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I was reading a short history book about the history of the British automotive industry this afternoon and a couple of potential points of divergence caught my eye. Since I don't have a great knowledge of the post-war industry figured I'd see what people thought.

Austin during the inter-war years was run by the triumvirate of Carl Engelbach handling production, Ernest Payton handling the financial side of things, and Austin being the ideas man. Unfortunately all three either retired or died during the late 1930s and early to mid-1940 leading to Leonard Lord taking charge of things and leaving a rather mixed legacy. Payton, perhaps foreseeing some of Lord's flaws, invited Miles Thomas from Morris to lunch in 1945 and offered him a job under the idea that Thomas would manage the business and financial side of the company whilst Lord concentrated on production, he however declined out of, as it turns out misplaced, loyalty to Morris. So what happens if he had said yes, does a potentially moderating influence on Lord makes things better or worse?

Would Daimler have been better off if James Leek had not retired but remained managing director instead of the chairman Bernard Docker taking on the job? As with Lord Docker's reputation seems rather mixed, I seem to be sensing a pattern, being eventually forced out by the board. His retirement was apparently due to a slow recovery from an operation so lets say he either doesn't need one or it simply goes better. Without Docker and his idiosyncratic ways might Daimler of had better success, especially if they manage to get the Lanchester's Sprite right?

Speaking of Morris another point of divergence again concerning Miles Thomas, he of Austin job offer, was that William Morris told Thomas in 1946 that he was planning on stepping down and turning the running of the whole Nuffield group over to him, only to change his mind for some reason a month or two later and stay on instead. The unclear situation and then resulting tension apparently interfered with the company's planning for new post-war models and Thomas resigned in late 1947. Morris seems to have been somewhat dictatorial falling out with Frank Woollard and Leonard Lord in the early to late 1930s and having Oliver Boden collapse and die from an exhaustion-induced heart attack, after deciding to not retire he sacked six company directors. So what happens if Morris decides retire after all and hand over to Thomas - might he be able to avoid the BMC merger, suggestions of alternate purchases such as the decent bits of Jowett, Lea-Francis, Singer when they went out of business or was it inevitable? That does then also bring up the question of what the results of BMC being more of a merger of equals rather than Austin dominated and the more experimental Nuffield forced to play second fiddle might have been. Issigonis jumped ship to Alvis and chief engineer Vic Oak retired suggesting a clash of corporate cultures.
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