Chronography of Vehicle manufacturers and
models
Page last
modified 7/5/2022
See
also Road Traffic
�If I had
asked customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses� Henry Ford
17/3/2010, LTI, the last motor manufacturing plant in
Coventry since 2008, announced that it would be shifting production of its taxi
cab body and chassis to China, but still shipping them to Coventry for
the final assembly.
7/4/2005, MG Rover,
the UK�s last volume car maker, went
into receivership after a planned alliance with Chinese car manufacturer
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation fell through.
20/12/1977, UK motor executive Sir Reginald
Rootes died in London, aged 81.
17/8/1968, Clessie Cummins, founder of
Cummins Engines Company, died in California.
24/8/1967, Car company executive
henry J Kaiser died this day aged 85.
8/10/1961, John D Hertz, founder of Hertz
Rent-A-Car System, died in Los Angeles.
30/4/1948. First Land
Rover exhibited at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
24/3/1948,
The last Lincoln Continental Mark 1
car was manufactured.
23/11/1940, The Willys-Overland company launched its new General Purpose vehicle, known as a jeep (GP), for the US army.
29/12/1929, William Maybach, German car designer, died
aged 83.
15/6/1909, The first motorised hearse was introduced by Crane
and Breed in Cincinatti, Ohio, USA
13/1/1906, The first AMCMA (American Motor Car Manufacturer�s Association)
exhibition was held in New York City, USA.
21/1/1901, The first Paris Motor Show
was held.
9/2/1846, Wilhelm Maybach, car engineer,
was born.
Alpha Romeo
1985, Fiat bought the Alpha Romeo company.
1919, First Alpha Romeo sports
car produced.
24/6/1910, Alfa Romeo became an independent company this day.
Italian car designer Guiseppe Merosi was hired by the French
company Darraq to design cars for the Italian market but Merosi�s success in
Italy ;led him to break away as Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA)
this day. The company became ALFA Romeo after Nicola Romeo bought the company
in 1918.
American
Motors Corporation
14/1/1954, The American Motors Corporation was formed by a
merger between the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car
Company.
Audi
12/10/1868, August Horch, founder of the Audi car company,
was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. Having worked for Karl Benz from 1896, he then
founded A Horch and Co in 1899. He then left his own company in after a legal dispute
with investors but was unable to use the Horch name on another company. His son
suggested Audi, which means �to listen�, the same as �horch� in German.
Austin
1952, The British Motor Corporation was formed by a merger of Austin and
Morris. It was itself taken over by British Leyland in 1968.
24/11/1951, British motor manufacturers Austin and Morris
announced a merger.
23/5/1941, Herbert Austin, British motor mechanic and
manufacturer of the Austin car, died near Bromsgrove.
1905, The Austin Car Company was founded by Herbert Austin, at Longbridge,
near Birmingham, UK.
8/11/1866. The Birmingham
car manufacturer Herbert Austin
was born in Little Missenden.
Badger
9/1/1909, The Badger 4-Wheel Drive Auto Company was founded.
Bentley
13/8/1971, Walter Owen Bentley, founder of the Bentley
car company, died aged 82.
14/12/1931, Rolls Royce acquired Bentley.
1931, Bentley went into
receivership, having done badbly during the Depression. This year it was bought
by Rolls Royce.
BMW
27/10/2006, BMW car designer Albrecht Graf Goertz, who
designed the 503 and 507 models, died aged 92.
17/3/2005, BMW built its 3 millionth vehicle, at its
Regensburg plant.
18/9/2004, BMW introduced the 1 Series, as a low cost entry
model, whilst upscaling the 3 Series. By 2008 the 1 Series was accounting for
20% of BMW sales.
31/1/1994 German car manufacturer BMW announced the purchase of Rover
from British Aerospace for US$ 800
million.
26/5/1962, Karl Friedrich Rapp, founder of BMW, died aged
80.
15/2/1935, BMW launchged the 326 model.
1917, The BMW company was founded.
Bridgestone Tyres
1/3/1931, The Bridgestone Tyre Company was founded in
Japan.
9/4/1930, The first Bridgestone tyres were manufactured.
British Leyland
8/10/1980. British
Leyland launched its successful Mini
Metro.
