AUSTIN MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED, English motor-car manufacturing company, was founded in 1905 by Mr., now Sir Herbert Austin (b. 1866), an engineer and pioneer of motoring. At a time when foreign cars were in the ascendant in the United Kingdom, the Austin Motor Company developed its works at Longbridge, near Birmingham, with the object of sup plying British built cars for home and export. Like many other firms the Company was badly crippled by war reaction and the collapse in general trading which occurred in 1920, but careful management and a broad-minded policy soon led to recovery and it now (1928) employs directly some 12,000 and indirectly about 6o,000 persons.
In addition to the construction of cars the company undertakes foundry work in various metals, stamping, forging, pressing, sheet metal working and machining, etc. Statistics show remarkably high earnings by the workers, expansion in the turnover during the last few years of some seven times, and a greatly increasing export market. The equipment has been brought up to date and is capable of dealing with huge amounts of material; large quan tities are handled continuously, and the various components are quickly assembled and turned out as finished cars, ready for the service required of them.