Neorion is one of the oldest

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

heavy industries, located in

Ermoupolis Ermoupoli ( el, Ερμούπολη), also known by the formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis ( el, < "Town of

Hermes

"), is a to ...

, on the Greek island of

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, An ...

. Today, it is one of the few remaining major industrial corporations in what used to be the industrial and commercial center of Greece, before being eclipsed by Piraeus in the late 19th century.

History

Neorion roots go back to a traditional shipyard on that island, known for the construction of ships and boats for use during the Greek revolution of the 1820s, as well as design and building of various types of ships for the new Greek kingdom in the decades that followed. The company was officially founded in 1861 to technically support the "Greek Steamship Company", initially employing, in addition to Greek technical staff and several mechanics from Western Europe. During the 1860s, in addition to ship building, it produced steam engines, boilers, pumps, and heavy cannons. A heavy steam engine of its own design and construction was exhibited at the International Exhibition in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1878. In 1893, the company produced its first metal steamship (the ''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

''). In 1898, the name "Neorion" (an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word indicating a port facility for ship repair and construction) was adopted. During the second half of the 19th century, it was one of the most important Greek heavy industries, at times second only to the Basileiades machine works in Piraeus. Other Neorion products included a variety of machinery (some of it exported), engine parts, and specialized metal constructions for the Greek industry. In 1997, Neorion acquired another shipyard,

Elefsis Shipyards Elefsis Shipyards is a Greek shipbuilding company, also involved in other industrial constructions. Founded in 1968, it has constructed many types of ships, including the largest bulk carriers built in Greece and military ships. The latter include ...

, while it diversified into new fields such as the construction of luxury mega-yachts and subcontracting work for aerospace companies. The company is currently organized as the Neorion Group.

Automobile production

In 1972, under the ownership of the Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris Neorion incorporated

Enfield Automotive Enfield Automotive was an electric car manufacturer founded in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Under the ownership of Greek millionaire Giannis Goulandris, production was moved to the Greece, Greek isle of Syros during the 1973 oil crisis, oil ...

, originally a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

company, owned by Goulandris, involved in the design and construction of electric cars. This led to the establishment of a new company that undertook vehicle production, "Enfield-Neorion E.P.E.", headquartered in Piraeus, and production of the cars (which had been designed in the UK by British and Greek engineers) was transferred to

. A Greek designer, Georgios Michael (later credited with the design of several Greek vehicles) was employed with the new company. A "jeep-type" version designed by Michael, the ''E 8000 Bicini'', was also introduced in 1973. A little more than 100 were built, including a few ''Bicini's'' and a version of the latter for use in mining facilities. However, none could be sold in their domestic market because of Greek government regulations. All the vehicles were exported, mostly to the UK. Development was also undertaken for a luxury limousine with a strong 4x4 character. The

Neorion Chicago 1974 Neorion Chicago 4x4 at the Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum The Neorion Chicago, a 1974 product of the Greek Neorion group of companies, was a car that was to combine uncompromising luxury, retro-looks and a powerful 4x ...

was introduced in 1974. Only two complete vehicles were constructed and sold before the entire venture was terminated in 1976.

Notes

References

External links

Company siteL.S. Skartsis, "Greek Vehicle & Machine Manufacturers 1800 to present: A Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
(eBook) {{Automotive industry in Greece Shipbuilding companies of Greece Car manufacturers of Greece Greek companies established in the 19th century Companies based in Syros Syros Electric vehicle manufacturers of Greece Greek brands

History

Automobile production

See also

Notes

References

External links