1968, British Leyland was formed by Leyland Motors (commercial vehicle
manufacturer, formed in 1898) absorbing Rover and the British Motor
Corporation. This company was cresated by te Uk Labour Government as a �national
champion�. However it inherited 48 separate plants, a large and unco-ordinated
model range and an unwieldy management structure. It focussed on smaller cars
but the UK market was shifting to larger executive cars, which Ford excelled
in, such as the Escort and Cortina. |BL offered the Allegro and Marina, whoich
were not market successes.
In 1975 the company was close to collapse and was
bailed out by the Government; due to poor industrial relations it continued to
lose money until privatised in the 1980s.
British Motor Corporation
26/8/1989, The Mini
celebrated its 30th birthday. In 1959 just 20,000 were made; in 1970
the figure was 381,000, after the car had won several rallies and been adopted
by public figures such as John Lennon, Peter Sellers, Twiggy and Marianne
Faithfull.By 1992 5.3 million
Minis had been sold.
17/9/1974, The British Motor
Corporation unveiled the Vanden Plas 1500.
19/6/1969, The 2 millionth Mini was
manufactured.
26/8/1959, Europe was facing fuel shortages due to Egypt�s
nationalisation of the Suez Canal and the British Motor Corporation unveiled
the Mark 1 Mini this day as a fuel economical car. Production of Minis
continued until 2000, when some 5.3 million of them had been manufactured.
18/8/1959, The British Motor Corporation�s Mini car was launched. At �500
including Purchase Tax, it was short on luxuries, but affordable with a nippy
engine and its small size made it was convenient for town driving. However BMC�s
specialisation in smaller cars, with lower profits, meant funds for research
and development were limited.
1952, The British Motor Corporation was formed by a merger of Austin and Morris. It was itself taken over by British Leyland in 1968.
Bugatti
15/1/1909, Gianroberto Bugatti, son of the
car designer Ettore
Bugatti, was born this day in Germany. This day also his father
founded Automobiles E Bugatti. Aged
23, Gianroberto
(Jean) designed several Bugatti models. He was killed in a car
accident on 11/8/1939.
1908, The first Bugatti car was produced by Ettore Bugatti
(1881-1947). However the first famlous Bugatti, Type 35,
was not produced until 1924.
15/9/1881, Ettore Bugatti, car engineer, was born.
Buick
5/4/1940, Buick
revealed the world�s first concept car, the Buick Y Job.
18/2/1940, In the USA, Buick
unveiled its Town master car model.
5/3/1929, David Buick, founder of the Buick motor
company, died.
27/7/1904, The first Buick made was sold to Dr Hilbert
Hills, of Flint, Michigan.
19/5/1903, The Buick Motor Company was founded, as a division
of Buick Auto Vim and Power Company. The Buick Model B went on sale in 1904. William C
Durant became General Manager and used the profits to establish General Motors in 1908, which Buick
later became part of.
Cadillac
7/2/1958, The 2
millionth Cadillac, a Sedan DeVille, was manufactured.
25/11/1949, Cadillac manufactured its one millionth
car.
26/3/1932, Henry Leland,
founder of Cadillac and Lincoln, died aged 89.
29/7/1909, General
Motors purchased Cadillac for US$ 4.5 million.
17/10/1902, The first
Cadillac car, made in Detroit, was
sold in the USA.
21/8/1901. In Detroit, USA, the Cadillac motor company was founded.
Cartercar
26/10/1909, General Motors purchased Cartercar
6/4/1908, Byron Carter, founder of Cartercar, died aged 44 from injuries received when a
vehicle�s starter crank kicked back and broke his jaw.
Chevrolet
7/11/1969, The 250,000th Chevrolet Corvette was
manufactured.
28/12/1953, Production of the Chevrolet Corvette moved
from Flint, Michigan, to St Louis, Missouri.
30/6/1953, The first Chevrolet Corvette sports cars left
the factory at Flint, Michigan, for commercial sale.
17/1/1953, The Chevrolet Corvette sports car was unveiled
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. See 30/6/1958.
16/4/1946, Arthur Chevrolet, car designer, died.
6/6/1941, Louis Chevrolet, American car designer, died.
13/11/1934, The ten millionth Chevrolet was manufactured.
3/6/1925, The 100,000th Chevrolet was
manufactured.
29/4/1915, Chevrolet introduced its Model 490, priced at US$
490.
15/11/1911, The Chevrolet
car company was founded in Detroit, USA,
25/12/1878, Louis Chevrolet, car manufacturer, was born in
Switzerland.
