Despite successive company mergers and name changes, "Morris's" is still often used as the name of the car factory to this day. In 1952, Morris Motors became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC), in 1968 BMC became British Leyland, in the 1980s the group was known as Austin Rover, in the 1990s it was Rover Group and since 2001 the factory has been owned by BMW. But the name "Morri...
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The car factory is now owned by BMW and has been extensively redeveloped. It remains the largest industrial employer in Oxfordshire. It was the original base of Morris cars when the marque was founded in 1912, and production continued at the factory until 1982, although the Morris marque was not abandoned until 1984 when production of the Longbridge-built Morris Ital finished. The factory then became the production facility for the Maestro and Montego, which continued in production until 1994 by which time the facility was totally given over to production of the Rover 600 and Rover 800. These models were replaced by the Rover 75 in late 1998, but BMW broke up the Rover Group in 2000 and Rover 75 production moved to Longbridge, while BMW retained ownership of the Cowley plant to build the all-new MINI that was launched in the spring of 2001. It has been the best selling car to be built at the plant since the Maestro and Montego in the 1980s.
Despite successive company mergers and name changes, "Morris's" is still often used as the name of the car factory to this day. In 1952, Morris Motors became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC), in 1968 BMC became British Leyland, in the 1980s the group was known as Austin Rover, in the 1990s it was Rover Group and since 2001 the factory has been owned by BMW. But the name "Morris's" is ingrained in local culture and speech habits, particularly amongst older inhabitants.
By the early 1970s, over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the vast Morris Motors and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. Unipart is also a major employer in Cowley, with premises next to the car factory. Also notable is the high level of political consciousness within the working class based in and around the Cowley area. Indeed, the workers are well known for not accepting wage cuts, Trade Union busting or anything else of the sort. Among the militants involved in trade unionism at Cowley are Alan Thornett.
In later years Morris Motors and Pressed Steel became one company. Subsequently the Morris's site was closed down, demolished, and redeveloped as the Oxford Business Park. The Pressed steel factory is now operated by BMW.
