Rootes Australia

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Rootes Australia
Industry Automotive
Founded1945
Defunct1965;57 years ago (1965)
FateMerged with Chrysler Australia
Headquarters,
Area served
Australia
Products Automobiles
Brands
Parent Rootes Group

Rootes Australia was the Australian affiliate of the Rootes Group, a British motor vehicle manufacturing company. [1]

Contents

The company was formed immediately after the Second World War [1] initially operating as an importing and distribution firm. [2] In 1946, it began assembling Hillman Minx vehicles at Port Melbourne, Victoria. [3] This was the first instance of a British motor manufacturer establishing a production line in Australia. [4] [5] By 1954, the company had gained a 5.4% share of the local market and subsequently announced plans to create a full local manufacturing facility. [1] A 35-hectare site was acquired for this purpose at Harrisfield (now known as Noble Park), near Dandenong in Victoria. However, the proposed plant was never built. [1]

The Hillman Minx was the first and most popular Rootes Australia vehicle. This is a 1956 Mark VIII Gaylook De Luxe Saloon HillmanMinx1953.jpg
The Hillman Minx was the first and most popular Rootes Australia vehicle. This is a 1956 Mark VIII Gaylook De Luxe Saloon

Hillman, Humber and Singer models were assembled successfully for a number of years. The company also produced models which were hybrids of the three makes. [2] By the mid-1960s, falling sales and an ageing model line-up meant the Rootes Group was in trouble both in Britain and Australia. [7]

In December 1965, Rootes Australia was merged with Chrysler Australia. [1] Assembly operations were continued at the Port Melbourne facility [8] and Hillman cars, Humber cars and Commer trucks were now sold by Chrysler dealers. [8] Chrysler was quick to phase out the Humber brand, [9] however assembly of the Hillman Arrow and Hunter range was commenced in early 1967. [9] Chrysler Australia also utilised Port Melbourne for assembly of the Dodge Phoenix from 1968 and Mitsubishi's Galant from 1971. [9] The last Hillman Hunter was produced in November 1972, [10] and, with Dodge Phoenix and Galant assembly transferred to Tonsley Park in South Australia at the end of 1972, the Port Melbourne facility was closed. [10]

Vehicles produced

Significant models produced by Rootes Australia included the following:

The Humber Vogue was assembled from 1962 to 1965 Humber Vogue Series I.jpg
The Humber Vogue was assembled from 1962 to 1965

Related Research Articles

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The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and dealers business in the south of England. In the decade beginning 1928 the Rootes brothers, William and Reginald, made prosperous by their very successful distribution and servicing business, were keen to enter manufacturing for closer control of the products they were selling. One brother has been termed the power unit, the other the steering and braking system.

Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles. Newly under the control of the Rootes brothers, the Hillman company was acquired by Humber in 1928. Hillman was used as the small car marque of Humber Limited from 1931, but until 1937 Hillman did continue to sell large cars. The Rootes brothers reached a sixty per cent holding of Humber in 1932 which they retained until 1967, when Chrysler bought Rootes and bought out the other forty per cent of shareholders in Humber. The marque continued to be used under Chrysler until 1976.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillman Imp</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillman Minx</span> Motor vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillman Avenger</span> Car model

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbeam-Talbot</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 413
  2. 1 2 3 The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 216
  3. Pedr Davis, Wheels Across Australia, 1987, page 208
  4. Shaun Birney, A Nation on Wheels, 1987, page 187
  5. Rootes Group at Motoring Weekly (UK)
  6. Gallery at Hillman Owners' Club of Australia Inc
  7. Shaun Birney, A Nation on Wheels, 1987, page 188
  8. 1 2 Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, page 428
  9. 1 2 3 Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, page 280
  10. 1 2 Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, page 282
  11. 1 2 The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 226
  12. 1 2 Advertisement for Sunbeam Mk III and Alpine "Produced in the factory of Rootes Australia Limited", Modern Motor, March 1955, page 34
  13. Australian Humber History Retrieved from web.archive.org on 23 January 2009
  14. .The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 436
  15. Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, page 365
  16. Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A History of Chrysler in Australia 1946-1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, page 273