Brand: Rover
Chinese name: rover
Year: 1887-2005
Brand positioning: once the British royal car
This may be one of the most famous British automobile brands in the domestic market, and Rover is also the predecessor of the domestic brand SAIC Roewe. Rover brand not only has a history of 125 years, but also is the largest automobile group in Britain, and has been a royal car in its glorious years.
Rover brand was born in 1887, by John? Kemp. Stahly and William? Sutton is one of the founders. At first, Rover was a bicycle manufacturer, and launched the first car in 1904.
1904, rover, the first car under the rover brand? 8 officially released, the car was not only gorgeous and fashionable at that time, but also equipped with an 8 horsepower 1.3 liter single-cylinder engine. This kind of power was absolutely strong at that time, so this car was very popular as soon as it was launched. According to statistics, the car sold around 2,200 vehicles at that time.
What really made this car famous was an explorer driving a Rover. Completed a long journey from Coventry, England to Istanbul, Turkey, which also made the car the first car to cross the European continent.
The first model of Rover brand was so successful that the brand grew rapidly in the automobile field. With abundant capital, the brand has gone through two special periods: World War I and World War II. After World War II, Rover was also inspired by American Willis Automobile and founded the Land Rover brand that everyone is very familiar with.
The first model of the Land Rover brand was developed based on the Land Rover P3 model, but the Land Rover brand model at that time was positioned as a practical four-wheel drive, and its first model added a four-wheel drive system and more storage space on the basis of the Land Rover P3 model.
What really makes Rover grow and become brilliant is the classic Rover P5 model. With its noble and elegant design and luxurious and comfortable interior, Rover P5 once became a royal car in Britain, and the famous Queen Elizabeth II and the Vatican Pope were users of the car.
However, the good times did not last long. In the 1960s, the Rover brand began to show a crisis. At first, the Rover brand was mainly influenced by policies. At one time, Britain had been protecting local automobile brands, and imported cars would be affected by high tariffs, so high prices could not shake Rover's position. After the 1960s, this protection policy was abolished, and a large number of imported cars flooded into the British market. Compared with Rover, they not only keep up with everything, but also have higher prices.
The British government is also aware of this problem, so in order to change this situation, the government takes measures to integrate British local car brands, hoping that they can do their best to face the crisis. However, this method didn't really help Rover get out of trouble. Rover cars were affected by high prices and dull characteristics abroad, and finally recovered.
Rover brand has not given up. 1977, rover began to cooperate with Japanese car brand Honda. They hope to learn from Honda's economical and practical characteristics. Although Rover later launched several Honda rebranding models, they were not recognized by the market. On the contrary, it made Rover have problems in brand positioning, and eventually the brand died.
1994, rover was acquired by BMW. Although preliminary results have been achieved, the launched rovers 25, 45 and 75 have received some attention, but the final result is nothing more than that. At the same time, the Rover brand has not only failed to improve, but even dragged down the development of BMW.
Until 2005, Rover changed hands many times and finally declared bankruptcy. Later, it was acquired by Nanqi, and then Nanqi was acquired by SAIC, which eventually became China's own brand-Roewe, and the British classic brand Rover officially ended.
Brand: Triumph
Chinese name: triumph
Year: 1885- 1984
Brand positioning: classic sports car brand
When it comes to classic car brands that have disappeared in Britain, it is natural to mention Triumph, which still produces and sells motorcycles and is very popular. Triumph brand used to be divided into automobile department and motorcycle department, but Triumph Motorcycle Company was acquired by Areil Group in 1936, and Triumph Automobile officially stopped production in 1984.
In fact, the brand Triumph was first established in 1885. At that time, the main products of this manufacturer were bicycles and motorcycles, and then they began to produce cars at 192 1. 1885, S.Bettmann Company was officially renamed Triumph. At first, only bicycles were produced, and 1902 increased the motorcycle business. Since the motorcycle came into being, the company began to grow. In 19 18, it became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Britain at that time.
Years of motorcycle production experience also began to make Triumph plan to try automobile production, so Triumph, the first time Triumph was in 192 1? 10/20 was officially released, but the production of this car is very low. Triumph is the model that Triumph really started mass production? Super? 7。
Triumphant? Super? Model 7 not only sold well, but also participated in the Monte Carlo Rally of 1930. In the end, the car became the first British brand model to complete the race, and finally achieved the seventh place. However, it may be precisely because of the good achievements in racing that Kaixuan also paid more attention to the research and development and production of performance cars, which also led to the first bankruptcy of the brand.
1939, Triumph only focused on the research and development of performance cars, so the output and sales volume were limited, so that Triumph formally filed for bankruptcy this year. Finally, Triumph just bought it to catch up with World War II. During this period, Triumph also stopped production.
