Cowley (Oxford UK) Car Plant 100 Years Old

In March 1913, the Cowley plant in Oxford UK started making the Morris Cowley Bullnose. I remember having a Matchbox model of the car. Amazingly just 20 cars a week were made back at the plant's inception. In total 11,655,000 cars have been made there, including the Morris Minor (we had one when I was a boy) Mini, Marina, Princess, Maestro, Rover 75 and currently the MINI. These days 900 cars a day roll off the line.

I've driven the Mini and it was a hoot, so advanced too for its time. Some people like to knock the Marina but having owned one (Australian built admittedly), I liked it. Over 1.16 million were made so it have had some redeeming features. I've ridden in the Princess (225,000 made) and was amazed at its interior space and pleasant ride. The Maestro never made it to NZ but I liked the style of it. Apparently it took too long to get to production and was somewhat dated by the time it arrived (605,000 rolled off the line).

So the Cowley plant continues under the stewardship of BMW and working flat out. The third series of BMW MINI is about to commence too, so the success continues for the factory.

Car Sales By Brand Belgium: 1975

Looking over the data below form 1975, then comparing the 2012 list of brands to the right highlights the changes over that time. Ford and GM have slipped down the rankings, as have Japanese makes apart from Nissan. Simca, BLMC, DAF, Chrysler UK and Autobianchi are no more with Lada selling just 26 cars in 2012. Land Rover and MINI are what is left of BL.

Both VW and the PSA makes have done well in this time, as have the three German premium brands, the latter reflective of increased wealth. Two brands from Korea are now making a mark in Europe and Chevrolet is new. Things are always changing.

1	Ford	37,921	-1%	10.6%		VW
2	Renault	33,092	-4%	9.2%		Renault
3	Opel/Vauxhall	29,712	-12%	8.3%		Peugeot
4	Toyota	29,096	13%	8.1%		Citroen
5	Citroen	27,083	-10%	7.6%		Opel
6	Fiat	25,268	5%	7.1%		Audi
7	Peugeot	24,389	5%	6.8%		BMW
8	Simca	23,275	-15%	6.5%		Ford
9	VW/Porsche	21,990	-25%	6.1%		Mercedes
10	Nissan	13,516	32%	3.8%		Nissan
11	BLMC	12,921	25%	3.6%		Skoda
12	Mazda	12,210	82%	3.4%		Toyota
13	Mercedes	9,322	0%	2.6%		Volvo
14	BMW	8,095	47%	2.3%		Hyundai
15	Audi	7,908	?	2.2%		Fiat
16	Lada	7,735	?	2.2%		Dacia
17	DAF	5,998	-28%	1.7%		Kia
18	Volvo	5,759	-23%	1.6%		Seat
19	Alfa Romeo	5,279	60%	1.5%		MINI
20	Chrysler UK	2,544	?	0.7%		Chevrolet
21	Honda	2,421	?	0.7%		Suzuki
22	Mitsubishi	2,262	?	0.6%		Land Rover
23	Autobianchi	1,206	?	0.3%		Alfa Romeo
	Others	8,895		2.5%
	Total	357,897	8%

Picture source: Please click here

Car Sales By Brand Austria: 1989

Things were different in Austria in 1989. Japanese brands were stronger then than they are now. They were cheap, value for money, interesting and of course reliable. How things have changed for them. The Yen is more realistically valued, making them more expensive. They are for the most part conservative and dull. They are still reliable but the competition has made up ground in that area.

Other changes are premium brands are doing better now and the Koreans have arrived. Both Land Rover and MINI are no longer part of Rover, which has gone. However, the biggest change is how the Japanese brands have slipped back.

The first two columns are ranking for 1988 and 1999. The extreme right column is market share for '89 and the second from last column is percentage change from '88 to '89.

1	1		VW	46,392	11%	16.8%		European
2	2		Opel	33,230	14%	12.0%
4	3		Ford	25,502	16%	9.2%		Asian
3	4		Mazda	22,693	-3%	8.2%
5	5		Toyota	19,707	2%	7.1%		American
6	6		Fiat	14,572	15%	5.3%
8	7		Renault	13,536	26%	4.9%
7	8		Nissan	12,580	9%	4.6%
12	9		Peugeot	11,289	20%	4.1%
9	10		Mitsubishi	10,623	3%	3.8%
10	11		Mercedes	9,567	-1%	3.5%
13	12		BMW	9,560	10%	3.5%
11	13		Audi	8,564	-11%	3.1%
14	14		Honda	7,492	-4%	2.7%
15	15		Citroen	7,400	12%	2.7%
16	16		Suzuki	4,989	-16%	1.8%
18	17		Volvo	3,599	18%	1.3%
19	18		Daihatsu	3,203	48%	1.2%
17	19		Subaru	3,195	4%	1.2%
20	20		Alfa Romeo	1,766	34%
23	21		Chrysler	1,526	144%
22	22		Seat	1,337	36%
21	23		Lancia	1,075	-6%
24	24		Lada	995	69%
25	25		Saab	383	3%
26	26		Porsche	351	18%
27	27		MG Rover	210	-14%
29	28		Skoda	208
28	29		Jaguar	177	13%
			Others	344
			Total	276,065	9%