quote:
Originally posted by Spondonash
Triumph, like many other largeish manufacturers build bikes in several locations, at present they are ALL built in Hinckley but some are assembled in Thailand, these are bikes for the Asian and Australian market. This makes sound economic sense and as much as it may grate with some people it is the way of the world. Just look at the American car market, it is now starting to be dominated by Japanese makers, Toyota has become the second biggest manufacturer in the world, that would have been unheard of even 10 years ago. Here in Australia the 'local' manufacturers, Ford, GM, Toyota and Mitsubishi are starting to really feel the strain of cheaper imports of equal quality. If you had the choice of buying a loaclly made car for $30,000 or an imported car that was to all intents and purposes exactly the same vehicle for $20,000 which would you choose ?
It is true Dyson did in fact move their vacuum manufacturing plant to the Far East but their research and development section is still in England and they still make washing machines there. It is just a fact of life I'm afraid.
This isn't a dig at Tony but the British have a great deal to be proud of, I realise he isn't and he has his own reasons for that but I myself am a very proud Brit.
The UK is still a centre of engineering excellence as can be seen by the number of Formula One teams, WSBK and MotoGP teams that use it for research development and other reasons.
Getting back to the Norton question about them being banned, I say again they were NEVER banned from racing in the UK, they stopped racing because of the situation with Norton themselves.