ÖAF

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Austrian Automobile Factory (ÖAF)

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1907 (as Österreichische Fiat-Werke Aktiengesellschaft )
Seat Vienna , Austria
Branch Automobile manufacturers , engine manufacturers

ÖAF (short for Ö Austrian A utomobil F abriks-AG) was an Austrian commercial vehicle brand .

Company history

The Österreichische Fiat-Werke Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1907 by the Turin Fiat works with the assistance of the Anglo-Austrian Bank . She built a factory and repair shop in Vienna-Floridsdorf . The company produced all types of passenger automobiles , automobile trucks , buses , stable and marine engines, as well as aircraft engines. The bodies have been built in a separate department since 1912. With the outbreak of war, the connection with the Turin headquarters was interrupted. An extensive expansion of the plant took place during the war years. Even before the end of the First World War , the company came into the interests of the Castiglioni Group . After the end of the war, the connection with the Turin Fiat group was re-established. At the end of 1919 a new agreement was reached with the latter, but it was dissolved again towards the end of 1920 in order to initiate a community of interests with the Daimler works , which are also related to the Castiglioni Group , and Puch .

Already during the First World War the idea of ​​a union with the Daimler works, Vienna, also belonging to the Castiglioni group, and the Puch works, Graz (see also Johann Puch ) emerged. In 1920 the board of directors was authorized to merge or join forces with the two Austrian automobile companies mentioned. For tax policy reasons, the administration decided to set up an interest group. This was not only financial, but also commercial and technical in nature. The purchasing and sales organizations and the design offices of the three companies were to be merged and combined at the Daimler plants. As a result, production was made more efficient through specialization and the Daimler works manufactured a large, modern, semi-frameless passenger car with a 6-cylinder engine and 11/70 hp. In addition to the production of their passenger car types, the Fiat factories concentrated on the manufacture of trucks and the Puch factories concentrated on the manufacture of motorcycles and bicycles. In 1921 the company was renamed Österreichische Automobil-Fabriks-Aktiengesellschaft - formerly Austro-Fiat . In 1927 the syndicate with the Daimler works was dissolved and the Austro-Daimler share ownership was sold off.

In 1936 the company acquired the manufacturing license for Austria and Eastern Europe for the vehicle diesel engines produced by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (MAN). In return, MAN became the majority owner of the company. In 1939 the company was renamed Österreichische Automobil-Fabriks-Aktiengesellschaft (ÖAF) . In 1941, Wagen-, Karosserie- und Automobil-Fabriks AG, formerly A. Weiser & Sohn , whose shares were almost entirely owned by the company, was taken over by merger.

During the Second World War , mainly trucks with MAN engines were produced. After 1945, the Floridsdorf factories, which were badly damaged by 140 bombs, were in the Soviet occupation zone and were incorporated into the USIA , which inhibited further development. A large part of the production was also destined for the Soviet Union.

In 1955 the ÖAF was placed under public administration. The 72% of the shares that were previously owned by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG became the property of the Republic of Austria after the Austrian State Treaty came into force, while the remaining 28% were mainly in Austrian free float.

On July 1, 1960, the Prime Minister and General Secretary of the CPSU of the USSR Khrushchev visited the plant in Floridsdorf.

At the end of the 1960s, the Hussar military vehicle was developed for the Austrian Armed Forces . Since the armed forces opted for the Pinzgauer of the competitor Steyr , which was developed at the same time , only 136 of them were built. The ÖAF Tornado, on the other hand, was one of the best-selling trucks in Austria in the 1960s and 1970s. It was built as a hood and also as a cab .

The reprivatisation of the shares of the Republic of Austria in the ÖAF did not take place until 1970. According to the contribution and share transfer agreement of June 18, 1970, AUSTRO-MAN Fahrzeug-Vertrieb Gesellschaft mbH , Vienna, brought its entire business operations with all assets and liabilities insofar as they were producing and the sale of products from the metalworking industry, in particular road vehicles from Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG , which relate to the assembly and repair of the aforementioned products and their trade. The existing rights of AUSTRO-MAN Fahrzeug-Vertrieb Gesellschaft mbH were excluded from the contribution . The ÖAF has been part of MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG since then . At the beginning of 1971, the company acquired 99.6% of the share capital of Gräf & Stift Automobilfabrik AG , Vienna, which was merged by the ÖAF. In the course of this, the company was renamed Österreichische Automobilfabrik ÖAF Gräf & Stift AG .

