We very much followed the product. That is, we produced pedal boxes, handbrakes, gearshift mechanisms wherever they went. By that I mean we were not wedded to our installed capacity/skills, skewing the best designs towards those apparent strengths. For example, we were developing plastic pedal boxes, plastic clutch and gas pedals. We did the design and development work with Du Pont on the Ford Fiesta gas pedal. We didn’t opt to put that single component into production. On the Rover 75 we put into production at Rearsby, a plastic pedal box with plastic clutch and gas pedals. This included moulding the box and pedals on site, employing a pair of Engel injection moulding machines. A new technology process for Rearsby.
In the case of handbrake levers, the future looked very uncertain for Rearsby. I see a time in the future when the on-board ABS braking system, engine management system and seat-belt and central door locking systems would be integrated to apply the main service brake system, as the parking brake system. The mechanical handbrake, as we knew it, would disappear entirely. I was further convinced by the fact the interior vehicle stylists wanted rid of the handbrake mounted between the driver and passenger seats.
To be frank, this latter scenario which had been developing in my mind for several years, as much as any other, motivated me to sell in 1995 when conditions to sell the business were right. A successor could resolve that little challenge.