The thing is with the British branding/sourcing, it's very important in the UK, but not elsewhere. In fact it's a mark against.
In the big North American market, UK made is seen as problematic.
A lot of the UK built vehicles that made their way over here in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, were very poorly built. When I ride my Brit bikes I encounter this mentality constantly with other bikers. I'm always having to defend them as " really not all that bad"
But public perception here is that British made means leaky, low performance and frequent breakdowns, godawful electrics, right from new. Come to think of it, my folks purchased a new Jag xj6 in 1990 that fit that description well, other than performance, that was fine.
They sold it at a big loss after 1 year. A friend asked why .
I explained that, aside from other issues, they couldn't get in it. He said " Oh, they are getting to old for the low seating?"
I replied , no they can't get in as it locks itself when parked and no one can get in, not even the dealership mechanic"
Plus it had all kinds of other issues.
It had factory auto levelling suspension that would, all on its own, raise one corner of the car way up while sitting at a stop light, then drop way down PeurtoRican low rider style.
With a Senior citizen at the wheel and another as passenger,you can imagine the looks they got!
It was quite funny but also quite an unsafe car.
That was fairly typical of even high end British stuff for a big chunk of the last century.
MGBs, Austin Healey's leaky, vibratory old Brit bikes, over here and in the big US market, they just aren't seen the same way I see them or as many in the UK see them. That might be why Triumph decided they could sell bikes just fine without the Union Jack. They are savvy marketers, I'm sure they are aware of this image.
I'll tolerate a lot of issues because I think the British motorcycle and auto styling is the best.
Glen