Todd Motors

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Todd Motors Corporation
legal form Corporation
founding 1923
resolution May 1987
Reason for dissolution sale
Seat Porirua , New Zealand
Number of employees 1200-1800
Branch Automobile trade
Automobile manufacturing

The Todd Motors Corporation was a New Zealand car manufacturers and dealers based in Porirua .

history

Todd Motors in Petone

The Todd family business started in Heriot in 1885 and operated wool cleaning services (Charles Todd Sr. previously ran a gold mine in Australia ). It later became an agricultural trading and storage company ( Stock and Station ). Charles Todd also imported the first automobiles to West Otago and founded the Heriot Motor Garage in 1912 to service these vehicles. When building the network of workshops in Otago and Southlandthe infrastructure of the existing trading and warehouse branches was initially used. The division as an agricultural trading and storage company was sold to Dalgetys in 1927. The Todd Corporation emerged from the dealer network and other business areas , to which the company described here belonged until it was sold.

The Todd Motor Company was founded in 1923 by Desmond Todd (1897-1970). From that year a dealer network was also built on the North Island before the company's headquarters were relocated to Wellington in 1924 .

Due to New Zealand's protectionist customs policies in the 1930s, domestic production made sense. Todd Motor Industries was founded in 1935 to manufacture vehicles at the Petone site using the CKD process . Several locations and the years 1934 and 1936 are also mentioned for the start of production. Todd Motors Corporation (TMC) was founded as the parent company in 1935 and was listed on the stock exchange between 1938 and 1956 before being returned to private ownership.

In 1937, 166 men and 17 women were producing twelve vehicles a day and by October 1937 had totaled 7,000 vehicles. The 100,000. Vehicle was manufactured in 1964. In the early 1970s, TMC built a new plant in Porirua that was to have an annual production capacity of 20,000 (or 30,000) cars and trucks. The opening of the new plant is dated to 1972, 1973, 1974 or 1975, depending on the source. Since the plant placed a special focus on training, it was also referred to by the workers as “the university on the hill”.

When TMC took over the representation of Mitsubishi in 1970 , it had a market share of 16.66% in New Zealand (for comparison: Austin , Standard , Rover and Morris 25.01%, Ford 22.15% and General Motors 21.25%). Japanese manufacturers had a share of only 6.22% at this time (other 8.6%). In 1973 a Hillman Hunter made it 200,000. Vehicle manufactured.

The 400,000. The vehicle was a Mitsubishi Sigma GSR Turbo .

The company was the largest factory in Porirua and at times employed around 1200 to 1800 people. In 1980 TMC was the largest automobile company in the country and at the same time held the world's largest market share for Mitsubishi in New Zealand. The largest production result was achieved in 1981 with 22,500 vehicles. The relaxation of protectionist policies in the 1980s led to ever-decreasing margins for automobile production in New Zealand. With the sale of Todd Motors to Mitsubishi in 1987, the last (large) New Zealand automobile plant was taken over by the parent company.

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand continued production until 1998. The plant was later converted into a shopping center.

Brands and models

From 1914 Todd worked as a dealer for Commer trucks, BSA motorcycles as well as Studebaker and Ford (passenger cars). Later the regional sales for Ford and the agency for Wolseley (from 1922, on the South Island) were taken over. In 1922, Gray- branded vehicles began to be sold (which was accompanied by the loss of the Ford concession). Maxwell was added in 1924 .

With the Gray brand, a dealer network was established across the country. According to the company, 400 Gray were sold per year. Through the success of Todd Motors, Chrysler became aware of the company and in 1925 gave Todd Motors sole agency for its vehicles. From 1931 TMC was a dealer for Rootes (Hillman and Humber). From 1935 onwards, Chrysler, Hillman and Humber models were assembled at the Petone plant. TMC also represented David Brown Tractors between 1945 and 1981 . Before 1937, TMC manufactured Commer trucks and, in small numbers, the Fiat Topolino .

