Austin models

The Austin Motor Company was a British car maker founded by Herbert Austin in 1905 at Longbridge, near Birmingham.

The company's breakthrough was the Austin 7 of 1922, an inexpensive small car aimed at the mass market; British engine-size taxation helped its sales. It was also built under licence abroad, including by BMW as the Dixi, by Datsun in Japan, by American Austin (later Bantam) in the United States and by Rosengart in France. In 1952 Austin merged with Morris Motors to form the British Motor Corporation. In 1959 BMC launched the small car designed by Alec Issigonis, first sold as the Austin Seven and later renamed Mini. After a merger in 1968 Austin became part of British Leyland, and in October 1980 it launched the Metro supermini. The Austin badge was phased out in 1988, and in 1989 the car division became the Rover Group. See also Morris, Austin-Healey and Mini.