Chrysler
3/6/2011, The US Treasury completed an agreement to sell the
last of its holdings in Chrysler to Fiat.
9/3/1987, The Chrysler
Motor Corporation announced its purchase of the ailing American Motors Corporation.
7/1/1980, In the US, the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act became law. It had been
passed, reluctantly, by Congress to avert the hundreds of thousands of job
losses that would have resulted if Chrysler had gone bust, along with
supporting industries. By 1979 Chrysler was losing 6-8 million dollars a day.
The rescue deal included US$ 1.5 billion in Federal Loan Guarantees, along with
numerous concessions from other parties interested in Chrysler�s survival,
including bankers, the unions and dealers. Chrysler avoided bankruptcy and
slowly regained profitability.
1/11/1979, The struggling Chrysler Corporation received a US$
1.5 billion bailout from the US Government.
1967, Chrysler took over the British
car maker Rootes
29/5/1928. In the USA, the
Chrysler and Dodge motor companies merged.
6/6/1925. Walter P Chrysler founded the Chrysler Motor Company in Detroit.
2/4/1875, Walt Chrysler, founder of Chrysler
Corporation, was born.
Citroen
3/7/1935. Death of the French engineer Andre Citroen.
1913, The French motor car company Citroen was founded as a gear cutting firm by motor engineer Andre Gustave
Citroen (1878-1935). It began making low-price cars in 1919. It was taken over
by Peugeot in 1974.
5/2/1878, Andre Citroen, French automobile engineer, was born.
Daewoo
1/4/1995, Saturday (+18,225) Daewoo began selling
cars in the UK.
Daimler
7/5/1998, Daimler-Benz
and Chrysler merged.
19/6/1960, Jaguar
took over the Daimler motor company.
27/6/1909, Daimler introduced their three-point Mercedes
logo.
9/6/1903, In Germany, the Daimler Motor Company factory at Cannstadt was destroyed by fire.
20/4/1897, The first production car was delivered from
Daimler, to a Mr Ernest Estcourt.
6/1/1896, The Daimler Motor Company was incorporated by Harry Lawson.
1890, Daimler Motoren Geselschaft was founded by Gottleib Daimler at Bad
Cannstatt, Germany.
4/3/1887, The first Daimler cars
appeared on the road.
Delahaye
1/6/1905, Emile Delahaye, founder of Delahaye Automobiles,
died aged 62.
DeLorean
19/3/2005, Car engineer and executive John Z DeLorean died aged 80.
De Soto
1/9/1941, The 1942
De Soto car model was introduced, featuring Airfoil headlights that retracted
when not in use.
Durant
12/1/1921, William Durant founded Durant Motors Inc,
after being fired from General Motors.
Duryea
16/1/1903, The first
saloon car, the Duryea, appeared at
the Stanley Motor Show.
3/9/1895, The
Duryea Motor Wagon Company was incorporated.
15/12/1861, Edgar Charles Duryea, US car manufacturer, was
born near Canton, Illinois (died 28/9/1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
Ferrari
20/11/2011, Ferrari designer Sergio Scagletti died aged 91.
18/2/1898, Enzo Ferrari, racing car driver and manufacturer, was born.
Fiat
3/6/2011, The US Treasury completed an agreement to sell the
last of its holdings in Chrysler to Fiat.
19/3/1900, The Fiat factory in Turin, Italy, opened.
11/7/1899, FIAT was founded this day. 24 cars were produced
in 1900, 135 in 1904, and 1,146 cars were made in 1906.
12/3/1866, Giovanni Agnelli, founded of the FIAT (Fabrica
Italiano Automobili Torino) was born. He founded the FIAT company in 1899.
Firestone
(tyres)
7/2/1938, Harvey Firestone, tyre manufacturer, died in
Miami, Florida.
3/8/1900, Harvey Firestone set up the Firestone Tyre and
Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio.
Fisher Body
22/12/1910, The Fisher
Closed Body Company was founded to manufacture enclosed automobiule cabs.
22/7/1908, Brothers Fred and Charles Fisher founded the car body company
Fisher Body in Detroit, Michigan.� Prior
to this they had built horse drawn carriages. They supplied Cadillac.
