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The Bedford TKs (including the KM) and the Ford D Series were the bread and butter with Leylands a touch more 'classy' - with the Atkinsons, ERFs and Fodens much higher up, and those that bought Bedfords and Fords realised that they wouldn't last as long as the Atkis, ERFs and Fodens but they were cheaper to buy.
Market analysts identified a niche for greater numbers of 'heavier' trucks than the 'Fodens' were capable of building, so Ford created the Transcontinental and Bedford the TM and Leyland the RoadTrain.
Unfortunately each manufacturer had calculated to capture the same sector (without recognising the presence of the others - or the emergence of Volvo - in the marketplace).
Volumes didn't match up to expectations and the unit costs left insufficient profit.
Meanwhile Seddon joined Atkinson and produced the Seddon-Atkinson and things at Bedford (and Ford) started to fall apart (literally). Volvo continued to gain market share.
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