Category Big Business

          In 1903, a twenty-year-old William Harley decided to establish a motor company. It was a time when small motorcycle production units were springing across the US. This bold decision was made in a small shack, when he had nothing except a strong will.

          He founded Harley-Davidson along with brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson. A century after their humble start, their brand is still deeply ingrained in the minds of bike lovers, not only in America, but all over the world.

          Their powerful engines and sportive design helped Harley-Davidson to secure a place in the market. They were the first to produce a catalogue for a motor vehicle in the world. William Davidson joined the company in 1907 and the next decade saw rapid growth. The company produced bikes for the US army during both the World Wars.

          Within a span of 20 years, the company expanded to become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, supplying bikes to 67 countries. Their performance based models like Electra Glide and V-Rod dominate the roads today.

Picture Credit : Google

          Jeep is a truly American brand. Its journey began in 1940. The Second World War was gaining momentum and the US military was looking for a lightweight vehicle that could traverse all terrains in any season. The army contacted 135 companies for this purpose.

          The American Bantam Car Company came out with a prototype which was later modified by Willys. Willys developed a four-wheeler military vehicle named ‘Quad’ which fought the American Wars alongside the soldiers. Almost 300,000 Willys Quads were in military use and it was not available for the civilians until 1945.

          Kaiser Motors bought Willys in 1953. It was then named Kaiser-Jeep and the company came out with more civilian models like Wagoner which lived by the slogan ‘go anywhere, do anything’.

          Jeep was bought by Chrysler in 1987. The 1990s saw an explosion of interest in SUVs, and Jeep took advantage of the public’s enthusiasm by introducing premium models like Grand Cherokee. The company is now owned by is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

Picture Credit : Google

          When the German government proposed the Volkswagen project, the dream of their leaders was to produce affordable cars for the masses that would make transportation easy. The German government founded “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutsche Volkswagens mbH” in 1937. Later that year, they changed this quite lengthy name to Volkswagens mbH.

          Initially, the company was operated by a Nazi organization called the German Labour Front. Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian automotive engineer and the founder of Porsche Car Company, provided the design for this people’s car. Though popular, Volkswagen had to stop its production during World War II. By June 1945, the British Military Government took over Volkswagen.

          The mass production of the Volkswagen Beetle started under the management of Major Ivan Hirst. An advertisement campaign that focused on the advantages of the compact size of the car gave a boost for Beetle in the United States.

Picture Credit : Google

          During World War II, BMW supplied aircraft and motor cycles for the German military. But once the Nazi army was defeated, the Allied forces dismantled all of BMW’s plants due to their role in producing war materials.

          The company was nearly ruined. BMW did not have even a single manufacturing plant. To stay in business, BMW sold kitchen utensils. Surviving the backlash, BMW bounced back in 1951, producing its first ever automobile after the war. The model 501 could seat six people comfortably and was marketed as a luxury car. This put BMW back on track and re-established its reputation as a vehicle manufacturer.

          The company achieved a steady growth in the next fifteen years. Over the decades, the company started manufacturing sports cars. It was a huge hit following which the BMW Motorsport subsidiary introduced new lineups such as the BMW Mountains, Yachtsport, and Golfsport.

          In 1994, BMW acquired the British-based Rover Group, which is best known for sports vehicles. Later in 1998, BMW purchased the Rolls-Royce group.

Picture Credit : Google

          On 28 October, 1913, a German technical designer named Karl Rapp founded Rapp-Motoren-werke. He started off with manufacturing aircraft engines. However, the engines were not efficient enough. Karl Rapp’s financial struggles began there.

         During the First World War, Karl Rapp got an order of 600 airplane engines from the Prussian army which put him back in business. He eventually formed a partnership with business owner Fran-Josef Popp who appointed new engineers to modify the engines. The effort was not in vain. The engine performance became better and by 1917, the company was renamed as Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW).

          By 1923, BMW started experimenting with new designs and branched out to producing motor cycles. They also began building the whole vehicle instead of engines alone. For a company in its infancy, this was a huge step.