In the 1970s, the MAN F8 (with ÖAF radiator grille) replaced the front control version of the ÖAF Tornado. Up until 2008, all MAN commercial vehicles were available with an ÖAF radiator grille. In 1977 a prototype of a buoyant armored car was built.

In February 1978 the company was awarded the national coat of arms .

In 1984 the planning for the new main factory of Gräf & Stift in Vienna-Liesing was presented. From 1985 to 1987 the bus repair workshop, a social building, production halls and the administration building were built.

Today the company trades under the name of MAN Truck & Bus Österreich GesmbH and produces various types of vehicles at the Liesing location, including in particular special, special and large military vehicles that are not mass-produced.

Today's Liesing plant is also home to a classic car club, which has made it its business to preserve historic vehicles from ÖAF and Gräf & Stift. The construction archive of Österreichische Saurerwerke is also administered by this club.

Car imports

During the USIA period, the ÖAF began selling Soviet passenger cars. In 1958 a general agency agreement was concluded. Initially, vehicles of the Moskvich brand were imported. Between 150 and 300 of these were sold annually. In 1967 600 and by August 1968 750 vehicles were sold.

After the invasion of the Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact countries , sales fell rapidly. In 1969 only 386 units were sold.

In 1972 the LADA RL , which was based on the Fiat 124 , came onto the Austrian market. Of these, 2765 were sold in 1977.

In 1978 the Lada Niva came onto the market under the name Lada Taiga . Of these, 1,800 were sold in 1979, giving a 75% share of the all-wheel drive market.

In 1982 the ÖAF also took over the general agency for the Czech brand Škoda from the previous general agent Tarbuk . In 1992 the agency was discontinued and handed over to VW .

In 1988 the ÖAF signed a contract with the American vehicle manufacturer Chrysler . As of May 1988, over 100 Chrysler vehicles were delivered.

In July 1993 the car trade was spun off from the ÖAF and handed over to the newly founded AC Austro-Car .

photos

literature

  • Hans Seper : From Austro-Fiat to the Austrian automobile factory ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG. Career - people - motor vehicles. Verlag Welsermühl, Wels et al. 1994, ISBN 3-85339-206-7 .
  • Gerhard Bruner, Stefan Reitgruber: 100 years of vehicle construction in Vienna. Austro-Fiat. Graf & Stift. ÖAF. Pearl. Association for the promotion of historic vehicles of the Austrian automobile factory ÖAF - Gräf & Stift AG, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-9500535-5-7 .
  • Karl-Heinz Rauscher: From Fiat Vienna to MAN Commercial Vehicles Austria. Weishaupt, Gnas 2008, ISBN 978-3-7059-0282-4 .

Web links

Commons : ÖAF vehicles  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. Compass 1922, Volume I, Part 2, Financial Yearbook, Austria, Austria-Hungary, page 632 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 632 )
  2. Compass 1929, Financial Yearbook, Austria, Austria-Hungary, page 761 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 761 )
  3. Finanz Compass 1960, Austria, page 601 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 601 )
  4. The government speaks to Khrushchev . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna July 2, 1960, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  5. Finanz Compass 1990/91, Austria, Volume 2, page 2091 (direct link via ZEDHIA on page 2091 )
  6. Archive link ( Memento from November 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ ÖAF Annual Report for the 1985 financial year
  8. ^ ÖAF Gräf & Stift takes care of its history ( Memento from November 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) on ÖAMTC from July 31, 2002, accessed on February 7, 2010.
  9. ^ ÖAF annual report for the 1991/92 financial year
  10. ^ ÖAF Annual Report for the 1987/88 financial year