
’000s £ million £ million
Vehicles, Aircraft and Ships
motor vehicles:
cars and commercial vehicles
wheeled tractors
motor cycles and cycles
railway vehicles
aerospace
shipbuilding and marine engineering
921-8 3,435-2 3,473-4
455-2 “ 2,054-0
32.9 584-8 310-7
13-0 83-8 56-3
41-9 235-2 16-4
204-4 1,397-4 744-06
174-3 949-7 215-4
a Sales figures not available; 1,648,401 vehicles were produced.
6 Excluding guided missiles and weapons.
The industries which manufacture transport equipment are a particularly
important source of overseas earnings, accounting for some 17 per cent of
total visible exports in 1975.
In its widest context the motor industry comprises the manufacture of cars and
commercial vehicles, wheeled tractors, caravans and trailers, and motor cycles
and also of separate parts and components. Output is dominated by four large
groups (British Leyland, Ford, Chrysler United Kingdom and Vauxhall)
which account for over 98 per cent of car production and some 93 per cent of
commercial vehicle output; the remainder is in the hands of smaller, specialist
producers of heavy commercial vehicles, buses, coaches, limousines and sports
cars. The principal trade association is the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders, which holds an annual motor show and a commercial vehicle exhibi¬
tion every two years. The Motor Industry Research Association carries out
collective research on vehicles and components. In the three categories of
exports (cars, commercial vehicles and parts and accessories) there is a positive
balance of trade although the proportion of the market held by imported cars
has increased. Large numbers of cars are exported in a form suitable for assembly
overseas. The principal individual overseas market for British cars is the
United States. Britain is one of the world’s largest exporters of commercial
vehicles, including goods vehicles, buses and coaches, the main market being
South Africa.
Agricultural tractors account for the bulk of wheeled tractors produced.
Production is dominated by two large firms, with three others responsible for
most of the remainder. Britain supplies about one-quarter of total world
exports of tractors.
In recent years the motor cycle industry has contracted and the domestic
market is largely supplied by imports.
The British Railways Board and a small number of firms in the private sector
build locomotives, carriages and freight wagons for British Rail, for industrial
users and for export.