UK AUTO SECTOR
Still wild for Triumph
THE MOTORBIKE SECTOR is often forgotten
in the UK, and perhaps with good reason. The
famous makes of the 1940s to the late 1960s —
BSA, Norton, Vincent —were swept away by
the lower-cost Japanese Hondas, Kawasakis
and Suzukis. But one name remains, and it’s
possibly the most iconic of the lot — Triumph.
Originally based in Coventry but now in
Hinckley, Leicestershire, Triumph has had
more ups and downs than the TT course. The
company was founded by German immigrant
Siegfried Bettmann in the late 19th century,
Triumph: this year the company will produce 50,000 high-end, high-powered bikes, many for the US
THE ENDURING POWER OF ‘BRAND BRITAIN’
WITH ROLLS-ROYCE and Mini under the wing of BMW, Bentley owned by
Volkswagen and the recent sales of Aston Martin to a Kuwaiti-backed
consortium and Landrover Jaguar to India’s Tata Motors, it might seem that all
our best-known marques are either defunct or under foreign ownership. The
largest UK-owned, home-based car maker is London Taxi International.
Despite this, the heritage represented by UK brands is still seen as a
distinct selling-point by their parent companies and making the cars in this
country is even more of an advantage. ‘These are vehicles that are only made in
the UK,’ said Cardiff Business School’s Prof Garel Rhys. ‘And that, in a sense,
gives them their undeniable Britishness. This is the only place where a
Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, a Jaguar, a Land Rover, is made.’
These characteristically British marques still make a considerable
contribution to the industry and to the economy, insisted Rhys. Last year, just
over 1.5 million cars were made in the UK; of these, 550,000 were brands and
models with a British heritage. ‘Lever it — multiply it by its value — and it’s
even more significant. If you put together the production of Rolls-Royce, Bentley
and Aston Martin last year, it’s nearly 20,000. It doesn’t look much but if you
multiply that by the ex-works value, it’s equivalent to making 230,000
superminis,’ he said.
Since the 1980s, the UK’s reputation as a place in which to manufacture
produced motorbikes for the British Army in
both World Wars, changed hands numerous
times, hit the height of its fame in 1953 when
Marlon Brando rode a Thunderbird in The
Wild One, went bankrupt in 1983, and was
resurrected a year later by plasterer-turned-
property developer, John Bloor, who
relaunched it in 1991. Last year, the company
made £12.6m profits on £220m sales; this year,
it plans to produce 50,000 high-end, high-
powered bikes, many for export to the US.
‘They loved them last time around and they
28 the EnGIneeR 21 APRIL–4 MAY 2008
still do,’ Top Gear presenter James May told
The Engineer. May is the proud owner of a
Speed Triple, Triumph’s three-cylinder
sports-bike model. ‘They are definitely not
eccentric underdog “Aww, look at the cute
British bike” things. They’re great pieces of
kit, they sell all over the world, and it’s
something to be very proud of.’
Triumph makes its own engines using a
modular design, with parallel-twin engines in
modern cruisers and classic-style bikes, and
three-cylinder engines in sports bikes. ‘They all
have a unique sound and feel,’ said product
manager Simon Warburton. ‘We also focus on
making bikes very intuitive and easy to ride. All
R&D is done at Hinckley, and we try to manufac-
ture as many parts in-house as is feasible.’
As Triumph trades so heavily on its
heritage, the company is wary about making
large changes to designs. ‘Our production
facilities are state-of-the-art but we adopt a
more evolutionary, continuous improvement
approach to development,’ said Warburton.
‘Our experience is that larger companies are
better placed to experiment with a range of
new technologies but for us, as a small player
in a relatively conservative market, we cannot
afford to introduce revolutionary technologies
that customers might not be receptive to.’
Despite that, he added, a five-year-old
Triumph engine is very different from a
new model.
cars has soared, with the Nissan plant in Sunderland the most efficient in
Europe. This, allied with the specific image of many cars developed here, has
made the British marques’ custodians keenly aware that manufacturing in the
UK adds value without compromising quality.
BMW, for example, made ‘an act of faith’ in basing manufacture of the new
Mini here after its ignominious exit from the Rover Group in 2000, in part, said
Rhys, because then-BMW chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder was a nephew of the
Mini’s original designer, Sir Alec Issigonis. ‘They were covering their tracks, in a
way. But with hindsight it’s obvious that pulling everything together in the UK
would be a big success,’ said Rhys.
Similar factors are at work in Tata’s decision to keep Land Rover and
Jaguar manufacture in this country, he added. ‘There’s still a huge residue of
goodwill to many things British in India,’ he said, ‘and although Tata is a
pretty sharp company, it actually has to rub its eyes to believe it has bought
something so iconic.
‘Where else would you make it? It would cost an absolute fortune to move
production to India. It’s possible that one or two models could go there — the
Defender could have a new lease of life from being made in India, either as a
duplicate line or to free up space for other products. But moving the whole
thing? It has never crossed their minds.’
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