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Ford stopped making cars in Dagenham, Vauxhall closed its car factory Luton, and industrial relations at the MG Rover Longbridge plant are strained his 1960 slow industrial decline heyday was in recent years accelerated by a drop in export demand due to euro weakness of sterling.
But reports of the demise of the industry are exaggerated.
Car production in the UK may have fallen about 9 last year compared to 2000, but not less than 1 5 million still left the production line.
The second largest car manufacturer has stopped producing Ford cars in Britain, on the contrary, the United Kingdom has become one of Ford's centers for the production of engines.
A Bridgend just under 1,400 workers make engines for a wide range of Ford cars in February last year, Ford has released details of a Ј240m investment in its plant south Wales to build a new generation Jaguar V6 This investment should lead to another 500 jobs.
Dagenham meanwhile, is expected to become the global center for diesel engines The operation in east London employed 1,600 people before the production car was stopped.
Ford said he wants to add 500 jobs over the next few years, although internal company documents obtained by the BBC last year suggested that some of them are actually just transfers from other parts Ford UK.
At Enfield 1,000 employees working in a research and development, while Southampton 2,100 people produce the Ford Transit van.
But Ford continues to produce passenger cars in the UK, although under the guise of its premium brands.
Jaguar, with plants in Coventry and Birmingham is the great success story of automobile manufacturing in the UK, posting four consecutive years of strong sales in 2001, the company sold over 100,000 cars for the first time.
The new baby Jaguar - X400 - is being produced in the Ford plant in Halewood, who concoct escorts until September last year.
As a luxury car manufacturer, price competition is low on the agenda of Jaguar, which makes it easier for the automaker to cope with the weakness of the euro against the pound.
Another premium brand in the Ford team's Aston Martin, a real niche car manufacturer that will move the production to the seat Land Rover where premium brands R D will be concentrated.
Ford now also owns Land Rover, which he bought from BMW after breaking the Rover Group.
The Swindon Honda plant is one of the Japanese auto plants to export to Europe more than three thousand employees build Accord and Civic cars, and last year Honda announced a Ј130m investment in a production facility for make CR-V four-wheel drive cars.
The strength of the pound hit Honda hard, and there was grumbling that new investments could go to the mainland.
Production facilities at Nissan Sunderland plant are state of the art, and 5,000 workers there are deemed to be the most productive automotive manufacturers in Europe, bringing together more than 330,000 cars a year.
Nevertheless, plant management has long complained Most car - Micra, Primera, Almera - are built for export, and high book is cutting into profit margins.
After months of negotiations, and with the help of a government grant Ј40m Sunderland eventually won the contract to build the next Micra.
However, the plant is trying to reduce the cost of 30, and many of its suppliers in the UK are under pressure Nissan said it wants to suppliers in the euro area, where auto parts are cheaper.
The French company factory in Coventry produced the Peugeot 206 model and employs 3,500 people.
The plant is profitable, earning his Ј104m parent during the past year One reason is its high productivity Peugeot says its operation in Coventry's only car plant in Europe churning cars 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Plans to build the wagon version of the 206 people here will create seven hundred temporary jobs in Ryton and summer stop will be deleted.
Rover Cars was dismantled in 2000, after former owner BMW failed to turn around the loss-making company.
Longbridge with about 8,500 workers, has now been acquired by the Phoenix Consortium It produces the Rover 25, 45, 75 and the MG-F.
A Swindon 3000 workers produce body parts for all Rover cars.
The Cowley factory in Oxford recently modernized stayed with BMW and employs 3,500 people he used to produce the Rover 75, but now is the new Mini from 2001.
Toyota has two factories in the UK, where 2,800 workers build Burnaston Avensis and Corolla, and Deeside in Flintshire where 300 people make car engines.
Both plants have in the past been forced to operate at less than full capacity, accusing the impact of the strong pound.
Toyota last year said it would hire an additional 300 workers and increase production by 30 to try to make better use of unused production facilities aims to increase production in the UK of Corolla model from the current level 170,000 cars to 220,000 vehicles per year.
Superficially, Vauxhall seems to be in a situation similar to Ford - owned by a large American company with operations spread over Europe, especially Germany.
Vauxhall, however, do not like these comparisons General Motors is investing heavily in its plant in the UK in Ellesmere Port Astra, V6 engines and soon Frontera.
In February 2001, he confirmed his intention to build the new Vectra model in Ellesmere Port securing 1,200 jobs The company wanted Ј5m government subsidies to ensure that the work went to the English factory, rather than its sister plant in Antwerp, Belgium.
But Luton plant, which was built the old Vectra stopped producing cars in March, with the loss of 1,900 jobs.
Vauxhall GM employs more than 11,000 people at its plants and investments made more flexible and therefore competitive production lines.
Nevertheless, Vauxhall acknowledged that the strong pound strength to work harder to stay ahead of its rivals - both inside and outside the GM empire.
And then there are the automakers niche Britain, famous names that produce a limited number of sports and luxury cars.
The most high profile of these, Rolls-Royce, now owned by BMW, which bought the rights to the prestigious brand in 1998, is due to take over the production of Rolls Royce cars in 2003.
Volkswagen, which has lost the Rolls Royce brand with its German rival after a bitter takeover battle, owns the rights to the sister brand Rolls Royce, Bentley.
TVR, Lotus and Lola are famous for their innovative sports and racing cars.
One of the most eccentric business is probably Morgan Motor Cars, with its Aero 8 roadster, built by hand with an aluminum body mounted on a frame of ash.
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BBC NEWS Business What's left of the car industry in the UK, industry.