MVC, because of the "British preference" in the old tariff system, coupled with the embedded status of a lot of British companies in Australia, up until the economic reforms that happened from the 1980s onward, we got a lot of British merchandise here, regardless of quality and cost-competitiveness. We still have a lot of the embedded companies, but the tariff system is largely gone, so these days our major trading partners are China, the US, Japan, Singapore, and then the UK. If it weren't for the embedded companies, I believe the UK would currently be lower still in the rankings.
Obviously British goods are getting better, and the US is phasing out on-shore manufacture of most things, so the situation is quite different from the 1950s, but back in those days, things branded Wipac or Lucas were not necessarily the world's finest examples of their kind. To be fair, Lucas was a stand-out example, while Wipac was just one among many. And 1950s US goods weren't necessarily marvellous either. Everyone had a lot to learn about quality in those days.
