Automotive industry in Ireland
The automotive industry in Ireland has a long and unusual history.
The beginnings as well as independent Irish automobile brands
Ford founded the Henry Ford & Son subsidiary in Ireland as early as 1917 , when the island was still part of the United Kingdom . The factory produced tractors that were also exported. When Ireland became independent in 1922, initially as an Irish Free State , this had an impact on trade relations with Great Britain as tariffs were now incurred.
There have been few attempts to design and market standalone automobiles . No company has been successful with this for a long time:
Thomond was the only brand before World War II .
From 1958 to 1960 Dundalk Engineering Works followed with the independent brand Heinkel-I . In the town of Dundalk on the east coast, the company continued production of the Heinkel cabin , which had originally been manufactured by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Speyer , Rhineland-Palatinate until 1958 and had been assembled under license at another location in Ireland since 1956 . The scooter mobile was now sold worldwide from Dundalk. In the meantime, Shamrock Motors produced the open, sporty-looking Shamrock in a few copies from 1959 to 1960.
The Thompson Manufacturing Co. produced from 1983 to 1988 TMC. From 1998 to 2000 Grannd Performance Cars Limited produced a replica of the Porsche 911 with the Covin ; This was preceded by the British car brand Covin . From 2006 to 2008 there were Xotic Replicas that manufactured kit cars of the same name.
Assembly plants
In addition to the few independent automobile brands, the Irish automotive industry was mainly characterized by numerous assembly plants.
Henry Ford & Son manufactured a small engine for the Ford Model A passenger car from 1928 , which was also supplied to other Ford plants. From 1929 to 1932 it was also Ford's only tractor factory in the world, so many tractors were exported.
In the 1930s Ireland was also hit by the Great Depression, which was the starting point for structural changes in the Irish automotive industry. Until then, many motor vehicles were imported from abroad due to the lack of domestic production. With the aim of stimulating the domestic economy and reducing the number of unemployed, the Minister for Economic Affairs Seán Lemass made several changes: Towards the end of 1933, the tariff on imported car bodies was increased and the annual road tax for domestically assembled vehicles was increased to 16 Irish pounds instead of 30 Pounds lower for imported vehicles. After the first year, he finally limited the number of vehicles imported: Between November 8, 1934 and June 1935, only 480 complete vehicles were allowed to be imported, while the demand for cars was around ten times as much. In Ireland, 4659 new registrations were recorded in 1934 and 5914 in the following year.
Therefore, several Irish companies made agreements with foreign automobile manufacturers to only import the vehicles intended for sale in individual parts and to assemble them on site. This is how the term Completely Knocked Down came about . In order to be privileged, a specified proportion of the vehicle parts had to be obtained from within Germany. In the case of the 1930s Hudson assembled by PJ Tracy Limited , these were tires , paint , springs , batteries and panes of glass . The supplier industry such as Dunlop , Triplex (glass), ICI and Ever Ready therefore set up assembly plants in Ireland. In the case of John Caldwell Limited from 1961 to 1962, batteries, tires, windshields , upholstery and paint are known to have been made in Ireland.
The government regulations were very effective. In 1952, 17,000 passenger cars were assembled in Ireland , but only 113 complete vehicles were imported. Few of the vehicles assembled on site were exported; The reasons for this were the high domestic demand, partly obstructive customs regulations in third countries as well as the restriction to legally controlled versions. MG A's were among the few exports , which were assembled by Booth Poole & Company from January 1956 to at least 1959 and which made it to South Africa in small numbers . Chrysler Ireland manufactured the Hillman Hunter for the British market from 1977 to 1979 after production there had ceased.
In the course of time, the foreign suppliers gained influence and some took over the formerly independent assembly plants, such as the Standard Motor Company and the Dublin company McEntagart Bros. , resulting in Standard-Triumph (Eire) . The situation changed when Ireland joined the European Economic Community on January 1, 1973 . Reg. Armstrong Motors , then the assembly company for Opel , successfully sued the State of Ireland in 1973 with the backing of General Motors because of the rigid import restrictions for complete vehicles. As a result, some plants closed.
