This study will conduct a chronological examination of the British Leyland Motor Corporation,
focusing on three major areas of failure; from its birth in 1968 through to 1986; when what was
left of BL became the Rover Group owned by British Aerospace. The mid-1980s also saw
Leyland Trucks and Buses Division bought by Dutch lorry company, DAF; whilst Jaguar and
Land Rover succumbed to Indian steel giant, Tata. This 18-year period is regarded as a period
of general decline for British Leyland; reflective of the 1970s and 1980s industrial output and
productivity in Britain which will be scrutinised, placing this study into the context of an
increasingly fragile nation reliant on imports and aging industrial plants. A rich variety of
primary material from that period, including government documents, cabinet papers,
newspapers and relevant pamphlets further illustrate and assist understanding of this turbulent
time. In addition to this exciting and fruitful range of primary material, a wider selection of
secondary volumes and interviews with individuals and authors will aid this thesis in
formulating a credible argument as to why this collapse became inevitable.