The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a vehicle manufacturer in England formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named The Times 29 February 1952 page 9
BMC acquired the shares in Morris Motors and the Austin Motor Company. Morris Motors, the holding company of the productive businesses of the Nuffield Organization, owned MG, Riley, and Wolseley.
The agreed exchange of Morris or Austin shares for shares in the new holding company, BMC, became effective in mid-April 1952.City News in Brief The Times 21 April 1952 page 9
In September 1965, BMC took control of its major body supplier, Pressed Steel, acquiring Jaguar's body supplier in the process. In September 1966, BMC merged with Jaguar Cars.Jaguar Group of companies is to merge with The British Motor Corporation, as the first step towards the setting up of a joint holding company to be called British Motor (Holdings) Limited Joint merger statement, 11 July 1966 issued at the press conference at the Great Eastern Hotel, London In December 1966, BMC changed its name to British Motor Holdings (BMH).British Motor Takes That New Label The Times 15 December 1966 page 17
In May 1968 BMH merged with Leyland Motors, which made trucks and buses and owned both Standard-Triumph International and the Rover Company to become British Leyland British giants merge Commercial Motor 19 January 1968BMC and Leyland in giant merger Truck & Bus Transportation February 1968 page 16, at which point the bulk of the operations of BMC were folded into the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland.
Organisation
BMC was the largest British car company of its day, with (in 1952) 39% of British output, producing a wide range of cars under brand names including Austin, Morris, MG, Austin-Healey, Riley, and Wolseley, as well as commercial vehicles and agricultural tractors. The first chairman was Lord Nuffield (William Morris), but he was replaced at the end of 1952 by Austin's Leonard Lord, who continued in that role until his 65th birthday in 1961, but handing over, in theory at least, the managing director responsibilities to his deputy George Harriman in 1956.
BMC's headquarters were at the Austin Longbridge plant, near Birmingham and Austin was the dominant partner in the group mainly because of the chairman. The use of Morris engine designs was dropped within three years and all new car designs were coded ADO from Austin Drawing Office. The Longbridge plant was up to date, having been thoroughly modernised in 1951, and compared very favourably to Nuffield's 16 different and often old-fashioned factories scattered over the Midlands. Austin's management systems, however, especially cost control and marketing, were not as good as Nuffield's and as the market changed from a shortage of cars to competition, this was to tell. The biggest-selling car, the Mini, was famously analysed by Ford, which concluded that BMC must have been losing £30 on every one sold. The result was that although volumes held up well throughout the BMC era, market share fell as did profitability and hence investment in new models, triggering the 1966 merger with Jaguar Cars to form British Motor Holdings (BMH), and the government-sponsored merger of BMH with Leyland Motors in 1968.
At the time of the mergers, a well established dealership network was in place for each of the marques. Among the car-buying British public was a tendency of loyalty to a particular marque and marques appealed to different market segments. This meant that marques competed against each other in some areas, though some marques had a larger range than others. The Riley and Wolseley models were selling in very small numbers. Styling was also getting distinctly old-fashioned and this caused Leonard Lord, in an unusual move for him, to call upon the services of an external stylist.
As well as the car manufacturing arms, the company had its own printing and publishing firm, the Nuffield Press, inherited from the Morris Motors group.
BMC Farina
In 1958, BMC hired Battista Farina to redesign its entire car line. This resulted in the creation of three "Farina" saloons, each of which was badge-engineered to fit the various BMC car lines.
The compact Farina model debuted in 1958 with the Austin A40 Farina. This is considered by many to be the first mass-produced hatchback car: a small estate version was produced with a horizontally split tailgate, its size and configuration would today be considered that of a small hatchback. A Mark II A40 Farina appeared in 1961 and was produced through 1967. These small cars used the A-Series engine.
