BRITISH TRUCKS
Truck & Driver July 2019^39
getting more and more frustrated
at poor levels of service and
inadequate parts support.
Even worse, hauliers were
becoming increasingly annoyed
at the ‘mañana’ attitudes that too
often prevailed among
manufacturers and their
networks in keeping their trucks
on the road. They wanted to
concentrate more on moving
goods, less on looking after
trucks. The former made them
money; the latter cost them
money. There had to be a more
profitable way of doing things.
“Why not let others look after my
trucks, so I can cut myoverheads? Let me concentrate
on what I’m in business to do,
after all: move things.”
And that wasn’t all. In January
1973, Britain joined the EEC
(European Economic
Community), opening the doors
to closer trading links with our
immediate, low-cost-to-do-
business-with neighbours.
European manufacturers started
looking at the UK market
seriously, with Volvo, Scania, Daf
and others joining the fledgling
Mercedes-Benz truck operation
that had already been in the UK
since the 1960s. Others followed;
brands such as MAN, Berliet,Saviem, Magirus-Deutz and Fiat
were all active in the UK market
by the end of the 1970s.
Sadly, these European
attitudes weren’t reflected by
British manufacturers. Most saw
the steering wheel on the ‘wrong
side’, thought they had little to
worry about and felt safe.
Too few seriously thought
about innovations that were
already well-established in trucks
from mainland Europe, such as
sleeper cabs, higher levels of
driver comfort, increased power
and air suspension. Perhaps they
forgot there was a driver in the
midst of all this!This ‘opportunity blindness’
was surprising because
consolidation was already
underway here in Britain. By the
end of the ’60s, half of the 30
British brands of the 1950s had
disappeared. Marques such as
AEC, Albion, Austin, Morris, Guy
and Scammell had been
absorbed into British Leyland,
while Seddon joined Atkinson
and, in the 1970s, Commer
merged with Dodge.New continentals
It didn’t take long for British
operators to warm to the new,
exciting ‘continentals’. Drivers
loved them for their comfort
levels. Operators loved the trucks
for their reliability, cost-
effectiveness, availability and
sheer dependability. Tractor
registrations grew by 20%
between the ’70s and ’80s, and
British manufacturers struggled
to even get into the race. Artic
gross weights rose from 32 to 38
tonnes in 1983 and by then the
continentals were well ahead.
Most of all, operators loved
the Europeans’ in-depth
understanding of the realities of
modern road transport. Early
market entrants such as Volvo,
Scania and Daf picked up the
cream of dealers keen to support
their customers properly.
Innovations such as DAFaid,
Action Volvo and Scania Lifeline
meant hauliers were no longer
alone or losing money when their
truck broke down, these
manufacturers having already
invested in support networks
right across Europe and as far as
the Middle East, which was also
coincidentally opening up at the
time. British manufacturers
simply couldn’t compete.
In truck manufacturing,
profitability is achieved through
volume and standardisation.
European manufacturers
specialised in ‘vertically
integrated’ trucks; that’s to say
using their own engines, axles
and cabs, while British makers
offered the widest variety of
everything. The result? Fewer
and fewer sales of products that
were simply more expensive to
build. It couldn’t go on.
Aart van der Padt, Daf
chairman in the 1980s, once
predicted that by 2000 there
would be only five truck
manufacturers left in Europe. He
was only slightly out.
Costs of product
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