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Ingersoll Axles is part of the IMT Partnership. It originated in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, in 1913 as a small factory producing a short-lived soap called Fun to Wash. The facility was soon converted to make brooms, and in 1914 was purchased by E.A. Wilson, who founded Ingersoll Machine & Tool (IMT) in 1915.
Ingersoll Machine & Tool specialized in the manufacture of steering gear assemblies for cars and boats – including car starters, steering gears, millimeter shells, truck axle parts, house trailer parts, and machine parts. IMT established a major presence within the automotive industry, and by the early 1930s, IMT made every steering gear assembly for Canadian-built Ford, Mercury, Dodge, Chrysler, DeSoto, Plymouth, Hudson, and Nash cars.[ citation needed ]
The company expanded significantly over the following decades and went public in 1947, listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. [1] By the early 1970s, IMT had diversified into washing machines and hovercraft production.
In 1970, Ivaco acquired a majority stake in IMT, later strengthening its position with the 1981 purchase of PC Forge. Around this time, IMT secured a 10-year, $100 million federal contract for large-caliber ammunition shells and built a new facility with a $125,000 grant from the Town of Ingersoll.
In 1990, IMT developed its own self-steering axle, now known as the SmartSteer Axle, which remains one of the lightest and strongest leading kingpin self-steering axles in the world. [2]