Picture Credit : Google

      There is an interesting tale about a Maharaja who used the iconic Rolls-Royce as a garbage vehicle. Once, Maharaja Jai Singh of Alwar went on a visit to London. During his stay in the city, he visited the Rolls-Royce showroom. He asked the staff there about the specifications of the car, but they made fun of him and ignored his request for a test drive. Little did they know that the man dressed in ordinary clothes was one of the wealthiest rulers of India. A furious Maharaja went back and visited the showroom again, this time in all royal splendous. He was welcomed with a red carpet and staff treated him with utmost respect. After spending two hours in the showroom, the Maharaja bought all the six cars displayed there, that too in single payment. He shipped the cars back to India and to insult Rolls-Royce, used them to sweep the roads and collect the garbage in his province.

Picture Credit : Google

          Rolls-Royce is undoubtedly the supreme symbol of luxury. Even today, the company puts enormous efforts to keep its cars unique.

          Almost 65 per cent of all Rolls-Royce cars ever made are still on the road today. Rolls-Royce cars are still individually made, as they do not use any mechanical aid to build engines. They only use bull leather to make the seat covers. The coach line or pinstripes of the cars are still hand-painted, and no machines or robots are used in this process.

          The company even used to have a chauffeur training programme to teach the driving etiquettes. It was known as the White Glove training programme where drivers were even taught how to open and close the doors with minimal fingerprints. One of the Rolls-Royce models was made exclusively for the heads of State and Royalty. No wonder, Rolls-Royce is still the indisputable icon of luxury.

Picture Credit : Google

          Rolls-Royce is the product of a phenomenal partnership between two innovative men. Charles Rolls and Henry Royce had nothing in common except for a passion for the perfect automobile.

          Rolls was a wealthy car dealer in Britain. Royce on the other hand, was a self-made man; he started out as a paper boy and later began an electrical engineering business. He turned to making cars after becoming a successful engineer.

          Henry Edmunds, a mutual friend of Rolls and Royce made the two meet. Edmunds boasted to Rolls about his new 10hp Royce motor car. Rolls badly wanted to meet the man who made the car. He met Royce and after taking a test drive, he instantly agreed to sell as many cars as Royce could build. Rolls made the agreement without any second thoughts on May 4, 1904, as he knew he had found the right motor car with superior performance. Thus, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars took birth.

          The first Rolls-Royces appeared by the end of 1904. Royce designed and built the cars and Rolls brought them to the public. Rolls-Royce is still the world’s best-known symbol of supreme motoring excellence.

Picture Credit : Google

          Henry Ford has a prominent place in the history of the automobile industry. Without him, mass production of vehicles wouldn’t have been possible.

          It happened in the beginning of the 20th century. In those days, car production was still taking baby steps. It took almost twelve hours to assemble a car and the production costs were very high. Cars were a luxury which could only be afforded by the rich; expensive toys of wealthy people.

          Henry Ford wanted to make quality cars at a low cost, so that a majority of the population could afford them. After careful studies, he identified different stages of making a car. He gave specialized training for workers to work with specific stages. Using a machine similar to a conveyor belt, the cars were moved from one stage to another until all parts were in place. This method came to be known as the assembly line and it significantly reduced the time and cost of making a car. A car could now be made in less than three hours and the price dropped to almost half of the initial cost.

          Cars were no more a luxury item; a common man could finally afford it. Ford’s sale skyrocketed with this technology; at one point, Ford supplied almost 50 per cent of the cars in the US. Ford’s model is the basis of modern day production of cars.

Picture Credit : Google

          Henry Ford had left his family at an early age. He had to support his wife and kids, and ran a saw mill. Later, he joined the Edison Illuminating Company as an engineer. At Edison’s, his work was highly regarded.

          Henry always had a passion for automobiles. He set up a workshop in a shed behind his house, where he put his ideas together to create a car.

          His relentless efforts were not in vain; he first came up with a gasoline-powered carriage which he called the Quadricycle, a carriage supported by four bicycle wheels. He then decided to make a company of his own to make new cars. The result was the Ford Motor Company which came into being in 1903.

          Ford came out with Model A, followed by Model B and Model C. Ford’s Model T met with immediate success in the market. He explored the possibility of mass production. Ford hasn’t stopped making cars for the world ever since. When the Great Depression struck America, 183 out of 200 automobile companies declared bankruptcy, but Ford survived.