Stokes, Donald Gresham Stokes, Baron

▪ British automobile executive

in full  Donald Gresham Stokes, Baron Stokes of Leyland 

born March 22, 1914, London, Eng.

died July 21, 2008, Poole, Dorset

      British automobile executive who presided over the merger that resulted in British Leyland Motor Corporation, Ltd. (later renamed BL Public Limited Company (British Leyland Motor Corporation, Ltd.)), the largest automaker in England. Although Stokes had done well as managing director of Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd., one of the partners in the merger, the consolidated company was not a success and was nationalized by the British government in 1975.

      Stokes joined Leyland Motor Corp. in 1930 as a student engineer, eventually rising to the post of managing director in 1963. He was credited with transforming Leyland from a small-lorry (small-truck) and bus manufacturer into the world's leading heavy-lorry exporter. During his five years as head of Leyland the company doubled its sales.

      In 1968 Leyland merged with the much larger British Motor Holdings Ltd. at the urging of then prime minister Harold Wilson, who was concerned that the British auto industry would be swamped by its huge foreign competitors. The new company was beset with numerous problems, among them too many models, obsolete plants, uncoordinated management, and poor labour relations. As the first chairman of British Leyland, Stokes proved unequal to the formidable task before him, and stockholders urged his removal. When the British government purchased most of the shares of British Leyland, Stokes was elevated to the largely honorary post of president (1975–79). He was knighted in 1965 and made a life peer in 1969.

* * *