Corporate strategy in the UK vehicle components industry: a comparison of Lucas Industries and GKN
Owen, G.
(2025).
Corporate strategy in the UK vehicle components industry: a comparison of Lucas Industries and GKN.
In
Sallai, D. & Pepper, A.
(Eds.),
Navigating the 21st Century Business World: Case Studies in Management
(pp. 17 - 38).
LSE Press.
https://doi.org/10.31389/lsepress.nbw.b
The story of how Lucas Industries and GKN responded to the changing economic environment during the years of industrial decline in the UK is one of the classic cases of business strategy. Lucas Industries and GKN, manufacturers of automotive and aerospace industry components, were in their heyday two of the UK’s largest listed industrial companies. Yet, while GKN managed successfully to negotiate the rapidly changing economic and industrial scene of the 1980s–1990s, Lucas Industries struggled to adapt and was eventually forced to merge with the North American Varity Corporation in what many commentators regarded as an effective takeover.
