LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – When Britain lost its last native car company 20 years ago, it was lamented across the political spectrum as a national catastrophe. The left-leaning Guardian bemoaned: “No one can conceive of Renault, Fiat or indeed BMW fattening themselves up after years of emaciation, ready for sell-off to a foreign rival.” Britain’s Rover was falling into the hands of BMW – 50 years after Germany had begun pulling itself out of the economic abyss left by the Second World War.