Austin

Herbert Austin was born in 1866 as son of a farmer and died in 1941 as Baron Austin of Longbridge. And he owed all to cars.

At the age of 39, after managing the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, Herbert Austin decided it was time to have its own carmaker and founded the Austin Motor Company at Longbridge. The first model Austin produced was a 5-litre four-cylinder with chain drive. On the first year, he sold 23 cars and on the following he raised the bar to 147.

The I World War changed the course of the company for a few years and took it to another level, expanding the number of employees from 2500 to 22000. Austin made several government contracts to produce artillery, aircrafts. Records say that 8 million shells, 650 guns and 2 thousands aircrafts were produced among other war material.

After the war, Austin adopted a one-model policy and bet his money on the model 20. Although the several versions of the 20 didn’t do so badly, the sells weren’t enough to cover the cost of the massive production line that was forged during the war. The situation of the company was precarious, but Austin was able to put it in motion once again after a financial restructuring.

During the II World War, Austin continued to produce cars, although he built another factory at Cofton Hackett to construct aircrafts. In 1952 Austin merged with the Nuffield Organisation to become the British Motor Corporation.

The company was doing well, but it was on a verge of a revolution that would put Austin name in history. In 1959 a small car named Mini was launched and it became an instant success.

After such popularity, the Austin entered a turbulent period, after merging with Leyland Motors. Several models launched weren’t appealing to the press and public. The turning point would be 1980, when the Austin Rover was launched.

However, in 1986, the Austin bagde was discontinued. The most popular model it has, the Austin Rover, simply became Rover Group. Other models were continuing to be produced, but not under Austin or Rover badges, they had simply the model of the car.

The Austin name has passed through several companies since then. British Aerospace and BMW bought the Rover Group along with Austin, then MG Rover took the rights, but it was after that bough by the Nanjing Automobile Group that currently possesses them.