British and European Car Spotters Guide - 1956

During 1956 many prophets of doom were forecasting that British Motor Industry exports would never be as high as they had been in 1955. Criticisms levelled at the industry inncluded: obsolete design, poor finish, unreliability, and inefficient after-sales service and spare parts organization. As it turned out the year was probably the toughest on record in the post-war era for British manufacturers, with a credit squeeze, a clamp down on car imports by the major markets of Australia and New Zealand, and serious labour disputes. Added to this was the rapid growth of strong foreign competition.

Against this rather depressing background British manufacturers were instituting vast expansion plans-aimed not only at increassing production but also at reducing prices-and the reorganizaation of service and sales operations, while dismissing their critics as being over pessimistic. On the design front the larger manufacturers were increasingly adopting tubular tires as standard equipment, overdrive and automatic transmission systems were gaining in popularity and more and more manufacturers were offering de luxe equipment-in the form of optional extras-as a means of turning standard production cars into more luxurious models. New models during the year tended to come from the major companies, namely the Sunbeam Rapier, the Jaguar 2.4, the Standard Vanguard Phase III and the MGA. The year's total car production was 747,922 units. Exports accounted for 335,397 cars and UK registrations for 412,525 (including hackneys).