BL bonanza hopes are dashed by strike

BL bonanza hopes are dashed by strike
By Clifford Webb

The two-week-old Austin Rover strike that has lost the company 10,000 cars, worth more than £50m could prevent the British firm from capitalizing on the threatened shortage of Ford and General Motors cars resulting from a strike at their German motor component plants.

A senior Austin Rover executive said last night: "Until this happened. we were poised to make a real killing with the Americans short of cars during the build-up to the August bonanza."

Vauxhall has announced that lay-offs will, begin at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants on June 18 because of a shortage of key components for the Astra and Cavalier models that it assembles. Ford said yesterday it was reviewing the prospects for its British factories on a week-to- week basis. However, the biggest worry for Ford and Vauxhall is that for the first time they will not be able to make good new car shortages in Britain by importing cars.