Jaguar And B.M.C. To Merge

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31110, 13 July 1966, Page 12

Jaguar And B.M.C. To Merge

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) LONDON, July 11. Britain’s Jaguar Car Company is to merge with the British Motor Corporation in an £lB million deal.

Jaguar, the motor firm that began 44 years ago in a Blackpool workshop and went on to dominate sports car racing in the fifties, has finally succumbed to big business.

The news, certain to shock many Jaguar enthusiasts and sports car lovers all over the world, was broken by the head of the company. Sir William Lyons. “It is the wisest thing to do in the long term interests of Jaguars and the British motor industry as a whole,” he said. “I think it will be a very valuable partnership.” A joint holding company called British Motor (Holdings), Ltd., will be set up, but Jaguars will remain a separate entity and Sir William Lyons will stay as chairman. Sir William Lyons hinted in a press statement that one of the factors behind the merger had been pressure from United States concerns.

He said he had kept more than half the voting shares in the company.

The chairman of 8.M.C., Sir George Harriman, said the two firms were joining up rather than “fight against each other in the export market.” He said B.M.C.’s world-wide sales force would try to push Jaguar’s export figures even higher than their present high level.

The merger continues the British motor industry’s trend towards larger units in recent years, in the face of stiff competition from European competitors. B.M.C. which turns out about two-fifths of Britain’s cars, was itself an amalgamation of the Austin, Morris, Riley, Wolseley and other old-established firms.

It makes the tiny boxshaped “mini”-cars which have become Britain's most popular family car in an era of crowded roads and little parking space. It also produces several small sports cars including the M.G. and Austin-Healey. The Jaguar firm has established solid sales here and in Europe and North America with its luxurious high-per-formance care—including the successful E-type 150 m.p.h. plus sports car.

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