The mid-sized Farinas were launched in 1958 with the Wolseley 15/60. Other members of the group included the Riley 4/68, Austin A55 Cambridge Mk. II, MG Magnette Mk. III, and Morris Oxford V. Later, the design was licensed in Argentina and produced as the Siam Di Tella 1500, Traveller station wagon and Argenta pick-up. The mid-size cars used the B-Series straight-4 engine. Most of these cars lasted until 1961, though the Di Tellas remained until 1966. They were replaced with a new Farina body style and most were renamed. These were the Austin A60 Cambridge, MG Magnette Mk. IV, Morris Oxford VI, Riley 4/72, and Wolseley 16/60, and in 1964 the Siam Magnette 1622 alongside the Siam Di Tella in Argentina. Most remained in production until 1968, with no rear-wheel drive replacement produced.
The third and largest Farina car was the Austin A99 Westminster/Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre/Wolseley 6/99, launched in 1959. They used the large C-Series straight-6 engine. The large Farinas were updated in 1961 as the Austin A110 Westminster, Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre Mk. II, and Wolseley 6/110. These remained in production until 1968.
BMC cars
Inherited models
Austin Austin A125 Sheerline (1947–1954) Austin A135 Princess (1947–1956) Austin A40 Sports (1950–1953) Austin A70 Hereford (1950–1954) Austin A30 (1951–1956) Austin A90 Atlantic (1949–1952) Austin A40 Devon (1947–1952)
MG MG TD (1949–1953) MG TF (1953–1955) MG Y-type (1947–1953)
Morris Morris Minor (1948–1971; until 1972 in New Zealand) Morris Oxford MO (1948–1954) Morris Six MS (1948–1953)
Riley Riley RM series (1945–1955)
Wolseley Wolseley 4/50 (1948–1953) Wolseley 6/80 (1948–1954) Nuffield Oxford Taxi (1947–1955)
BMC designs Austin Austin A40 Somerset (1952–1954) Austin A40 Cambridge (1954–1956) Austin A90 Westminster (1954–1968) Austin Metropolitan (1954–1961) Austin A35 (1956–1959) Austin Lancer (1958–1962; Australia) Austin Princess IV (1956–1957) Austin A40 Farina (1958–1967) Austin A55 Cambridge (1957–1961) Austin A60 Cambridge (1961–1969) Austin Seven (Mini) (1959–1989) Austin Freeway (1962–1965; Australia) Austin 1100/1300 (1963–1974) Austin 1800 (1964–1975) Austin 3-Litre (1967–1971) Austin Maxi (1969–1981; designed in the BMC era)
Austin-Healey Austin-Healey 100 (1953–1959) Austin-Healey 3000 (1959–1968) Austin-Healey Sprite (1958–1971)
MG MG A (1955–1962) MG Magnette ZA/ZB (1953–1959) MG Magnette Mk III/Mk IV (1959–1968) MG Midget (1961–1974) MGB (1962–1980) MG 1100/1300 (1962–1973) MGC (1967–1969)
Morris Morris Oxford MO (1948–1954) Morris Oxford Series II (1954–1956) Morris Oxford Series III (1956–1959) Morris Oxford Farina (1959–1971) Morris Cowley (1954–1959) Morris Isis (1955–1958) Morris Marshal (1957–1960; Australia) Morris Major (1958–1964; Australia) Morris Mini Minor (Mini) (1959–2000) Morris 1100/1300 (1963–1974) Morris 1800 (1964–1975)Princess Princess IV (1957–1959) Princess 3 litre (1959–1960)
Riley Riley Pathfinder (1953–1957) Riley 2.6 (1958–1959) Riley 1.5 (1957–1965) Riley 4/68 (1959–1961) Riley 4/72 (1961–1969) Riley Elf (1961–1969) Riley Kestrel (1965–1969)
Vanden Plas Vanden Plas Princess 3-Litre (1960–1964) Vanden Plas Princess 1100/1275/1300 (1963–1974) Vanden Plas Princess 4-Litre R (1964–1968)
