Британдық Morris Motors компаниясының тарихы

British automotive company

Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same vehicles. By 1926 its production represented 42 per cent of British car manufacture—a remarkable expansion rate attributed to William Morris's practice of buying in major as well as minor components and assembling them in his own factory. Largely self financed through his enormous profits, Morris did borrow some money from the public in 1926, and later shared some of Morris Motors' ownership with the public in 1936. The new capital was then used by Morris Motors to buy many of his other privately held businesses. Though it merged into larger organisations in 1952, the Morris name remained in use until 1984, when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin brand as well as expanding the more upmarket Rover brand. Until 2014, Morris Oxford vehicles (based on the 1954 59 Oxford) were manufactured with periodic enhancements in India by Hindustan Motors, and sold well there, even being imported to Britain in small numbers during the 1990s. Part of Morris's manufacturing complex at Cowley, Oxford is now BMW Group's Plant Oxford, factory of the MINI marque since its launch in 2001. The Morris trademark is currently owned by the China based automotive company SAIC after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive. The Morris Commercial JE, an electric van with a 1940s design, was unveiled in November 2019 ahead of a planned launch in 2021 under the re launched Morris Commercial marque, well over 30 years after the Morris brand had disappeared.

Visiting London in 1938 during a polio epidemic Lord Nuffield saw a Both Iron Lung in use. He commissioned an improved design which could be produced using the techniques of car assembly and arranged production of approximately 1700 machines at the Cowley works, which he donated to hospitals throughout all parts of Britain and the British Empire. Both Nuffield respirators were able to be produced by the thousand at about one thirteenth the cost of the American design.

In the summer of 1938 Morris agreed to build, equip and manage at government expense a huge new factory at Castle Bromwich specifically to manufacture Supermarine Spitfires. with intention to build bombers later. Nuffield's management failed, no Spitfires were delivered by May 1940 despite expectation of 60 a day. The Ministry of Aircraft Production took over the plant putting in managers from Supermarine and placing it under Vickers Armstrongs (of which Supermarine was a part) supervision. After a major air raid damaged the Morris Bodies factory, the premises switched to the production of jerry cans, producing millions of these versatile containers for use during the rest of the war and following the ending of hostilities. The Cowley plant was turned over to aircraft repair and production of Tiger Moth pilot trainers, as well as "mine sinkers" based on a design produced at the same plant during the First World War.