Ford Motor
Company
26/3/2008, Ford completed the sale of its Jaguar and Land
Rover brands to Tata for US$ 2.3 billion. Tata was on a diversification drive
and would not make any major changes. The 16,000 employees involved would not
be affected.
26/7/2003, Ford produced its last car made in the UK
28/1/1999, The Ford car company announced it was buying the
Volvo car company for US$ 6.45 billion.
11/10/1996, Ford Motor Company purchased the naming rights to
Detroit, Michigan�s indoor American Football stadium, calling it Ford Field.
7/1/1993.� Ford unveiled its new family car, the Mondeo.
1983, Ford was shifting its European
car production from Dagenham UK to Cologne Germany. In 1973 88% of Ford car
sales by value had been produced in the UK; by 1983 this figure was 22%.
12/3/1980, The Ford Motor Company was acquitted of three
reckless-homicide charges, after a Ford
Pinto was involved in an accident in which its petrol tank caught fire.
11/9/1970, Ford unveiled its ill-fated Pinto model.
16/3/1958, Ford built its 50 millionth car.
28/9/1953, Ford
unveiled their new Anglia and Prefect car models.
3/7/1945, In the USA, Ford restarted the manufacture of
cars, over a month before the war with Japan actually ended. Overall Ford
manufactured 34,440 cars dur8ing 1945, which were very similar to the cars made
until 1942. New car styles only appeared from around 1949.
21/6/1945, Ford announced the start of post-War car
production in Britain.
26/5/1943, Edsel Ford, president of the Ford Motor Company from 1919, died.
1931, The Ford Dagenham plant opened.
15/4/1931, Ford closed its car manufacturing plant in Berlin.
31/5/1929, The Ford Motor Company signed an agreement with
the USSR to produce cars there. The USSR wanted to create jobs in the
automotive industry, and Henry Ford believed that he could undermine Communism
by introducing capitalism there. The first Ford cars assembled in the USSR were
only completed in 1932.
2/12/1927, Ford�s
Model A car went on sale as the successor to the Model T.
26/5/1927, The 15 millionth Model T
Ford was produced at the Ford Highland Park, Michigan, factory/ This marked the
end of production for this model.
28/9/1926, Ford opened a sales office
in Alexandria, Egypt.
14/6/1924, The 10 millionth Ford car
was manufactured.
1921,
Ford was now producing 1 million cars per year.
10/12/1915, The one
millionth Ford Model T was produced in the River Rouge plant this day. Overall
in 1915 Ford produced 308,162 vehicles, with the cheapest model selling for US$
390. In 1916 production increased by a further 200,000 amnd the price was
reduced by US$ 45. The second largest US
car manufacturer, Willys-Overland, produced, in 1915, 91,780 cars, up from
18,200 in 1910.
1/12/1913, Henry
Ford, instituted the automatic production line, at his car plant. He was
inspired by the grain conveyors and the meat packing plants of Chicago. Workers
stayed in one place whilst automobile parts and cars came to them on a conveyor
belt; each worker did the same repetitive task all day. Now a car could be made
every 24 seconds, and annual car production rose from 82,000 to 189,000; by
1923 2,000,000 Model T Fords were being produced each year. Unskilled workers
could be employed. Problems with boredom and loss of worker autonomy caused
absenteeism and high staff turnover, but Henry Ford raised wages to the high
level of 5 US$ a day; this reduced annual staff turnover from 48% to 6.4%. In
1926 Ford introduced an 8-hour,5-day week, meaning workers had more leisure
time to use their new Ford cars.
25/9/1913, Ford
signed a contract to sell Model Ts in China. Ford opened a sales office in
Shanghai in 1928, which remained open until the start of WW2.
1912, The Ford Motor Company, which accounted for over 22% of total US car
sales, was producing 310,000 cars a year. The assembly line techniques introduced at the Ford Motor Factory in
1913 reduced the man-hours required to build a car from 12.5 hours to 1.5 hours.
23/10/1911, Ford Model T production began at Trafford Park,
Manchester, England. By the early 1920s, 41% of all cars registered in Britain
were Fords. Ford opened its Dagenham, England, plant in 1923, with deep water
access.
1/10/1908, Ford opened a sales office in Paris, France.
