British Motor Corporation (Australia)

British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia).[1] This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Group in the United Kingdom to form the British Motor Corporation.[1] Following further corporate changes in the UK in the late 1960s, BMC Australia was absorbed into the newly established British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia,[1] the name of which became Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia in 1972,[2] and then JRA Limited in March 1983.[2]

Austin Motor Company of Australia

In 1949, Austin purchased the Melbourne based Ruskin Body Works and used the factory to make ute and tourer bodies for fitting to imported Austin A40 chassis.[3]

Nuffield Australia

In 1947 Lord Nuffield purchased the former Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney as the site for a car assembly plant.[4][5] Nuffield Australia opened their new, 57 acre[6] assembly and factory building in March 1950. The facility was initially set up to assemble Morris Minor and Morris Oxford models from CKD kits. Previously these cars were imported into Australia as assembled vehicles.[7]

British Motor Corporation (Australia)

In 1954 the Austin Motor Company of Australia and Nuffield Australia merged to form British Motor Corporation (Australia) with the Nuffield facility at Victoria Park becoming the group headquarters of the new company. Austin and Morris vehicles were assembled at the facility and subsequently it was to be the design and manufacturing centre for BMC Australia.[7]

During a period of significant postwar reconstruction, migrant assimilation and technical innovation, the factory employed a peak of 7,000 people from 35 nations. The only plant in Australia to manufacture the complete vehicle, it introduced to Australia the in-line transfer machining of engine blocks, the "rotodip" paint process, automatic conveyor assembly processes and major advances in just-in-time and flexible manufacturing concepts.[8][9]

This factory produced the Austin Lancer and Morris Major models which were based on the Wolseley 1500 but modified for Australian conditions. In another example of the badge engineering prevalent at the time, the Morris Marshal

Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia

By 1969 BMC Australia's parent company had merged with the Leyland Corporation to form British Leyland[1] and a merger in Australia saw the creation of the British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia.[2] BMC Australia continued to trade as a division of the new company[13] but had been renamed the Austin Morris Division by 1970.[14] The company name was changed yet again in 1972 when it became the Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia,[2] with the Austin Morris Division carried across to the new company.[15]

JRA Limited

In March 1983 Leyland Motor Corporation Australia ceased to exist and its place was taken by JRA Limited. The new company was organised into several divisions including Jaguar-Rover-Australia, Leyland Trucks and Leyland Bus Australia.[20][21] In 1987 JRA was sold by Rover Group in a management buyout.[22][23] In October 1992 JRA was placed in administration by the Bank of New Zealand with Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu appointed as administrator.[24]

Further reading