Around the World

At the absolute zenith of BMC>MGR’s career, in 1968, the manufacturing group maintained 60 factories in the UK and 66 overseas, and foreign production amounted to 340,000 vehicles per year. Indigenous manufacture and partial manufacture took place in Australia, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Ireland, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, South and Central Africa, Spain and Turkey.

Here is are country-by country breakdown of the most important markets, with a few that you’d never have thought of thrown in for good measure.

Around the World : Overseas operations

27 August 2018 Keith Adams 12

Overseas Operations Below is a list of the operations managed by British Leyland International during the early 1970s. I have included the autonomous distribution companies, CKD operations and associated manufacturers. […]

The cars : Ledbury Maestro – Rodacar’s Bulgarian Austin

6 November 2021 Keith Adams 17

There was an operation to build Austin Maestros in Bulgaria, and we have the full and exclusive story of how it came together. Meet the Rodacar Maestro – which we […]

The cars : Rover 416i Vitesse

6 December 2020 David Morgan 47

Here’s a a lesser-known Rover Vitesse. The Australian market-only416i Vitesse was launched in 1986 as a stylish replacement for the Quintet. Good looking, too. Should they have sold it in […]

Around the World : Austin Allegro – the export story

21 June 2020 Chris Cowin 56

The poor old Austin Allegro has been a target of criticism almost from launch, much of it deserved. But a myth has gained ground that needs correcting. People will tell […]

The cars : Austin/Morris 2200 in Europe

29 May 2020 Chris Cowin 49

The smooth six-cylinder version of the BMC 1800 (ADO17) could have been a hit across Europe. It was a great long-distance cruiser. However, held back by a body changed little […]

The cars : Morris Marina Diesel (in four flavours)

2 May 2020 Chris Cowin 22

The Portuguese could buy a Morris Marina through the 1970s and well into the ’80s, not least because the Morris Ital retained the Marina name in Portugal. However, it helped […]

The cars : Morris Mascot (the Mini from Denmark)

14 April 2020 Chris Cowin 10

The Danes had an independent streak when it came to car names, never more so than with the Mini, which went by the name of ‘Morris Mascot’ until 1981. Chris […]

The cars : Mini MK3, South Africa

5 April 2020 Chris Cowin 1

Chris Cowin takes a look at the South African Mini ‘MK3’ of 1969-71, and pieces together an interesting and little-told story. We focus on the confusingly-named Mini MK3, which combined […]

Around the World : South African Minis

5 April 2020 Declan Berridge 15

South Africa produced the Mini in an interesting variety of body combinations not seen elsewhere… These included the Wolseley 1000, the Mini K and a strange Mini MK3 – a […]

The cars : Huandu CAC6430

1 April 2020 Erik van Ingen Schenau 25

Outwardly, it looked like a Morris Ital with a nicer-looking front bumper, but underneath, it sported new (well, old) underpinnings. The Huandu was built in Western China and proved fairly […]

Around the World : Leyland South Africa/Leykor

1 April 2020 Declan Berridge 23

British car production in South Africa following the end of the Second World War initially amounted to CKD (Completely Knocked Down) production of Austins and Standard Vanguards by local producers. […]

Around the World : The Leyland Italia years

30 March 2020 Chris Cowin 11

We all know about Innocenti’s work, and how the products it sold were closely based on BMC’s model catalogue. However, the story of the Leyland Italia years is one that’s […]

The cars : Austin Marina

28 March 2020 Chris Cowin 20

The car known in the UK as the Morris Marina was sold as the Austin Marina in a number of overseas markets, including the US, Canada and – for a […]

Around the World : US and Canadian BMC 1100s

26 February 2020 Chris Cowin 29

Declan Berridge and Chris Cowin explain the long and sometimes complex history of the much-loved BMC 1100 in the US and Canadian markets. BMC 1100 – fit for North Americans […]

Around the World : Minis in Ireland

19 December 2019 Andrew Ryan 6

It’s perhaps not surprising that the Mini was a big success in Ireland as the cars were launched at a time when British firms dominated the Irish car market. As […]

The cars : Morris Nomad and 1500

23 October 2019 Keith Adams 30

The Australian market featured a number of interesting variations on the BMC 1100/1300 theme which we didn’t get on the home market. The Morris Nomad and 1500 OHC had the […]

The cars : Etsong Lubao QE6400/QE6440 (2001-2003)

6 April 2019 Keith Adams 1

The first in a three-part story about the continuation of the Maestro’s afterlife in China. The acquisition of production rights for the Maestro in the late-1990s by Etsong was intended […]

The cars : FAW Lubao CA6410/7410 (2003-2006)

6 April 2019 Keith Adams 4

After Etsong gave up on the slow-selling Maestro-based Lubao, First Auto Works (FAW) took over the production rights, and gave the car a bit of a spruce-up. The FAW Lubao […]

The cars : Sipani Automobiles’ Indian Rover Montego

23 March 2019 Keith Adams 10

A couple of years after production had ceased in the UK, the Rover version of the Austin Montego was re-introduced in the Indian subcontinent in order to compete in the […]

RAAF Moke being unloaded from a DC3 aircraft.

Around the World : BMC in Rhodesia

27 August 2018 Michael James 10

Michael James tells the brief story of BMC in Rhodesia. It’s the first time this forgotten outpost of British Motor Corporation has been highlighted on AROnline. British Motor Corporation: car […]

Around the World : Rover Quintet

20 May 2018 Keith Adams 16

The first Honda to wear a Rover badge wasn’t the 213… but the Rover Quintet, an intriguing Far Eastern offering. Paul Guinness tells us what he knows. Rover Quintet: the […]

Events : Britain welcomes Europe with open arms at New Zealand’s British Car Day

12 February 2018 Jack Yan 14

This year’s British Car Day near Wellington, New Zealand, welcomed Continental cars for the first time, showing that uniting with Europeans made for a far better time, writes Jack Yan […]

Around the World : South Africa in the 1970s

14 October 2017 Keith Adams 12

Forty years ago, the world’s car markets looked a very different place – nowhere is this more the case than in South Africa, which managed to create a number of strange and interesting hybrids. Keith Adams leads you through some of the more interesting ones. […]