20,000 Marinas sold in first week

British Leyland claimed yesterday that they had sold 20,000 of their new Marina range in the week since it was launched. In addition, orders from hire and fleet users for another 25,000 Marinas were under negotiation. The sales performance represents more than £40m. to the company and a spokesman claimed that 75 per cent of sales had so far been at the expense of competitors' products.

Strikes hit Ford and Leyland

The total shutdown at British Leyland's Triumph car assembly and body factories has bad repercussions at the company's Coventry car assembly plant. which depends on supplies of car bodies from Merseyside. where more workers will be laid off today.The fresh trouble at the Triumph plant at Speke, Liverpool, follows a two-week strike by 75 jig operators which caused a complete shutdown there and also led to a stoppage by 9000 workers at Coventry.

Jig operators working the night shift accepted the management's terms for a settlement of their pay dispute, but when the day shift men met vesterday they rejected the proposals and decided to continue their unofficial strike. As a result 2,500 other workers on both the day and night shifts were laid off. Production of the new Toledo car, 300 of which are built each day at Speke, was stopped. So was output of car bodies for the Coventry assembly plant.