In 1976 Toyota Ireland achieved a 5% market share, after which complete vehicles were also allowed to be imported in limited numbers. After the general import ban had already fallen, this also led to an increased supply.
In the 1980s, changing political and economic conditions resulted in losses at the Irish assembly plants. From 1981 to 1983 the Ford plant lost a total of £ 25 million and a further £ 10 million in 1984, whereupon assembly in the last plants was stopped in 1984. However, some companies continued to exist as import companies.
The connection of certain brands with individual assembly plants
Many assembly plants have assembled vehicles from more than one brand. Conversely, for some brands there was more than one assembly plant. In most cases it did not overlap in time and was based on mergers.
For example, Opel vehicles were manufactured by O'Shea's Limited (Opel) from 1937 to 1965 , but there were intermittent quality problems. Reg.Armstrong Motors joined in from 1962 and continued to assemble Opel until 1975.
In the case of Adler , CH Manders continued the production of Irish Exporters & Importers from 1937 .
There have been many changes at the British Leyland brand . Lincoln & Nolan assembled Austin from 1936 to 1966 and in between also Rover. GA Brittain produced Morris from 1934 to 1966 and in between also Riley. In 1966 these two companies merged to form the BLN Motor Company and assembled Austin, Morris and Riley. In 1969 the next merger with the Smith Motor Group to form Brittain Smith and Company followed , without the brands changing. The company was split up again in 1970: the new Brittain Group assembled Austin until 1974, Morris until 1975, Riley only in 1970 and, from 1973, Datsun. For the Standard brand there was McEntagart Bros. from 1933 to 1958 and then Standard-Triumph (Eire). Triumph came from Standard Triumph (Eire) between 1958 and 1969 and then from British Leyland Ireland . Rover started out at Lincoln & Nolan, then at Standard Triumph (Eire) and finally at British Leyland Ireland. Mini brand vehicles were manufactured by Reg. Armstrong Motors from 1976 to 1978. MG were briefly produced by the Express Auto Company , after the Second World War it was initially Booth Bros. and after their merger Booth Poole & Company. Jaguar and its predecessor SS were assembled by Frank Cavey & Sons .
Mercedes-Benz were assembled in small numbers by MacLysaght & Douglas before the war , by Grange Motors in 1950 and by Motor Distributors from 1955 to 1977 .
Renault also came in small numbers before the war from MacLysaght & Douglas, then from 1946 to 1957 from FM Summerfield and then until 1984 from Renauto .
For Peugeot, MacLysaght & Douglas, McEntagart Bros., Standard-Triumph (Eire) and Peugeot (Ireland) have come down to us.
Hudson were assembled by PJ Tracy Limited from 1933 to 1937, by assemblers from 1937 to 1957 with breaks, and by Grange Motors from 1953 to 1957.
List of assembly plants
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The overview below lists assembly plants for cars. Special features of the year information cannot be shown in the table, but can be read better in the respective articles. Too little information is available on commercial vehicles and motorcycles so that they are missing from the table.
Market shares of the individual brands in different years
In 1936 Ford held a 64% market share with 5196 registered cars. Morris followed with 833, then Vauxhall with 467, Hillman with 399, Austin with 251, Standard with 211 and then Dodge as the next US brand with 138.
In 1937 Ford was way ahead of Morris, Austin, Vauxhall, Hillman, Standard, Chrysler, Fiat and Dodge.
In 1938, 4608 Fords were registered, which corresponded to a market share of 55%. Morris followed with 1,324 new registrations ahead of Austin, Vauxhall, Hillman, Standard, Opel, Dodge, Chrysler and Fiat.
In 1939 there were 3357 Ford, 1103 Morris, 762 Austin, 448 Hillman, 396 Vauxhall and 146 Standard.
