Seminar: When GM met Austin: a counter-factual history of the British car industry

You are cordially invited to attend a research seminar by Peter Scott, Henley Business School. Follow the link in your calendar email invitations(Join Microsoft Teams Meeting) to join the seminar on Wednesday, 20th January at 13:00.

Abstract:

Fordist methods are regarded as having been viable only in the USA prior to the 1950s. This paper examines their potential in the largest non-North American auto market – the UK, using recently-released documentation regarding General Motors’ abortive 1925 takeover bid for Britain’s second largest car manufacturer, Austin. GM’s plans for developing Austin as the leading UK car manufacturer show that existing British mass production methods could have yielded substantially higher productivity, when combined with American systems for achieving “economies of throughput” (capacity utilisation). This would have had major (generally positive) implications for the longer-term development of the British auto sector.

Please contact Administrator Jana Oslejova, if you have not received your invitation.