This Page will list in Year order, various information ----------that the Company released to the Press.
---- --(See the news update page for additions)

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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%)

----------------------------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)