cal content id Britain
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RITE with reference to
lancial Market' by George lcolm which appeared in mmercial Motor February 5.
Malcolm appears to have 3construed the comments I ide concerning Volvo at a ent Leyland Trucks
Aributor Conference. I am lcerned about the growing ficulties UK buyers — in many ds — face in determining ctly which are genuine tish-made products. Judging recent correspondence in the :dia, this concern is shared by my businessmen.
rhe issue is really one of local qtent. Leyland has a range of )ducts which are at least the ual of commercial vehicles ide by our British and ropean competitors. Also, )re than 97 per cent of the Aerials we use to manufacture Icks and buses are purchased Britain.
f foreign manufacturers wish be recognised as British, their Dducts must have a significant itish content. Only in this way
will employment and industry in Britain truly benefit. As I said in my letter to the Financial Times on January 27, it would be unreasonable to expect foreign manufacturers to match the high local content standards of indigenous companies like Leyland.
However, in establishing an acceptable standard, one must clearly take into account the local content standards of domestic manufacturers. The current standard set by the SMMT — namely that 50 per cent of the value of a vehicle should be British — is far too low.
strongly support the policy of buying British and wish to ensure that buyers are not led into believing that products are British when most certainly are not. British buyers should not be satisfied with a half pint in a pint pot!
R. J. HANCOCK
Chairman of the Leyland Group