12/8/1908, The Model T Ford began rolling off the
production line. Priced at US$ 825 (about US$ 20,000 in 2017 prices), the cost
was kept low by mass production using standardised parts. Instead of one man
assembling an entire car, each worker preformed just one task as the car moved
along a conveyor belt. By this production line method, the time to assemble a
car was cut from 14 hours to 2. To motivate his workforce, Henry Ford raised
wages from US$ 2.34 for a 9 hour day to US$ 5 for an 8 hour day. Productivity
improvements meant Ford could reduce the car�s basic-model price to US$ 300. Over 15 million Model Ts were built and by the time
production ceased in 1927 half the cars in the US were Fords.
23/7/1903, The Ford
Motor Company sold its first car, costing US$850, it could reach 30 mph.
16/6/1903. The Ford
Motor Company was founded.
30/11/1901, The Henry Ford Motor Company was founded. This
soon failed, and two years later Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company (see
23/7/1903).
Fox
21/11/1919, The Fox Motor Company was founded.
General Motors
27/4/2009, General Motors discontinued the Pontiac brand, due to the economic
downturn.
17/12/1998, General Motors completed a new car factory in Shanghai, China.
23/11/1954, General Motors produced its 50 millionth vehicle, a gold plated 1955
Chevrolet bel-Air.
19/1/1954, General Motors announced a major business expansion.
7/8/1935, The one millionth General Motors vehicle was manufactured.
29/1/1929, General Motors car company purchased Opel.
10/11/1927. General
Motors announced the largest dividend in history, US$ 62million.
30/8/1926, General Motors New Zealand began operations, at Petone.
25/1/1925, General Motors Brazil was organised.
12/1/1924, General Motors began manufacturing vehicles in Copenhagen; the first
time they had made vehicles outside the USA.
13/10/1916, General Motors Company became the General Motors Corporation
10/12/1912, Charles
Nash was elected President of General
Motors.
10/9/1910. William
C Durant lost control of General Motors for
the first time.
17/9/1909, Ed Cole, GM executive, was born this day. He developed the small-block V8
engine, and pioneered research into alternative fuels to petrol. He retired
from the GM board in 1974.
16/9/1908. William C Durant founded General Motors this
day as a holding company. Initially GM held only the Buick Motor Company, of
which Durant
was the owner. However GM soon acquired a number of other car manufacturers,
including Cadillac, Cartercar, Oakland, Oldsmobile and Reliance Motor Truck
Company. Oakland later became Pontiac. Durant tried to acquire Ford, the purchase
price of US$ 8 million being approved by the GM Board, but Durant could not get
financing for the purchase as GM already was already significantly in debt from
other purchases. This led to Durant�s removal from the Board, however he later
regained control as part of a deal to have GM purchase Chevrolet, a company he
co-founded in 1911. GM in 2017 owned the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC,
Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands.
Goodyear
(tyres)
28/8/1898, The Goodyear Tyre and
Rubber Company was founded.
Hertz
10/4/1879, John Hertz was born as Sandor Hertz in what is now
Slovakia. He founded Hertz vehicle rentals in 1923.
Hispano-Suiza
18/1/1907, Hispano-Suiza cars first went on sale in Britain.
Holden
26/11/1948, JA Holden & Co began in Australia in 1856 and
became a leading saddlery company; by 1906 the founder�s grandson added car
upholstery repair services. After World War Two, Holden executives agreed with Chevrolet
to build a Chevrolet-based car in Australia. This day the Holden 48-215, the
first mass-produced Australian car, began rolling off the assembly line.
Honda.
26/4/1983, Honda opened a new car
factory in Ohio, USA.
24/9/1948, The Honda Motor Company was founded in Tokyo, Japan. Its sales in the
USA began in 1972, when the energy crisis forced US consumers to look at
smaller more economical cars.
Hudson
14/1/1954, The American Motors Corporation was formed by a
merger between the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car
Company.
20/2/1909, The Hudson Motor Company was founded. Its first
factory was in Detroit, Michigan.
Hyundai
29/12/1967, Hyundai Motor Company was founded in South Korea.
Imperial
6/8/1907, The Imperial Motor Company was founded in Jackson,
Michigan.
Jackson
19/7/1902, The Jackson Automobile Company was founded, run by
Byron J
Carter.
Jaguar
17/9/2004, Jaguar moved production from Coventry to the
former Spitfire factory at Castle Bromwich.
1989, Ford bought the Jaguar company for UK� 1.6 billion.
1984, Jaguar (UK) was privatised.
