Totally agree. Typical Brit car manufacturer. BMC 1800 had Pininfarina designed body ,the Berlina Aerodinamica prototype of 1967 ,passed it up, Citroen used it for GS , CX, etc. and Alfa for Alfasud. From this angle it looks very Lancia/Alfa like.
We lost our bike industry for the same reason. Brits idea was "They will buy what we make", Japanese was "We will make what they want to buy."