Great Scots' success driven by quality

Instead, it eschewed financial temptation in the name of bothreputation and the avoidance of becoming a commodity. As importedquality marques from Europe, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar,and the Lexus from Japan, have gained ground at the expense oftop-of-the-range US models, the American buying public's perceptionof leather interiors as something special has evolved. Lincoln'srevival is pegged on the success of the all-new MKS model, nowreaching showrooms to replace the Town Car and LS.
"Perception is the key thing,'' says Muirhead. "I think there hasbeen a sea change in the appreciation of leather interiors by theAmerican buyer and that's come from the sale of European luxurycars. The customer who appreciates the finer things, importantdetails, and may be a purchaser of leather goods from Gucci orPrada, is the same customer who's buying the European luxury car.In those cars they are seeing European leather - and liking it.
"We never wanted to compromise. We could have taken a decision tomake an American-style leather but we always took the view thatthere was no point in trying to compete with large Americanproducers. All that will happen if you go down that route is aprice war and margins will suffer - nobody wins. Your productbecomes a commodity. Our leather is an added-value product. Wedecided that we would go for the long-term win. We make Europeanleather, this is what we're good at, this is what we specialise in.We just plugged away with that message.''
Contemporary British and other European influence in internationalcar design is big. Ford North America's own executive director ofdesign, Peter Horbury, has roots in Northumberland. Many industrycommentators view the car interior as a future focus where customer"delight'' features, such as leather, can lever sales againstcompetitors.
Faced with withering home market share, Lincoln's move to signBridge of Weir could be seen as a tactical means of recapturing theminds of defected customers; exterior design and engineeringstandards, relative to market tastes, have already risendramatically. Muirhead believes the threat of a large Americanleather producer making a similar product for the luxury market ismanageable.
"In some sections of the market where you are the leader somebodycould copy you, but all we are looking for is a slice of themarket,'' he says. "I see this opportunity only happening in theluxury sector - I cannot see there being a major change in the typeof leather that's used across the board in the US, and in theluxury segment the volumes are less appealing to the largerplayer.''
Even with environmental demands, if cars become smaller and lighterin future, the interior will remain a differentiator, according toBridge of Weir. Leather will remain desirable. "Our position is apayback for all the years investing in core strategies,'' saysMuirhead.
"We always make leather that looks like leather, withoutcompromise, and we always look at doing things better - we don'tstand still. "When I came into the industry (37 years ago) we hadthree competitors in Europe and three in the US. Now there areabout 60 competitors, worldwide. The market has grown enormously.One of our strengths is that we are good at doing niche,high-quality, lower volume projects and making leather to meet thehighest possible performance standards - in automotive and, atgroup level, in niche work with airlines.
They have a very demanding specification and a lot of ourcompetitors have been unable to meet the requirement. "We have laidout our plants so that we can move from doing small production runsto larger production, as required. We have a line that can producejust 20 hides in a particular colour, if a customer wants.'' Bridgeof Weir boasts more than a century of heritage making leather forthe transport industries - automotive, rail and marine. In 1911, itsupplied the British production line for the Model T Ford.
Today the names of Aston Martin and the AMG performance division ofMercedes-Benz are in the shipment lists. Volvo Cars has beensupplied for 25 years and is now the largest customer. Saab, too,has had a long relationship. Sports car makers Lotus and Morgan aresupplied by another member of the group. Up to 90pc of Bridge ofWeir's finished leather goes to the automotive industry, 75pc ofproduction finds its way into export markets and turnover is nowrunning at around £ 70m a year. Muirhead's family has been inthe leather-making business since 1758.
His grandfather, Arthur Muirhead, started Bridge of Weir in 1905.The company thrives, rather than merely survives, proud that it hasachieved against the odds of transient commercial pressures.Currently it employs 250 people and ships around 8,000 hides a weekto more than 30 countries. "I don't think what we do here, takingthe individual elements, is completely unique,'' Muirhead adds."But I think the package, as a whole, is unique.''
From Scotland - made in China
China's growing affluent middle classes are highly brand-awareconsumers. Quality is high on their priority list and nowhere isthe car a greater symbol of status. Bridge of Weir Leather Companyset up a trading business there two years ago when its largestcustomer, Volvo Cars, built a production line for the S40 model andwanted key suppliers alongside.
The car had to meet a local assembly content requirement and havethe same quality of materials as an S40 from Volvo's Belgianproduction facility. Effectively, Scottish leather is produced inChina - where the coating, colouring and cutting are done throughan agreement with a Chinese leather finishing plant, helping toachieve the content rule.
Scottish semi-processed hides are used because hides in China arenot of the correct quality. Standards of animal husbandry lagbehind those of Europe.