Jowett
28/9/1949, Jowett Cars introduced their first and only sports
car, the Jupiter, designed by Austrian engineer Dr Robert Eberan von Eberhorst.
900 Jupiters were produced before manufacture ceased in 1954, and they achieved
great success in motor racing.
Kissel
21/12/1931, The Kissel Car Company went into liquidation.
Lamborghini
23/4/1987, Lamborghini was purchased by Chrysler for US$ 25.2
million. In 1998 Volksawgen had acquired Lamborghini.
28/4/1916, Ferrucio Lamborghini, car maker, was born.
Lancia
29/11/1906, The car company Lancia was founded by a group of
Fiat racing car drivers.
Mack Trucks
13/2/1953, William C Mack, co-founder of Mack trucks,
died.
Maserati
13/3/1947, Maserati unveiled its first production car, the A6 1500.
Mason
14/7/1915, Chevrolet purchased the Mason Motor Company.
31/7/1911, The Mason Motor Company was founded in Flint,
Michigan, USA.
Mazda
30/1/1920, The Toyo Cork Kogyo company was founded by Jujiro Matsuda
in Hiroshima, Japan. After rescue from bankruptcy by the Hiroshima Savings Bank
in the later 1920s the company revised its product range and began selling
3-wheel vehicles in 1931. The Mazda name was not officially adopted until 1984.
McLaren
2/6/1970, Bruce McLaren, car designer, died.
Mercedes
13/6/1996, Mercedes
car designer Friedrich
Geiger died this day aged 88.
1926, The Mercedes-Benz company
was formed through a merger of the Daimler and Benz car manufacturers.
21/1/1918, Emil
Jellinek, founder of the Mercedes car
company, died.
1901, The first Mercedes car was produced.
Merkel
7/7/1958, Joseph Merkel, designer of Merkel cars, died.
MG
16/5/1956, MG produced its 100,000th car, an MGA 1500.
1/5/1924, MG registered its octagon logo as a trademark.
12/4/1988, Cecil Kimber, co-founder of MG Morris Motors
was founded.
Michelin
(tyres)
4/4/1941, Andre Michelin,
French industrialist who built the first factories that mass-produced
tyres, died in Paris.
16/1/1853, Andre
Michelin, founder of Michelin Tyres, was born
born in Paris, France.
Mitsibushi
22/4/1870, The Mitsibushi Group was founded this day by Yataro Iwasaki,
as a shipping group. Its forst car, the Mitsibushi Model A, was manufactured in
1917.
Morris
22/8/1963, Lord Nuffield, founder of Morris Motors, died, aged 84.
3/1/1961. The millionth
Morris Minor car came off the assembly lines in Britain.
1952, The British Motor Corporation was formed by a merger of Austin and
Morris. It was itself taken over by British Leyland in 1968.
24/11/1951, British motor manufacturers Austin and Morris
announced a merger.
12/10/1948. First Morris Minor came off the production line at Cowley, Oxfordshire.� The car was designed by Alex Issigonis.
1/8/1928, The Morris
Minor car was launched.
28/3/1913. The first Morris
Oxford car left the factory at
Cowley, near Oxford.
Nash
29/7/1916, The Nash Motor Company was founded, in Kenosha,
Wisconsin.
Nelson
1/5/1917, The first Nelson Motor Car Company car was
manufactured in Detroit.
Nissan
19/2/2015, Nissan�s first President and car designer Yutaka Kataytama died.
8/9/1986, Japanese car maker Nissan opened a factory in Sunderland, UK
8/10/1958, Ray
Lemke opened the first Nissan (Datsun)
dealership in the USA.
9/1/1958, Japanese cars first appeared in the USA, with Nissan (as Datsun) also
Toyota, appearing at the Los Angeles Imported Car Show (although US servicemen
had brought a few of these models back earlier on). Toyota soon found that its
sedans were too underpowered for the US market. See 8/10/1958.
26/12/1933, The Nissan
car company was founded in Japan.
Oakland
16/4/1908, The first Oakland car was sold.
Ohio, see
Packard
Olds
29/4/2004, After 107 years General Motors discontinued the
Oldsmobile brand. 35 million Olds cars had been produced. However sales fell
off in the 1990s.
27//7/1950, The 5 millionth Oldsmobile was manufactured.
12/11/1908, General Motors purchased Oldsmobile.
