Auteco (Auto Tecnica Colombiana S.A) is a Colombian motor vehicle manufacturer. It was the first motorcycle assembler in the country.

History

Auteco was founded on 1 September 1941 in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

. It initially distributed spare parts and petrol. In 1945 Auteco began importing American Indian motorcycles. It then went on to import Excelsior motorbikes, as well as vehicles produced by Nash,

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 ...

and Gravely. In 1954 Auteco acquired the right to assemble and sell

Lambretta Lambretta () is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti. The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river Lambro which flows through the area, and wh ...

scooters in Colombia. These would later be assembled at a newly built factory in

Itagüí Itagüí () is a city of Colombia, located in the south of the Aburrá Valley in the Antioquia Department. It is part of The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. Demographics The population at the 2005 census was 230,272. Its density is 1 ...

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department, Colombia * Antioquia State, Colombia (defunct) * Antioquia District, Peru * Antioquia Railway The Antioquia Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Antioquia) i ...

, constructed in 1962. These scooters were all badged ''Auteco Lambretta''. They were based at various times on the Li and GP ranges, as well as Servetas. Many were hybrids, depending on what components were currently available. Production ceased at some time during the 1970s. In 1972 Auteco formed a business partnership with

Kawasaki Kawasaki ( ja, 川崎, Kawasaki, river peninsula, links=no) may refer to: Places *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, a Japanese city **Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, a ward in Kawasaki, Kanagawa **Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena **Kawasaki Stadium, a multi-sport stadium *K ...

to build its motorcycles under licence. This was expanded in the economic downturn of the late 1980s to include electrical generators and mowers. In the early 1990s Auteco formed an additional business partnership with the Indian Bajaj company and reintroduced scooters to Colombia. They also obtained a licence to sell the Bajaj

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

. Further expansion took place in 2003 when Auteco began importing Taiwanese

Kymco Kymco (an acronym for Kwang Yang Motor Co, Ltd ()) (stylized as ''KYMCO'') is a Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. With approximately 3000 employees, Kymco produces over 570,000 vehicles annually at its factor ...

motorcycles.

Models distributed by Auteco in 2010

* Bajaj Auto rickshaw * Bajaj Boxer CT 100 * Bajaj Caliber 115 * Bajaj Discover 135 * Bajaj Platina 100 * Bajaj Pulsar * Bajaj XCD 125 *

Kawasaki Ninja 650R The Kawasaki Ninja 650R, also called ER-6f or EХ-6, is a motorcycle in the Ninja series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki sold since 2006. The 2012 model drops the R suffix from its name. It is a middleweight, parallel-twin engined motorc ...

* Kawasaki KMX 125 *

Kawasaki Versys {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Kawasaki Versys is a family of adventure touring motorcycles manufactured by Kawasaki since 2007. * Versys-X 250/300, 2017–present, based on the twin-cylinder Ninja 250R/300. * Versys 6 ...

* Kawasaki ZX130 *

Kawasaki Ninja 250R The Kawasaki Ninja 250R (codenamed EX250; previous generations had market-specific names) is a motorcycle in the Ninja sport bike series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki originally introduced in 1986. As the marque's entry-level sport bik ...

* Kymco Activ 110 *

Kymco Agility Kymco (an acronym for Kwang Yang Motor Co, Ltd ()) (stylized as ''KYMCO'') is a Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. With approximately 3000 employees, Kymco produces over 570,000 vehicles annually at its factor ...

125 * Kymco Agility RS 125 * Kymco Agility City 150 * Kymco Bet&Win 250

References

External links

Official Auteco Site
{{Automotive industry in Colombia Motorcycle manufacturers of Colombia Scooter manufacturers Companies based in Medellín Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1941 Colombian brands 1941 establishments in Colombia

History

Models distributed by Auteco in 2010

See also

References

External links