Australian Motor Industries

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AMI logo on a 1971 Rambler

Australian Motor Industries ( AMI for short ) was an Australian automobile manufacturer with headquarters in Port Melbourne . He produced and imported automobiles under licenses from foreign manufacturers, including Daimler-Benz , AMC and Toyota .

The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota in 1987 and henceforth operated as Toyota Motor Corporation Australia , which produced automobiles until 2017.

history

The company's origins can be traced back to 1926 with a company called Eclipse Motors that imported automobiles. In 1949, Standard Motor Company (Australia) Limited was founded with the assistance of the local Standard agency to manufacture Standard and Triumph passenger cars and commercial vehicles .

Ferguson and Massey-Ferguson tractors were also manufactured and sold through the British Farm Equipment distribution company .

Standard / Triumph

Standard Vanguard Six (1962), assembled by the AMi.

The standard models in Australia were partly different from their British counterparts. In addition, were Ute finishings various models such. B. Mayflower and Vanguard manufactured.

The Eight and Cadet series were the most successful standard models in Australia with 28,147 registered vehicles.

In the case of the Vanguard , the hood of which was fitted with a kangaroo in Australia and which was temporarily sold as a Spacemaster, some model update measures were only implemented with a delay. From 1960 to 1966 the Vanguard 6 registered a total of 4648 vehicles, of which 1968 were utility vehicles.

Between 1959 and 1966, 14,975 Triumph Heralds were produced, of which 960 were convertibles and 432 were Triumph 12/50. 15,179 units were registered. In contrast, only 1083 Spitfires were registered from 1963 to 1971 .

The most successful Triumph model was - from 1964 to 1978 - with 22,942 registrations the 2000/2500 , which was produced by AMi until 1978. According to another source, the Triumph production at AMI ended in 1976 and was then continued by Leyland Australia until 1978 with external service providers.

Mercedes Benz

In 1958, Standard Australia reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz, which was looking for production capacities in Australia. Together they founded Mercedes-Benz Australia Pty Ltd (MBAU) in July 1958, in which Standard held two-thirds and Daimler-Benz one-third (which was taken over in full by Daimler-Benz just a few years later). In 1959, Standard changed its name to Australian Motor Industries (AMI). On February 12, 1959, the first vehicle to be manufactured was a Mercedes-Benz 220S . From 1959 to 1965, depending on the source, 6,390 to around 7,500 vehicles were produced.

AMC

From 1960 onwards, AMI also imported and assembled American Motors Corporation vehicles . These were sold as ramblers.

The numbers of the various models manufactured until 1978 remained relatively small. The AMI Rambler Gremlin remained a one-off.

  • Rambler Gremlin

  • Front view

Toyota

Toyota Tiara from AMI

In April 1963, AMI started production of the Toyota Tiara . With Toyota's increasing popularity in the 1960s, AMI also began producing the Crown , Corona and Corolla models .

In 1968 Toyota acquired a 10% stake in AMI, which was increased to 50% in 1971 through the acquisition of British Leyland. In addition, in 1974 AMI opened a component plant that was built together with Nippondenso .

In 1985, AMI changed its name to AMI Toyota Ltd.

In 1987 the remaining shares of other Australian Motor Industries were bought by Toyota ; the company was renamed and has been called Toyota Motor Corporation Australia since then.

Web links

Commons : Rambler (Australia)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Amrik S. Sohal, Danny Samson & Liz Ramsay: "Toyota Motor Corporation Australia: a case study", in: Total Quality Management 5: 6 (1994), pp. 431-440, doi: 10.1080 / 09544129400000062 .
  2. ↑ Peter C. Stubbs, The Australian Motor Industry: A Study in Protection and Growth , Melbourne 1972, p. 68.
  3. ↑ Alam MacMillan: The TE-A20 Ferguson Tractor in: The Triumphant Standard , August 2017.
  4. ↑ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 5 in: The Triumphant Standard , April 2017.
  5. ↑ Mike Butts: 1949 Triumph Mayflower: Your Thanksgiving Turkey. In: curbsideclassic.com. November 27, 2014, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  6. ^ Paul Stassino: Anglo-Australian Cars - Vauxhall, Austin, Holden and more. In: hagertyinsurance.co.uk. February 14, 2017, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 4 in: The Triumphant Standard , October 2016. Pure production data for standard or Triumph models are not proven except for the Herald.
  8. ↑ Robert Bensley: Vanguard Spotters Guide to stcc.com.au.
  9. ↑ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 1 in: The Triumphant Standard , July 2016.
  10. ^ Dale Hickman: Triumph Herald, Australian Style. A Different Slant on the Herald .
  11. ↑ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 2 in: The Triumphant Standard , August 2016. Under certain circumstances, this number could also convey a relationship between the imported and AMI-assembled vehicles for the other models.
  12. ^ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 3 in: The Triumphant Standard , September 2016.
  13. ↑ Robert Bensley: Standard and Triumph Registration Statistics - Part 6 in: The Triumphant Standard , August 2017.
  14. ↑ Vehicles covered on www.stcc.com.au.
  15. ↑ a b Mercedes-Benz Australia: The first fifty years (2008).
  16. ↑ Mercedes 190Db Ponton Roundie. In: mbspares.com.au. Retrieved February 12, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Mike Stevens: Fifty Years of Mercedes-Benz in Australia. In: themotorreport.com.au. September 10, 2008, accessed February 12, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Mtchelle Tulk: Forgotten Cars of Australia: The AMI Rambler Javelin , on Motoring March 4, 2017.
  19. ^ Daniel Strohl: Boomerang: The only Gremlin exported to Australia returns - Hemmings Daily. In: hemmings.com. October 12, 2011, accessed May 3, 2018 .
  20. ↑ a b Australian Hornets. In: amchornet.com. April 6, 2010, accessed May 3, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Australian Motor Industries AMX ( Memento from August 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  22. ↑ Marc Cranswick, The Cars of American Motors: An Illustrated History , Jefferson 2011 S. 239th
  23. ↑ Kosmas Tsokhas, “Social capital, interdependence and Japanese multi-nationals”, in: Journal of Contemporary Asia 11 (4) (1981), pp. 449-486.
  24. ↑ James V. Martin Jr .: Problems of Australian-Japanese Relations. In: Asian Affairs 3, 4 (1976). Pp. 217–246 , accessed on August 17, 2018 (English).