The main focus of production at TMC in the 1940s and early 1960s was on the smaller Rootes vehicles. Between 1946 and 1948, 4,543 Rootes were built, but only 214 Chrysler, Plymouth and DeSoto . Likewise, only 135 Chryslers were built in 1960, compared with 3928 Hillman and Humber vehicles. From 1963 the Australian Chrysler Valiant were taken into the program. Some models were also imported. Sometimes the Rootes models were renamed to add to the few import licenses. The Hillman Minx was sold as the Humber 80 and the Super Minx as the Humber 90.

The Hillman Imp was also made by TMC. Some of the models were converted into pick-ups with the model name Farm Imp by another company .

The Hillman Hunter was manufactured from 1967 to 1978. After declining sales in the mid-1970s, the Hillman Avenger , which was manufactured from 1970 to 1980, was one of the ten best-selling vehicles in 1978 and 1979 after Andrew Cowan won the New Zealand Rally in 1976 on an Avenger and the car rental company Avis promoted the Avenger as a rental car and made it the center of it Promoted campaigns.

In 1970, Todd Motors became the dealership for Mitsubishi cars, trucks and buses . In addition to the Rootes, Chrysler and Mitsubishi models, TMC also produced the Datsun 180 B in small numbers .

The models produced by Chrysler and Mitsubishi were sometimes in direct competition with one another; for example the Avenger and the Mitsubishi Lancer . In addition, the vehicles differed in details from the British and Japanese models. In contrast to Chrysler Australia , the Rootes and Chrysler models also included smaller and less powerful models (the Avenger was not offered in Australia, for example). Todd only imported three of the Australian muscle car Chrysler Valiant Charger to New Zealand.

  • Humber 80 (1960)

  • Chrysler Valiant Regal (1975)

  • Hillman Avenger (1976)

  • Chrysler Alpine GLS (1978)

  • Mitsubishi Lancer (1979)

  • Mitsubishi Sigma Super Touring (1987)

Trivia

In 1967, three TMC employees formed the band The Simple Image , which achieved a number 1 hit and several top ten hits in New Zealand.

Web links

Commons : Todd Motors  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Facts & Figures Mitsubishi Motors Corporation 2001 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Rich 'morally responsible for helping others'. In: stuff.co.nz. July 27, 2011, accessed June 3, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k History. In: toddcorporation.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Geoff Davis: Hillman heaven. In: stuff.co.nz. November 28, 2013, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Geoff Carverhill: Rootes Story: The Making of a Global Automotive Empire . The Crowood Press, Ramsbury 2018, ISBN 978-1-78500-480-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. ↑ a b 200,000th vehicle leaves Todd Motors. In: nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Billy Bunter's estate: 1976 Hillman Hunter Estate. In: themotorhood.com. September 2, 2008, accessed June 4, 2019 .
  8. ^ A b c Andy Thompson, Shannon Stevenson and Graeme Roberts: The Hillman Avenger in New Zealand. In: allpar.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  9. ^ A b Catherine Harris: Syndicate poised to buy Porirua's Todd Park. In: stuff.co.nz. August 17, 2015, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b c d Todd Motors. In: teara.govt.nz. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b Fred Alvrez: Todd Motors Group / Mitsubishi New Zealand Inaugural Heritage Day, April 15th 2018 - Drive Life. In: drivelife.co.nz. April 23, 2018, accessed June 3, 2019 .
  12. ^ Last car plants close in New Zealand. In: wsws.org. July 3, 1998, accessed June 3, 2019 .
  13. ^ Cars and the motor industry - Demise of the car assembly and component industries. In: teara.govt.nz. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  14. ↑ The year 1928 is also mentioned for this. See history. In: toddenergy.co.nz. Retrieved June 4, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Ann Warnock: A grandmother's artistic spirit lives on through a baby blue 1966 Hillman Imp. In: thisnzlife.co.nz. Retrieved June 4, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Frank Schoenberger's Sunbeam Farm Imp. In: sunbeam.org.au. November 7, 2017, accessed June 4, 2019 .
  17. ^ Mitsubishi New Zealand. In: mmnz.co.nz. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
  18. ^ Stu Piddington: Grunty Valiant Charger turns 40. In: stuff.co.nz. September 9, 2011, accessed June 5, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Simple Image. In: sergent.com.au. Accessed June 5, 2019 .