Commons committee will probe commercial vehicle manufacturers
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A "SEARCHING and wideranging" probe into the British motor industry is to be undertaken by a Commons select committee in the New Year.
The investigation will cover the production of commercial vehicles and tractive units as well as cars.
It will he conducted by a sub-committee of the Commons Expenditure Committee under the chairmanship of Mr Patrick Duffy, Labour MP for Sheffield, Attercliffe.
Evidence will be taken from manufacturers and components firms, tradeunions and government departments.
Comparisons will be made with the performance of similar industries in other countries.
The committee's terms of reference cover the structure and financing of the industry, its export performance and potential, labour relations, profitability, productivity and investment policy.
The committee decided to investigate the industry in light of British Leyland's appeal to the Government for working capital.
Several months
Its report is expected to take several months to produce, but the committee may issue an interim one if the industrial situation should justify it.
Members of the sub-committee include Mr James Boyden, chairman of the expenditure committee, and Sir John Eden, a former Minister for Industry.