In foreign hands, British automakers overtake France

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As the Paris car show gets under way this week, here’s a fascinating piece from Reuters and via Yahoo on the contrasting fortunes of the UK and French car industries since the recession. It is very much a tale of two economic philosophies – the UK relinquished control of its carmakers to foreign firms such as BMW and Tata, and production has subsequently soared, while the French state has repeatedly stepped in to help ailing Renault and Peugeot and still its industry has at best stagnated. No one really knows how this is ultimately going to play out but on current evidence it would appear the British model has been more adept at dealing with the particular challenges of the post-recession automotive economy.