Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, was founded in 1965 as a result of a collaboration between BMC (the British Motor Corporation) and NMQ ( Nueva Montaña Quijano).
BMC needed a way to sell their cars in Spain, which at the time had strict rules to protect local automobile manufacturers from imported competitors and to protect local companies from foreign takeover. Thus, Authi built almost identical copies of a range of Austin and
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
cars. The company survived only until 1976 when
British Leyland
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...
ran out of money and the almost new Authi plant was sold to the SEAT car company after the failure of a bid for it from General Motors.
Name
The company's name stands for Automoviles de Turismo Hispano Ingleses: it is generally written and spoken as a word rather than as an acronym.
Beginnings
The Authi firm was officially registered on 12 November 1965 under the chairmanship of Eduardo Ruiz de Huidrobo y Alzurena, with its head office and premises at Arazuri, a few kilometers to the west of Pamplona. The share capital was held by a
Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
metal working business called Nueva Montaña Quijano S.A. (NMQ) which had originally been founded in 1899. The real owners of the business were the Banco de Santander and the Quijano family. The
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
also had a controlling interest in Fasa Renault which had been building Renaults at their
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
plant for the Spanish market since 1951. NMQ had been supplying engines for the Spanish-built Renaults. Work dried up when Renault moved their engine production in-house. Therefore, BMC's search for a Spanish partner able to build their cars for the Spanish market in Spain had coincided with NMQ's search for another automotive partner able to provide designs that could be produced locally.
The first Spanish-built Authi product, an MG 1100, emerged in January 1967. A Mini C 1275 followed in October, featuring leather seats and a walnut dashboard, along with various other pieces of additional equipment not featured by Minis produced in England.
BLMC takes a controlling share
It was announced in July 1967 by BLMC Chairman, Lord Stokes that his company had taken a controlling 51% share in NMQ. There was a further capital injection by Leyland in 1973 which raised the share capital to 2,400 million pesetas and left the residual minority share holders with very little influence over the business. In this year, presidency of the company passed to Manuel Diez Alegria. Highlighted at the time was the company's new spare parts centre, featuring a state-of-the-art computer inventory control system, employing punch-cards.
Success and the Mini
Volume production started with the opening of the Pamplona plant in 1969. In April of that year, two versions of the Mini 1000 came to the market, respectively Standard and Special ''(Standard y Especial)'': even the standard version was seen as relatively well equipped at the time. The Mini would achieve the highest sales volumes of any model in the short history of Authi, with more than 140,000 shipped by the time the plant closed down seven years later. The car was entirely assembled at Pamplona. The bodywork and under panels were delivered from England. The engine and the gear box were manufactured at NMQ's own plant at
Los Corrales de Buelna
Los Corales de Buelna is a municipality in Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its ...
. Other parts including axle, suspension, windows and smaller components were produced locally and in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
in order to comply with the government's determinedly
protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
trade policies.
Milking the Mini brand
In January 1970, a Mini 850 was added to the range, featuring virtually the same engine that had been fitted in the original English-built Mini in 1959. A reduced specification Mini 1000 followed. This broadened the appeal of the range in the still acutely price-sensitive Spanish auto-market, but it also dragged the Authi brand down-market which would compromise the company's future ability to price its cars at a premium against competitor Fiat and
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
designed products.
By this time the company's reputation was beginning to suffer the effects of inadequate investment in the dealership network. After-sales service suffered because the cars, in some ways more sophisticated than the old models offered by SEAT and
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
, were often not sufficiently understood by workshop personnel at the Authi dealers.
In 1971 the company introduced the Mini 1275 GT, its specification closely matched to the corresponding English-built car. This replaced the company's first model, the Mini C 1275. The leather seats and walnut dashboard of the old model disappeared. The 1275 GT was, however, more aggressively priced than its predecessor.
Production
The following cars were built by Authi:
* Authi
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
1968–1975
* Authi
Mini Cooper Mini Cooper may refer to:
*Cars of the original Mini series called the "Mini Cooper", made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors 1961–1971, and 1990–2000
*Cars of the Mini (marque), including a number of different models produced ...
BLMC
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor ...
closed down production of their models and the sale of the plant to SEAT, the Spanish automaker built the
SEAT 124
The SEAT 124 is a small family car produced by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT in its Zona Franca, Barcelona and Landaben, Pamplona plants between 1968 and 1980. The car was very successful in Spain having sold 896,136 units,SEAT 131, SEAT Panda and Lancia Beta at the former Authi factory. General Motors had been interested in buying the Authi production facility in 1974, but these talks collapsed, and the company set about building its own factory in the country, finally opening a plant at
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
in 1982.
Future
In 2010, all the rights were bought by Pedro J. Santos, Tauro founder.
Other Spanish manufacturers
*
GTA Spano
The Spania GTA Spano is a limited-production sports car produced by Spanish automobile manufacturer Spania GTA, a sister company to GTA Motor Competición. Only 99 units of the GTA Spano are expected to be built.
Development
After 15 years o ...
*
Hurtan
Hurtan Desarrollos S.L., also known as Hurtan Automóviles, is a Spanish automobile company, founded in 1991 by Juan Hurtado González.IFR Aspid
The IFR Aspid is a Spanish open-wheel sports car introduced in 2008. It was available in two models, Sport and Supersport, which had base prices of £75,000 and £107,000 respectively. The Aspid was originally developed as a showcase of the techno ...
Tramontana
Tramontana, Tramontane, or Tramuntana may refer to:
Tramontana
* "Tramontana", a short story by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, in ''Strange Pilgrims''
* Tramontana (sports car), a Spanish sports car firm
* Sebi Tramontana (born 1960), jazz trombonist m ...
*
Urovesa
URO, VehÃculos Especiales, S.A. (UROVESA) is a Spanish heavy vehicle manufacturer based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. It is best known for the production of the URO VAMTAC, a Humvee-like four-wheel drive motor vehicle, and URO trucks.
...