References
- See Table 1.
- See D. G. Rhys ‘The Motor Industry, an economic survey’ Chap. 8, p. 260/301. Butterworths, London, 1972 (ii) Each clay and fibre-glass mock-up or prototype can cost £65,000
- In 1972 Opel for the first time since the pre-war period became the market leader in Germany, its widening range outselling VW's more limited range of cars. However, because of its immense export sales Volkswagen was still the largest producer. This, in parenthesis, illustrates the ‘problem’ posed by a multi-national firm in competition with a national producer; Opel does not have the same commitment to export as VW, for Opel exists primarily as GMC's outpost within the German market. As a result fewer export sales, which may be at only a little above marginal cost, are made, while VW has to satisfy the Government's wishes on the export front and may thereby harm its profitability.
- Management Today, April, 1967, ‘Why Vauxhall re-launched the Viva’, p. 85. As the car was planned as a ‘safe entry’ into the small-car market, annual sales of over 100,000 a year would have come up to expectations.
- Vauxhall has attempted to widen its appeal by producing more and more versions of the basic Viva design. This policy has had some success but it is not as satisfactory as widening appeal by making one or two additional basic models, a lesson which the company may now have learnt. Equally a proliferation of models made in small numbers would be mistaken and costly
- Throughout the mid 1960s, the Bedford truck and coach sales and profits were sufficient to bolster Vauxhall cars' poor performance.
- Hypothetically, given an output of 100,000 cars an extra £30 could have improved the net financial position by £3 million; with an output of 200,000 the figure would be over £6 million. (With such an output a fall in unit costs would also occur.) These totals should be looked at in the light of the position shown in Table 1.
- In 1972, 187,159 Ford Cortinas were registered in the UK compared to 36,651 Vauxhall Victors. The figures for the Ford Escort and the Vauxhall Viva were 140,837 and 99;393 respectively.
- Source: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
- If anyone doubts that poor management caused many of Standard-Triumph's or BMC's problems let them read G. Turner's The Leyland Papers, Eyre and Spottiswood, London, 1972