Until 1945, Triumph Automobile Company was acquired by Standard Automobile Company, which also supported the research and development of Triumph performance cars and positioned Triumph as a sports brand, intending to compete with the famous Jaguar and MG, which is also the reason for Triumph's successful listing. The TR2 model is not only popular in Britain, but also has a good performance in the North American market, which makes it the best-selling model in Triumph.
Although the development of Triumph Automobile Company was smooth sailing during this period, by 1960, Triumph Automobile Company was forced to be merged by a company called Leyland due to some British policies. After the merger, it proudly launched a product called dolomite? Sprint's car is no longer positioned as a performance car, but the technology at that time was very advanced. It is equipped with a 4-cylinder 16 valve engine, but it is a 1973 car.
I can only say that the fate of triumph is too changeable. In the late 1970s, Triumph was transferred to Leland's Rover brand. At that time, Rover was cooperating with Honda, so Triumph also launched a model named Acclaim, which was actually a renamed Honda Ballade model. Acclaim became the last model launched by Triumph brand and was officially discontinued on 1984.
However, although Triumph has stopped production, it was later acquired by BMW together with Rover, and when BMW returned the Rover brand to the UK, it left the ownership of Triumph, so Triumph still belongs to BMW. It is reported that BMW has plans to rebuild the Triumph brand, but so far no further action has been taken.
Brand: Austin
Chinese name: Austin
Year: 1905- 1986
Brand positioning: focus on developing small cars.
The next brand should not be too strange to car fans. As a famous British automobile manufacturer, Austin is famous for its small cars, and the brand Austin is well known for its wider audience. 1905 Austin motor company was formally established in longbridge, England, with Herbert as its founder. Austin (sir? Herbert? Austin), so the name of the brand is named after his surname.
Slightly different from most classic automobile manufacturers, Austin has been engaged in automobile production since its inception, and has no history of motorcycles and mechanical equipment. The first model of the brand was officially released in 1905, that is, the year when the brand was founded. The car was equipped with a 5.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and about 200 units were produced.
19 14 when the first world war broke out, Austin was not adversely affected, but grew by helping the government produce aircraft, weapons, cars and other equipment. Before the war, the company had only about 2,500 employees, but after the war, it has expanded to more than 20,000 people, and Austin has become the leader of British automobile brands.
However, even such a powerful Austin went bankrupt and reorganized because of the wrong direction of the model. After World War I, Austin has been developing a model named WW 1, but in the end, the car's poor sales also led to the company's financial crisis. 192 1 year, Austin officially declared bankruptcy, but the year after the reorganization, that is, 1922, Austin launched the classic Austin? Model 7, once called "British Model T", is positioned as a mini-car with low cost and cheap price, so it is very popular, with sales reaching about 300,000 vehicles.
Austin? The biggest feature of Model 7 is that it is simple and practical, and it is definitely a cheap car for consumers. Although the car is equipped with a 750CC engine, the maximum power is only 13 horsepower, but the cheap price has changed the British way of travel and transportation.
1952, Austin Automobile Company merged with nuffield Group to form British Automobile Company (UK? Motor? The newly established Corporation (BMC) is bigger and more powerful, wholly owned by Austin and headquartered in Austin's hometown of Longbridge.
After the merger, Austin's business direction has also changed. They began to pay more attention to the research and development of automobile engines, so that Austin has basically transformed into a pure engine manufacturer in the later period, and this transformation has also ushered in the second peak moment of the brand.
1952, Austin and Healy formally joined forces to form Austin? Healy brand, relying on Austin's research and development achievements on automobile engines for many years, Austin? Healy's car has dominated the track for 20 years.
Speaking of the car that Austin had to mention, it was the MINI. 1959, due to the oil crisis caused by the Middle East War, a "mini" car was born in the world, but it was not called a mini at that time, but Morris was used. Mini was named after Austin VII, and later renamed Austin Mini and Morris? Mini, this car is also the originator of the MINI model now.
1967 Jaguar, a famous British automobile brand, has also joined the BMC Group where Austin is located and changed its name to Motor, a British automobile company? Holding), and just one year later, the company merged with Rover and changed its name to Leland Automobile Company. After such "tossing", the time came to the seventies and eighties, and at this time it had reached the end of the Austin brand. Finally, with the disintegration of 1986 Leland Company, Austin Auto officially stopped production.
Total? Knot:
Today, we took stock of three classic car brands that have disappeared in Britain, but they are definitely the most representative. In fact, whether it is Rover, Triumph or Austin, we can see that they have all been brilliant, but the main reasons for the decline and disappearance of the three brands are more or less related to the British policy at that time. I'm sorry.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.