Wolseley Wolseley 4/44 (1952–1956) Wolseley 6/90 (1954–1959) Wolseley 15/50 (1956–1958) Wolseley 1500 (1957–1965) Wolseley 15/60 (1958–1961) Wolseley 16/60 (1961–1971) Wolseley 6/99 (1959–1961) Wolseley 6/110 (1961–1968) Wolseley Hornet (1961–1969) Wolseley 24/80 (1962–1967; Australia) Wolsleley 1100/1300 (1965–1973) Wolseley 18/85 (1967–1972)
BMC project numbers
Most BMC projects followed the earlier Austin practice of describing vehicles with an ADO number, which stood for Austin Design Office but after the merger Amalgamated Drawing Office. Hence, cars that had more than one marque name (e.g. Morris Mini Minor and Austin Mini) would have the same ADO number. Given the often complex badge-engineering that BMC undertook, it is common amongst enthusiasts to use the ADO number when referring to vehicles which were a single design (for example, saying 'The ADO15 entered production in 1959'- this encompasses the fact that when launched, the ADO15 was marketed as the Morris Mini Minor and, later, the Austin Seven—soon replaced with Austin Mini). The ADO numbering system did continue for some time after the creation of British Leyland – notable models being the Austin Allegro (ADO67) and the prototype version of the Austin Metro (ADO88).
Commercial vehicles Most BMC-era commercial vehicles were sold as Morris, but there were sometimes Austin equivalents. Radiator badges on the larger vehicles were often BMC.
Car-based light vans
Morris Z-series ¼-ton (Morris Eight Series E) 1940–53 Morris ¼-ton O-Type (Morris Minor-based van) 1953–71 Morris Cowley MCV van 1950–56 Austin A30 van 1954–56 Austin A35 van 1956–68 Austin A35 pick-up 1956–57 Morris ½-ton Series III van 1956–62 Austin A55 van 1958–62 Austin A55 pick-up (Australian built) 1958–62 Mini van 1960–82 Mini pick-up 1961–82 Austin A40 Farina van (export only) 1961–67 Austin 1800 Utility (Australia built) 1967–74
Light vans
Austin K8 1948–1954 Morris J-type 1949–1960 Morris LD 1952–1968 Morris J2 1956–1967 Morris 250 JU 1967– Austin/Morris J4 1960–1974
Taxi cabs and hire cars Austin FX3 Taxi 1949–58 Austin FL1 Hire Car 1949-58 Austin FX4 Taxi 1958-82 Austin FL2 Hire Car 1958-82
Light lorries Morris LC4 1952–54 Morris LC5 1954–60 Morris FV-series (Series I) 1948–54 Morris FV-series (Series II) 1954–55 Morris FE-series (Series III) 1955–59 Morris FG 1960–68 Morris FM 1961–68 Morris WE 1955–64 Morris WF 1964–81 Morris FF 1958–61 Morris FH 1961–64 Morris FJ 1964–68 BMC VA 1958–76
BMC agricultural vehicles With the merger of the Nuffield and Austin interests, the Nuffield Organization's tractor range, the Nuffield Universal, was incorporated into BMC.
BMC abroad
In the 1950s and the 1960s, BMC set up 21 plants overseas, some as subsidiaries, and some as joint ventures, to assemble its vehicles. One was British Motor Corporation (Australia) which was established in 1953 at the Nuffield Australia site on the one-time Victoria Park Racecourse, Sydney.The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 62 This facility went from a marshalling area for fully imported Morris cars (Austins were up until then being assembled in Melbourne from an earlier Austin Motors establishment), to a facility for making CKD cars, to the total local fabrication and construction of vehicles, engines, and mechanicals.
Denmark was a particularly strong market for BMC products in Europe. In the postwar period, the Danish government closely regulated exports and imports to maintain the country's balance of trade. High-value imports such as cars were heavily taxed.