This Page will list in Year order, various information that the Company released to the Press.
---- --(See the news update page for additions)
1934
Aug A luncheon for 900 Dealers
and Suppliers, Sir Herbert Austin the average payroll was 17,000
and at one time reached 17,971. By next year it should be up to
20,000.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 1945
Car prices for 1945 will
be.
8 hp 4 dr deluxe is now £326 including purchase tax of £77
10 hp . . . . . . . . . . . . £397 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . £87
12 hp . . . . . . . . . . . . £531 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. £116
16 hp . . . . . . . . . . . . £569. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
£124
EXPORTS from
Aug 1945
to
Feb 46
British Exports
were 5,394 with Austin supplying 3,197 (59%)
Oct Mr George W Harriman OBE
Works Manager has now been appointed a Director of the
Company
----------------------------1946
Jan. During the six months since
production has been resumed, six car assemble & finishing lines
have been brought into into service. The Company has been unable to
Export more than 33% owing to Shipping shortage and Dock strikes,
but was confident that by spring it would be up to 50%.
Austin engine is to be fitted into a new Lifeboat that is 30 ft
long and 6 ft 6 inch wide. The engine is based on the 8 hp engine
which has simplified construction using light alloys to keep the
weight down. An enlarged oil sump along with a large fuel tank will
enable it to run for 500 hrs. To protect the engine from the
sea-water it is encased in a synthetic bag.
Feb All future Austins imported
into Eire will enter that Country as components and will be
assembled in a Modern Factory in Dublin
First three months of 1946 , Longbridge output was
9,427 of which 4,143 were exported (43%) and in March, production was 4,343 with
2,009 exported (46%)
April Formation of the Austin
Motor Export Corporation Ltd Reg Office 479 Oxford London
May Austin Ex-Apprentice
Association is now been reformed. Would all ex-apprentice please
contact Hon Secretary Mr H Blackburn c/o Austin Motor Company
giving the following information, regarding present address and
employment, together with details of War Service
Sept 50,000 vehicles produced
since peacetime
Austin has decided to convert its seven ancillary Lancashire
Boilers from coal to oil consumption in view of the grave coal
shortage, predicted for this winter
----------------------------1947
Jan Employee will work only 5
days, but a Bonus will be introduced for good Time Keeping
Price increase 8 hp now £364-18-04 was £345-15-10 including
tax
- - - - - - - -
10 hp
-----
£441-11-08
----
£422-08-04
-
- - - - - - - 12 hp ----- £607-13-10-----
£575-15-00
-
- - - - - - - 16 hp ----- £671-11-08-----
£633-05-00
Price for 3.5 litre 110 Sheerline will be £1,000 plus £278
tax
--------------------120
Vanden Plas Princess £1,500 plus £417 tax
July Midland motoring Enthusiast
Club is holding a race meeting on the Austin Airfield. The course
which is 1/2 mile long will have hairpin bends at each end linked
by short straights with a S bend halfway along each bend. Various
car clubs are invited.
The Company purchased the Flight Shed from the Government, and it
is been re-equiped to be used as a Packing & Despatch
Department for Overseas Production. At the moment 1,500 per week
are dispatched, In the next couple months this will rise to 2,000
units.
Year ending 31st July Gross Profit was £2,875,929 a Dividend of 20%
on Preferred ordinary Stock & 40% on Ordinary & "A" stocks
will be paid.
Oct/Nov A new 6 cyl range will be
announce
Nov A 4 litre engine is now
been fitted to the Austin Sheerline, it will now be called the 125,
and the Princess will be called the 135.
- 1948
Jan A new Company is been
formed in India under the name of Ashol Motors for the assembly,
distribution and manufacture of Austin Products
Feb Exports from the Austin
Motor Co. Ltd now amount to a million US Dollars every month. While
the remainder of the Companys export markets yield nearly £950,000
monthly
March Cash award on a sliding
scale depending on the weekly output from Longbridge has been
introduced by the Austin Motor Company Ltd, as an incentive towards
greater production.
250 cars per week were been sent to USA, and it was hoped to ship
3,000 to Canada between March & August.
March 420 A40s Dorset and Devons
left Manchester Docks on the Cargo Liner 'Pacific Stronghold' going
to the West Coast of America and Canada.
April In
March 5,722 Austin vehicles were exported, an all time record for
any British firm. Austins are now bringing in a Million US dollars
a month.
July The Veteran Car Club Rally
& Hill Climb, will take place at the Austin Works on 17th July.
the company is acting as host on this occasion and have put there
Test Grounds at the Clubs disposal.
Record production at Austins factory was achieved in the week
ending July 10th, when 2.329 vehicles left the assemble lines at
Longbridge. This brought the Total numbers of A40s produced to
30,000. To help to ferry the cars to the docks, a special Double
Decker trailer has been developed to carry four A40s cars.
Sept The popular Austin Sixteen
will continue for another year or more. The price of the Sixteen
has been reduced and is now £684 a drop of £26.
In the week ending 18th
Sept, Austin produced 2,705 units made up of 2127 cars and 578
trucks and vans. 2066 went for Export 639 for the home market. At
this rate of production, the total production of cars this year
will be 109,000
Oct At the Monthery track near
Paris Thomas H Wisdom, a motoring journalist covered a distance of
103.76 miles in one hour a 2.4 litre Healey saloon using just 5.5
gallons of fuel.