Figures are only available again for 1954. There were a total of 20,843 registrations this year; Ford led with 6399 ahead of Morris with 4716, Austin with 2821, Volkswagen with 2155 and Hillman with 2049. The others were Vauxhall with 686, Standard with 577, Fiat with 270, Wolseley with 230, Rover with 165, Humber with 131, Simca with 120, DKW with 84, Chevrolet with 64, MG with 62, Jaguar with 37, Hudson with 29 and the rest.
In 1964, for example, Ford had 12,625 of a total of 41,275 new registrations. Austin reached 8050, Morris 6250, VW 4300, the Rootes group (Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam) 2125, Vauxhall 1750, Fiat 1325, Opel 1150, Triumph 900 and Renault 250. The rest was spread across other brands.
In 1974, when the import restrictions were already somewhat relaxed, 61,822 cars were registered. Ford led with 15,162 vehicles, followed by Fiat with 10,520, the Chrysler Group (with Hillman) with 7,265, Renault with 6,228, Morris with 3,457, Austin with 3,441, VW with 2,904, Opel with 2,364. Vauxhall with 1.951, Datsun with 1.432, Peugeot with 1.280, Toyota with 1.255, Triumph with 1.066 and Audi with 1.001. Others: 512 Rover, 464 Citroën, 342 Mercedes-Benz, 264 Lancia , 191 BMW , 157 DAF , 107 Alfa Romeo, 107 Jaguar, 84 Mazda, 77 Volvo, 43 MG, 29 Daimler , 27 Wolseley, 21 Škoda and others.
In 1984, the last year of assembly, there were 64,611 registrations. The individual brands: Ford 12.213, Toyota 9.115, General Motors (Opel) 8.159, Honda 8.150, Nissan 5.182, Renault 4.824, Fiat 4.293, Austin / Rover 3.076, VW 2.472, Peugeot 1.509, Mazda 1.184, Volvo 946, Citroën 544, Talbot 542, Audi 498, BMW 416, Alfa Romeo 328, Mercedes-Benz 305, Saab 210, Lancia 175, Lotus 15, Daihatsu 7, Porsche 7, Rolls-Royce 7, Reliant 4 and others.
Registration numbers for passenger cars
The following fold-out table and the graphic on the right show the registration figures in Ireland from 1930 to 1984. No figures are available for some years.
| year | Admission number |
|---|---|
| 1930 | 4,346 |
| 1931 | 4,455 |
| 1932 | 2,754 |
| 1933 | 3,103 |
| 1934 | 4,659 |
| 1935 | 5,914 |
| 1936 | 8,111 |
| 1937 | 10,022 |
| 1938 | 8,383 |
| 1939 | 7,066 |
| 1940-1953 | not known |
| 1954 | 20,843 |
| 1955 | 23,570 |
| 1956 | 14,734 |
| 1957 | 13,560 |
| 1958 | 19,055 |
| 1959 | 22,886 |
| 1960 | 27,941 |
| 1961 | 28,562 |
| 1962 | 31,921 |
| 1963 | not known |
| 1964 | 41,275 |
| 1965 | 43,217 |
| 1966 | 39,525 |
| 1967 | 40.281 |
| 1968 | 51.143 |
| 1969 | 50,323 |
| 1970 | 52,806 |
| 1971 | 50,898 |
| 1972 | 63,811 |
| 1973 | 75,532 |
| 1974 | 61,822 |
| 1975 | 54,036 |
| 1976 | 70,533 |
| 1977 | 83,668 |
| 1978 | 107,553 |
| 1979 | 97.920 |
| 1980 | 87,325 |
| 1981 | 101.196 |
| 1982 | 72,829 |
| 1983 | 60,769 |
| 1984 | 64,611 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 13 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 15 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 212 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 98 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 145 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 16 (English).
- ↑ David Knowles: MGA: The Revolutionary MG (accessed December 26, 2019)
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 141 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 183-184 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 87 (English).
- ^ A b Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 213 (English).
- ^ A b Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 214 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 215 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 220 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 225 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 230 (English).
- ^ Bob Montgomery: Motor Assembly in Ireland . Dreoilín Specialist Publications, Foxrock 2018, ISBN 978-1-902773-35-3 , p. 212-231 (English).