GM Car Production UK: 1996 - 2012

Looking at a list like this, you can see how GM Europe operates, that is with short term policies. GM Vauxhall is a popular brand in the UK, but GM decided to cut back to one model by 2005. I struggle to see how consistent profit can be made, with model cycles as they are, even with flexible labour options in the UK. By that I mean not too hard to lay workers off.

Still, GM knows it needs a manufacturing presence in the UK with the loyalty UK buyers show it's cars and therefore the importance of the UK to GM Europe.

Below we see the Astra as the stable element in the time from '96, with the Vectra a valauble contributor to production numbers when it was made at Luton. The Frontera SUV was solid if unspectacular and the Speedster was made by Lotus for GM.

	Yr	Total	Astra	Vectra	Frontera	Speedst
	96	297,700	112,400	155,800	29,500	-
	97	284,500	102,000	157,500	25,000	-
	98	277,300	98,200	154,500	24,600	-
	99	339,000	154,700	145,600	38,700	-
	00	290,800	154,100	103,100	33,500	100
	01	193,700	132,300	51,400	7,000	3,000
	02	138,500	48,300	75,300	13,000	1,900
	03	133,600	30,300	92,600	9,500	1,200
	04	146,900	126,000	20,400	-	500
	05	189,400	189,200	-	-	200
	06	143,700	143,700	-	-	-
	07	115,500	115,500	-	-	-
	08	102,500	102,500	-	-	-
	09	76,700	76,700	-	-	-
	10	102,700	102,700	-	-	-
	11	138,000	138,000	-	-	-
	12	90,200	90,200	-	-	-
	Av	180,041	112,753	106,244	22,600	1,150

Ford UK Car Production 1968 - 1978

I posted Ford car production from 1979-1992 a while back, which you can see by clicking here. I have now found data for the previous eleven years.

The Cortina and Escort were the mainstay of production for this period, with others in a supporting role.

The Capri came and went in this time, proving to be a popular car for a niche segment.

The Granada / Consul didn't last long in UK production as it was soon transferred to Germany. I presume numbers didn't justify two plants making them.

The MK IV Zephyr / Zodiac was not that popular looking at those production numbers (I had a nice Dinky car of the latter though), and the Corsair was on the way out by the late 60's. Just over 300,000 in total were made of the latter.

Yr	Total	Cortina	Escort	Fiesta	Capri	Gr/Con	Ze/Zod	Corsair
68	486,500	261,800	161,700	-	3,100	-	24,700	35,200
69	524,000	265,900	145,000	-	79,600	-	19,900	13,600
70	450,600	195,400	156,700	-	69,200	-	18,900	10,400
71	368,500	182,200	128,400	-	41,100	-	16,800	-
72	546,700	264,200	198,900	-	46,700	36,900	-	-
73	453,400	220,100	147,300	-	49,400	36,600	-	-
74	383,700	186,300	138,900	-	37,300	21,200	-	-
75	329,600	140,400	152,500	-	21,200	15,500	-	-
76	383,200	146,400	188,300	8,200	27,000	13,300	-	-
77	406,600	168,500	177,600	60,500	-	-	-	-
78	324,400	152,100	133,100	39,200	-	-	-	-