1949
Feb The proposal to
assembly
Austins in the Canadian plant at Hamilton Ontario has been
postponed.
May Austin A40 Devon Mk II has
been announced, it is to sell at £328 plus £19 purchase tax for the
Home market. But at present is only available in the Overseas
market.
1950
Jan A new record was set up by
the Austin Company, when sales in 1949 amounted to £52,041,000. yes
a staggering one million pounds a week. The number of vehicles
despatched were 136,596 along with 10,500 tons of
spares.
Nov The Austin A40 Dorset-Devon
is the most successful single product in the Export drive, 250,000
have been produced in 160 weeks, with North America taking 74,500
earning £70 million
1951
Feb Austin sold 1,800 cars in
Belgium
As demands for cars grows, the number of orders for Austin
increases. There is now a delivery delay of up to three months on
some models. The advent of import restrictions in Australia was, of
course, a serious blow to English Car
manufactures
1953
Dec Colonel ACR Waite is
relinquishing his deputy chairmanship of the Austin Motor Export
Corporation and has reassumed his London Directorship of the Austin
Motor Co Ltd
1954
Sept BMC new factory extension
has been completed at Victoria Park Sydney Australia. 1,000 engines
a week will be produce. BMC have also acquired a 20 acre site with
a 250,000 sq ft building in Melbourne for the Assembly of parts
imported from England along with components and materials made in
Australia.
100 Austin employees who
have expertise in Production Engineering, along with Technical and
Advisory Staff have left Birmingham to help to get the plant up and
running, The first consignment of machinery will be dispatched over
the coming months
1955
Aug To look after the various
spares for the group, a new company has been formed called BMC
Service Ltd. It will be based in Cowley and all spares will now
trade under the trade mark MOWOG.
1956
Monte Carlo Rally Successes. Of the seven
factory-entered Austins in the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally, six got into
he final speed test on the Monaco mountain circuit. The team of J.
Gott, G. Burgess and Mrs. J. Johns, all driving A90 Westminsters,
finished fifth in the team contest. M. Couper, also in an A90, won
first prize in the Concourse de Confort section: his car was fitted
with more than 50 extras.
Price Increase announced by the British
Motor Corporation that as from March 13th the home retail prices of
all vehicles produced by the group would be rise by approximately
7% per cent. The last time a basic price adjustment was made was in
January 1952-
Austin Gas.Turbine Developments It was revealed in January
20th that car development of the
secret Austin gas-turbine engine had reached a new phase, the
target of which was the evolution of a unit capable of achieving
operating economy approaching that of diesel engines. An
experimental turbine car, running on diesel fuel, had already
covered a large test mileage on public roads.
Overdrive
for A.50 Cambridge
An overdrive unit providing semi-automatic control of the gearbox
on second, third and top tears, was announced for the A.50
Cambridge during February. This made the Cambridge the lowest
capacity (1500 c.c.) ordinary family saloon available with
overdrive. A manually operated control allows the overdrive unit to
be disengaged completely, if desired.
Austin Gain Philippines Market
On February 24th it was revealed that the Austin Motor Export
Corporation. had achieved a new success in the battle for world
export markets. Agreements were concluded to enable Austin cars and
light commercials to be assembled in the Philippines. This
important dollar market had been virtually closed for several years
owing to tariffs which made sale of built-up units
prohibitive.
1957
Jan An unwelcome decision from
Customs Authorities is that the Full Purchase tax will be charged
on the Austin A35 Pick-up. This will mean that it will now cost
£530 instead of £401. (This is the reason
that the model was discontinued in
1957)
May The Austin Motor Company
announced that production was on overtime, because of increased
demands, with a three months waiting list on some models.
1958
Feb Pressed Steel at Swindon
start making the bodies for the Austin Healey
1959
Aug On the 28th August the A35
Saloon was discontinued
1960
Jan BMC announce a £49 million
expansion to increase production from 750,000 to one million, by
the end of 1962. A new factory will be built at Bathgate West
Lothian to produce Trucks and Tractors. Total cost £8.8 million.
Llanely in South Wales £7.5 million. Kirkby on Merseyside £4.2
million. Also Cowley would have £26 million
improvements.
Aug Work starts on the Multi-
Storey Car Park that cost £550.000 and was finished in September
1961.
Work starts on the construction of CABII which will produce the
1100 range, it will cost £3.5 million and measures 960 ft by 360
ft. It will include a new Paint, Trim and final assemble
facilities. This will then increase production of vehicles at
Longbridge from over 8,000 per week to 10,500.
1961
Nov Sir Leonard Lord was given
the Chairmanship of BMC
1962
BMC in the first 32 weeks
of the year had produced 385,720 vehicles. and average of over
12,000 a week.
June America, Austin
Mini-Cooper's were unloaded from the SS Hein
Hover
1963
May Mr Alex Moulton bicycle
will be produced at Fisher & Ludlow Factory
Liverpool
1965
April Commercial Exhibition Hall opened (known to the workforce as the Elephant House)