LDV

For much of the late twentieth century, Washwood Heath was one of Birmingham’s most important vehicle-building districts, thanks to the LDV factory on Drews Lane. The site traced its roots back to British Leyland’s light commercial vehicle operations and later became Leyland DAF Vans, before being renamed LDV Group in 1993. From this large Washwood Heath plant, thousands of vans were produced for the UK and export markets, including the LDV 200 and 400 Series, Pilot, Convoy and the Maxus. For decades the factory provided skilled industrial jobs and made Washwood Heath one of Britain’s main centres of van production.

The global financial crisis of 2008 proved fatal for the company. Production at Washwood Heath was suspended in December that year and the business entered administration in 2009. Despite attempts to rescue it, the Birmingham factory never reopened. The site was later cleared and earmarked for redevelopment, bringing to an end more than half a century of commercial vehicle manufacturing on the land.

However, the LDV name did not disappear. The intellectual property and vehicle designs were sold to SAIC Motor of China, one of the world’s largest automotive groups. SAIC relaunched the vehicles internationally under the MAXUS brand, using updated versions of the old LDV designs and building them in modern Chinese factories. These vans are now sold across Europe, including the UK, as petrol, diesel and electric models.

Today, companies operating in the West Midlands under the LDV or MAXUS name are not the original Birmingham manufacturer. They are vehicle dealerships and service centres representing the modern SAIC-owned brand. While the Washwood Heath factory is gone, its legacy continues in the Maxus vans now on Britain’s roads, which still trace their design lineage back to one of Birmingham’s last great vehicle-building plants.