Rootes Australia
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1945
Defunct1965 (1965)
FateMerged with Chrysler Australia
Headquarters
Port Melbourne
,
Australia
Area served
Australia
ProductsAutomobiles
Brands
ParentRootes Group

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

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[6]

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

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
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