9/3/1901, The Olds car factory in Lansing, Michigan, burnt
down.
1897, The Olds Motor Works was founded
by Ransom E Olds.
Opel
8/4/1971, Fritz von Opel, grandson of Opel car founder Adam Opel,
died aged 72.
29/1/1929, General Motors car company purchased Opel.
8/9/1895, Adam Opel, founder of Opel Automobiles, died
aged 58.
21/1/1862, The Opel company was founded by Adam Opel,
originally as a sewing machine ,maker based in a cowshed� in Russelheim, Hessen. Germany. In 1899 the
company started building cars.
Packard
23/4/1947, Packard manufactured its 1 millionth car.
20/3/1928, James Packard, founder of the Packard car
company, died.
2/10/1908, The Ohio Automobile Company was renamed the
Packard Motor Car Company.
22/9/1903, The Packard car factory opened.
6/11/1899, James Packard proeduced his first car in
Warren Ohio USA. This was the origin of the Packard Motor Company.
Peugeot
2/1/1915, Armand Peugeot, founder of Peugeot, died aged 65.
6/9/1891, Peugeot began marketing cars for public
purchase.
1885, The Peugeot company was founded, originally making bicycles, by Armand Peugeot (1849-1915). Peugeot made its first steam car in 1889; in
1890 it produced its first petrol-driven car, using a Daimler engine. The
company bought the Citroen company in 1974, and bought out the European
operations of US firm Chrysler in 1978.
Pirelli
(tyres)
19/10/1971, Alberto Pirelli, founder of Pirelli Tyres,
died aged 89.
Pontiac
13/4/1965, The 10 millionth Pontiac vehicle, a 1965 Catalina,
was manufactured.
1909, Pontiac was founded, in
Pontiac, Michigan.
Porsche
27/3/1998, Ferry Porsche, car manufacturer, died.
15/3/1954, Porsche built its 5,000th car.
28/8/1951, The 1,000th Porsche was manufactured.
30/1/1951. German motorcar engineer Ferdinand Porsche died, aged 75.
8/6/1948, Porsche revealed the 356 prototype, the first car
badged as a Porsche. Porsche sports cars were developed by Ferry Porsche, son of Ferdinand
Porsche.
3/9/1875, Ferdinand Porsche, motor car engineer, was
born.
Proton
9/7/1985, In Malaysia, the Proton car company launched the
Proton Saga car.
Renault
2/12/1993. A planned merger between Renault of France and Volvo
of Sweden fell through.
6/7/1961, The final Renault 4CV, the first French car to
reach one million units , was manufactured.
12/8/1947, The Renault 4CV went into production.
1898, The Renault car company
was founded. It was nationalised in 1944.
Rolls Royce
12/1/2004, Rolls Royce built its 500th Phantom
car.
2002, Rolls Royce was acquired
by BMW, splitting it from Bentley after a union of 71 years.
30/8/2002, The last Rolls Royce was built at their factory in
Crewe, Cheshire, UK.
1998, Rolls Royce and Bentley
were put up for sale by their owner, Vickers Plc.
2/8/1985, Rolls Royce manufactured its 100,000th
car, a royal blue Silver Spur saloon.
22/6/1980, Rolls Royce Motors and Vickers Sons & Company
announced plans for a merger.
4/2/1971, Rolls Royce declared bankruptcy in the UK.
22/4/1933,
Sir Frederick Henry Royce, English car manufacturer of Rolls
Royce cars, died.
14/12/1931, Rolls Royce acquired Bently, which had done badly
dutring the Depression. The two brands continued, with Rolls Royce focussing on
luxury whilst Bentley went for power and performance.
28/2/1921, Rolls Royce built its first car in the USA.
4/2/1911, Rolls Royce
adopted the Sprit of Ecstasy
statuette on their cars, made in Derby, England.
9/7/1908, Rolls Royce opened its factory in Derby, England.
13/4/1907, The Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, referred to as
40/50, was unveiled.
20/11/1906. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce formed the car company Rolls Royce Ltd. The Silver Ghost Rolls Royce was first produced, setting a standard in
luxury cars.
4/5/1904. Charles Rolls
and Henry
Royce agreed to join forces in the motor trade. Charles Rolls had set a new land
speed record of 93 mph in Phoenix Park in Dublin in 1904, and now agreed to
sell cars produced by Royce. Rolls had won the Thousand-Mile Trial of 1900,
which had popularised motoring in Britain. Henry Royce was an electrical engineer from
Manchester who produced his first car on 1/4/1904, a ten horsepower model
praised for its excellent running.
