Yet, although there is no large British-owned car maker, Britain made almost twice as many cars last year as it did in 1980 and its share of the West European market has grown by a third to roughly 12.5%.

ECONOMIST: Mercedes goes to Motown

Together, they produce more than 3m engines, almost twice as many as the 1.6m cars they assemble.

ECONOMIST: Another car plant dies; long live British carmaking