UK Car Sales By Brand : 1970-74

This was a time of consolidation by import makes as they all had gains in this period while the top 4 UK car makers went nowhere. I did hear that at the time brands such as Ford cut all their smaller dealers, effectively handing them over to import brands. That got them a foothold, which they built on. I'm not sure how true that was.

Local car makers: During this five year time frame, the Ford Cortina took over from the BL 1100/1300 at the best selling car. The Morris Marina came along and got to 2nd in 1973, but couldn't quite get to the top. The Cortina was ably backed up by the Escort. Hillman had success with the Avenger and Hunter models. Vauxhall relied on the Viva as it's lone top 10 car. The Austin Maxi was a top 10 car at the time too.

The Ford Cortina was winning over the UK

Imported car makers: Datsun (Nissan) was a big winner, coming from obscurity to 5th. The Sunny and Cherry models both made the top 20 in 1974. German brands were not that strong then, with Volvo the best of the premium brands.

70	71	72	73	74	Brand	1970		1971		1972		1973		1974
1	1	1	1	1	BLMC	398,281		498,306		528,694		512,350		400,898
2	2	2	2	2	Ford	285,720		240,937		401,994		376,213		288,394
3	4	3	3	3	Chrysler	112,590		135,229		153,765		161,656		114,121
4	3	4	4	4	Vauxhall	107,560		138,199		147,172		132,980		92,316
	15	9	6	5	Datsun			6,852		30,197		60,513		58,758
6	6	5	5	6	Renault	31,159		41,732		60,242		67,071		57,126
7	7	7	7	7	Fiat	23,476		36,205		47,606		50,687		43,609
5	5	6	8	8	VW	37,371		48,883		52,686		42,871		38,882
11	8	8	9	9	Simca	7,854		24,243		34,121		28,777		23,446
9	9	10	10	10	Volvo	10,471		15,476		19,911		22,828		17,708

BL again doesn't have Jaguar included, and what was is shown below:

	Brand	1970		1971		1972		1973		1974
	Austin / Morris	296,828		366,877		391,556		384,256		302,689
	Triumph	64,036		86,533		91,928		90,712		69,224
	Rover	25,223		31,508		30,035		23,627		18,488
	MG	12,194		13,388		15,175		13,755		9,852
	Unsure									645
	Total	398,281		498,306		528,694		512,350		400,898

Data source: SMMT.

Beautiful Women And Cars - Why?

When you see pictures of cars, often beautiful women are there as well. At car shows, women models adorn all the cars. Why is that the case? Sometimes it is hard to see the car! I have a couple of theories.

1) When a woman goes out for an evening in a nice dress, she wears beautiful jewellery that adds a great deal to her appearance. The sparkling accessories draw your eyes to her. Likewise, a beautiful model adds appeal to the shiny car at the motor show. That would be an obvious connection.

2) A more subtle reason is that studies show that women are more attracted to men who drive nice cars. Monetary success adds to a man's appeal to the fairer sex. So having an attractive model next to the car suggests that women will be drawn to a man who owns it. Beautiful women are to be associated with this car.

Whatever the reasons, there is a connection between women and cars. (As we know of course, no car can match a woman for beauty). We also know that classy cars - and the sort of woman that is attracted to the owner of such - can prove to be very expensive.

UK Car Sales By Brand : 1965-69

The BMC 1100 was well ahead of its time

Getting any sales data back in the 1960's is very hard for the Britain. I managed to get this together and although I have more, it is a bit patchy. I decided to keep it simple and minimal gaps.

BLMC was formed in 1968 when BMH ( BMC) combined with Leyland Motors (including Triumph cars). A year earlier BMH took over Rover and in 1966 acquired Jaguar. I have included Triumph and Rover sales in all BMH/Leyland/Rover figures, but not Jaguar.

Ford was a major car maker back then. Vauxhall was losing its way and Rootes (Hillman, Humber etc.) was taken over by Chrysler in 1967. There weren't many imports at this time, although 1969 seemed to mark a distinct change.

65	66	67	68	69	Brand	1965		1966		1967		1968		1969
1	1	1	1	1	BM / Leyl	474,967		462,324		438,117		435,121		376,765
2	2	2	2	2	Ford	289,373		262,477		280,380		301,083		264,012
4	4	3	3	3	Vauxhall	129,733		116,971		146,021		145,118		112,685
3	3	4	4	4	Chrysler	131,024		123,173		135,036		112,506		93,378
n/a					Jaguar	13,598		11,424		13,901		12,661		11,779

To break down BM figures to show how various brands were selling in the UK...

	Brand	1965		1966		1967		1968		1969
	Austin / Morris	384,497		357,146		311,622		319,307		278,433
	Triumph	61,199		70,909		86,932		80,626		64,693
	Rover	19,046		23,405		26,711		26,822		23,373
	MG	10,225		10,864		12,852		8,366		10,266
	Total	474,967		462,324		438,117		435,121		376,765

Summary: The British motor industry really boomed in the post war 1950's and 60's, but by the end of the 60's cracks were starting to appear.

Data source: SMMT.
Picture source: toplowridersites.com