The Austin Motor Company

The Austin Motor Company was formed in the summer of 1905 as a private company under the ownership of Herbert Austin with an initial capitalization of £11,000. In November that year he moved his factory into the former premises of White and Pike printing works at Longbridge site near Birmingham.

Austin first displayed his cars in public in 1912 at the motor show, where he criticized the authorities for their lack of discrimination in favor of British manufacturers. In the first year of production the company produced 120 cars 1nd by 1939 it was producing over 75,000 cats at the Longbridge..

The most famous car produced by Austin Motor Company was The Austin Seven. It was unveiled in 1922, quickly became the best selling model in Great Britain and continued in production until 1939.

The company initially produced unprofitable cars in small numbers but for the first time registered a profit of £41,130 on turnover of more than £400,000 in 1913.

In 1952, Austin Motor Company merged with Morris Minor Limited to form new holding company British Motor Corporation. The government approved the merger a being in the public interest. It was expected to lower production costs through achieving economies of scale.
The Austin Motor Company