British Council-The car industry

Transcript of the podcast

A : Radio presenter
B: Lee Smith

A: Hello there! I’m talking to Lee Smith, an automobile sector specialist. Lee, I’m not an expert, but it often seems to me that cars now are becoming more standardised

B: How do you mean

A: Well, basically, if I look at the traffic passing me as I drive to work each morning…well, all the cars look the same

B: Sure you’re not entirely wrong. Developments in technology and fuel efficiency is a major factor here mean that in some ways a standard design is inevitable

A: Companies are all finding the best way to design a car

B: Exactly,at least, a car that the market wants right now

A: But you’re here to tell us about an exception

B: Yeah. The other factor in this “standardisation” as you call it is that quite simply even though there are still a lot of brand names on cars there are actually very few automobile manufacturers left

A: Really

B: Yeah Toyota, General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen have around 50% of the global market. Even classic British names such as Rolls Royce and Aston Martin are owned by multinationals BMW and Ford, respectively. But there is at least one British company who remain proudly independent

A: And who’s that

B: They’re called Morgan

A: And what’s so different about them

B: Well, they’re a historic company, founded as long ago as 1913, and they’ve always concentrated exclusively on sports cars

A: Like, say, Ferrari

B: No because Ferrari are part of Fiat one of the other major manufacturers

A: Oh

B: Morgan have never tried to go commercial on a big scale

A: Is that viable, though? How can they compete against such giants

B: By doing what they do best and not changing in a changing world

A: They’re still making the same cars they made in 1913

B: Well, no of course not but the style of the cars has remained strikingly constant

A: They are very unusual looking, aren’t they? Especially these new models

B: Yeah the Aero Max and Life cars. They have a design which is both traditional and very modern

A: Yeah they look quite futuristic, actually

B: Exactly and that’s only the outside! The Life car for example

A: Why’s it called Life

B: “Life” stands for lightweight fuel efficient

A: Ok, but surely all cars today claim to be light and fuel efficient

B: They do but none of them like this one

A: How come

B: Well, like all Morgan cars, the frame is made of wood

A: Wood

B: Yes not only is it light weight, the company claim that it is also safer

A: Safer

B: Yes

A: So why don’t more companies make wood-frame cars

B: One simple reason it’s not cheap

A: Ok, I see

B: Added to that, the Life car uses a fuel cell

A: Is that a kind of battery

B: Yes kind of, but it allows for better performance

A: Interesting. Why aren’t these cars everywhere, then

B: Well as I already mentioned, they’re not cheap,a basic model will cost you around £۳۰۰۰۰, while top of the range models can cost up to £۲۰۰۰۰۰

A: Phew

B: And that’s not all.there’s a one year waiting list for these cars

A: Why so long

B: They’re all entirely hand built

A: Wow

B: Yeah,the company have ignored advice from consultants and experts, and continue to produce their cars the way they want

A: Very brave

B: …and very successful, apparently

A: Would you say, then, that Morgan is an exception, or the way forward

B: That’s a difficult question to answer,there’s no way Ford are going to restructure themselves along those lines

A: A year before you can buy a Mondeo

B: No way! (laugh), but for a niche market, Morgan are a company to watch

A: Lee, thanks

B: Thank you

Answers