The British motor industry will say goodbye to yet another part of its heritage this week when LDV, the van maker, is expected to declare bankruptcy.
It is a sad end to a company that started life as Morris Vans and then became part of British Leyland and Leyland DAF. About 850 jobs will be lost directly and another 5,000 jobs that indirectly relied on the company.
Although the loss of LDV represents the end of an era, we cannot really complain about its failure because, in the final analysis, it produced poor automobiles. It made one van, the Maxus, which was based on an old Daewoo design. LDV's customers were primarily British utilities such as Royal Mail who were given generous deals (some say zero-profit prices) in order to guarantee large fleet sales. But the Maxus was no competition for the vehicles produced by the likes of Vauxhall, Renault or Ford – although even the giants of the commercial van sector (such as Ford's iconic Transit) are suffering in the current recession. Small businesses and particularly the tradesmen who make up the bulk of van buyers are unlikely to invest in new vans when they are uncertain about maintaining a regular income in the months ahead.
Van sales have collapsed and the manufacturers are bunkering down. They have cut production and are limiting investment in the hope that sales rebound later this year. Sadly, the recovery will come too late for LDV and its assets are likely to be sold off by administrators for next to nothing. It is a sad end, but not an unexpected one.