Associated Commercial Vehicles
The Associated Commercial Vehicle Group (ACV) was a British commercial vehicle manufacturer . It was created in 1948 from the merger of the commercial vehicle manufacturers Associated Equipment Company (AEC), Crossley Motors and Maudslay . In 1962 the company was taken over by Leyland Motors .
history
The nationalization of the British transport industry as a result of the Transport Act 1947 also led to a restructuring of the British vehicle industry. With the onset of economic growth after the end of the Second World War , the demand for transport services also increased. However, most UK freight forwarding companies were too financially weak to procure high-performance trucks for long-distance haulage. This development led to the founding of British Road Services (BRS) in 1948 . At the same time, British commercial vehicle manufacturers found it difficult to meet the increased demand for trucks. Although the British commercial vehicle industry had developed high-performance, high-quality vehicles and had already assumed a leading role in commercial vehicle construction before the Second World War, the numbers produced by the many smaller manufacturers remained rather low. As a result of the concentration process that began, also supported by the state, the variety of types was to be reduced, production made more efficient and the number of trucks produced increased overall. The Associated Equipment Company (AEC) took over the two manufacturers Crossley Motors and Maudslay in 1948 and was renamed Associated Commercial Vehicle . However, the brand name AEC was retained, as were the other two brand names. The production range was streamlined and mainly focused on vehicles developed by AEC . The new company, however, used the high reputation of the acquired competitors and sold its own vehicle developments in so-called badge engineering . For example, the AEC Regent was also assembled at Crossley and marketed as the Crossley Regent .
In 1949 the body manufacturers Park Royal Vehicles (PRV) and Charles H. Roe were taken over. Both companies had specialized in the manufacture of bodies for buses . The takeover therefore had little impact on the production of trucks. However, since AEC and Park Royal each had a manufacturer of chassis and superstructures for buses in the group of companies, the requirements of large bus line operators could be better met through coordinated chassis and superstructures. For the AEC Routemaster , which was produced in large numbers mainly for London Transport from the 1950s onwards , AEC manufactured the chassis and Park Royal the body.
From 1957, ACV expanded its production range and offered tippers under the brand name AEC , initially as a three-axle vehicle with a loading volume of 10 cu yd , later also as a four-axle vehicle with a loading volume of up to 18 cu yd. Production of these vehicles continued until 1967.
In 1961, Transport Equipment , formerly Thornycroft , was acquired. The production of normal trucks of this brand was discontinued, while the construction of special vehicles such as airport fire service vehicles, construction site vehicles and vehicles for use in oil fields initially continued.
Leyland Motors , which had already taken over Albion in 1951 and Scammell in 1955 , also took over ACV in 1962 . This meant that a large number of the formerly independent British commercial vehicle manufacturers were under one group roof. After the takeover by Leyland Motors , the production of the individual brands continued, even if they gradually lost their identity through the takeover of assemblies. A visible sign was the acquisition of of Leyland developed Ergomatic - cab for truck of AEC from 1964. The successor company to Leyland Motors took advantage of the established brand name further, the last truck in the brand was AEC in 1979 and the last bus in 1980 mounted.
literature
- SW Stevens-Strattan: British Lorries 1900-1902 , Ian Allan, Shepperton 1992, ISBN 0-7110-2091-4 (English)
- Pat Kennett: AEC , from the World Trucks No. 10 , Patrick Stephans, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-85059-398-0 (English)