27/8/1877, Charles Stewart Rolls, partner of Rolls Royce,
was born in London.
27/3/1863. Sir Frederick Henry Royce, co-founder of the Rolls Royce Motor Company, was born in
Alwalton, near Peterborough, the son of a miller.
Saab
3/9/2012, Hong-Kong based National Electric Vehicle Sweden
bought bankrupt Saab, in order to sell electric vehicles under this brand name.
Seat
9/5/1950. Spanish car company SEAT (Sociedad Espanola de
Automoviles de Turismo) was founded, to make affordable cars for the Spanish
mass market.
Skoda
8/4/2004, The one ,millionth Skoda Fabia was manufactured.
1895,
The Czech car company Skoda was
founded, originally as a bicycle manufacturer.
Standard
Motor Company
2/3/1903, The Standard Motor Company of Britain was
registered.
Studebaker
12/2/1902, The first Studebaker automobile was sold.
Subaru
7/7/1953, The car company Subaru was established by Fuji
Heavy Industries (FHI) Ltd. The 6 stars in the Subaru logo represent the 6
companies that merged to form FHI. The stars are arranged in the shape of the
Pleiades constellation, known as Subaru in Japan.
Tata
23/3/2009, Tata Motors launched its US$ 2,000 Nano car in
Mumbai.
26/3/2008, Ford completed the sale of its Jaguar and Land
Rover brands to Tata for US$ 2.3 billion. Tata was on a diversification drive
and would not make any major changes. The 16,000 employees involved would not
be affected.
Toyota
12/10/1993, The 1 millionth Toyota Camry was manufactured.
31/10/1957, Toyota
began exporting vehicles to the USA, beginning with the Toyota Crown and the
Toyota Land Cruiser.
14/2/1867, Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyoda
Automatic Loom Works, was born.� In 1933
the company established a car division that became the Toyota Motor Corporation
in 1937.
Vauxhall
27/3/1907, Vauxhall
Motors Ltd was registered in Great Britain.
1903, The Vauxhall Car Company was established in Vauxhall, south London. In
1905 it moved to Luton, Bedfordshire. In 1925 the company was bought by General Motors, USA.
Vespa
1946, Vespa motorcycle scooters went on sale
in Italy.
Volkswagen
31/7/2003, The last old-style Volkswagen Beetle was
manufactured in Puebla, Mexico. The model originated from the 1930s.
10/4/1978, Volkswagen began manufacturing cars in the USA, in
Pennsylvania.
17/2/1972, The German
Volkswagen Beetle outsold the US Ford Model T, with over 15 million cars sold.
15/9/1965, The 10 millionth Volkswagen Beetle was
manufactured.
6/9/1949, Volkswagen
returned to German Government ownership. The plant at Wolfsburg had been
destroyed during the War, and came under British occupation in 1945. Within a
few months the factory was making cars again.. During the second half of 1945
1,785 Type I cars were built, almost all of which were for the use of the
Allied occupation forces.
26/5/1938, The first Volkswagen
came off the assembly line at the factory at Wolfsburg, Germany.
26/2/1936 The Volkswagen
car factory in Saxony was opened by Adolf Hitler. The Volkswagen or �people�s car�
was designed by Ferdinand
Porsche of Auto Union.
8/3/1934. The new Volkswagen
was unveiled at the Motor Show in Germany, priced
at �61.
Volvo
5/7/2017, Volvo announced that it would stop making petrol
and diesel only cars within two years, thereafter only manufacturing only
electric or hybrid cars, There were rising concerns over vehicle pollution,
exacerbated by the Volkswagen emissions scandal, and the Mayor of London, Siddiq Khan,
predicted that within eight years, all diesel and petrol cars could face a �24
charge to enter London.
28/1/1999, The Ford car company
announced it was buying the Volvo car company for US$ 6.45 billion.
2/12/1993. A planned merger between Renault of France and Volvo
of Sweden fell through.
28/5/1965, Co-founder of Volvo, Assar Gabrielsson, died aged 70.
14/4/1927, The
first Volvo car was manufactured in
Gothenburg, Sweden
White
23/12/1915,
The White Motor Company was incorporated.