Limited | |
Industry | Automotive industry |
Fate | acquired by Leyland Motors |
Predecessor | Albion Motor Car Company |
Successor |
Leyland Motors (1951) Leyland DAF (1987-1993) American Axle & Manufacturing (1997) |
Founded | 1899 |
Founder |
Thomas Blackwood Murray, Norman Osborne Fulton, John Francis Henderson. |
Defunct | marque defunct 1980 |
Headquarters | Glasgow, Scotland |
Number of locations
|
Scotstoun, Bathgate |
Products | Commercial vehicle components |
Website | www |
Thomas Blackwood Murray, Norman Osborne Fulton,
Albion Automotive of Scotstoun, Glasgow is a former Scottish automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer. It is currently involved in the manufacture and supply of Automotive component systems.
From WW1 to the 1950s, Albion had rivalled Foden for the reliability and ruggedness of their trucks. Albion was incorporated into Leyland Motors in 1951, and merely became a badge for their smaller lines. The badge was dropped by British Leyland in 1980.
Today the company is a subsidiary of American Axle & Manufacturing, and manufactures axles, driveline systems, chassis systems, crankshafts and chassis components. It is Scotland's best known name in the motor industry. Albions were renowned for their slogan "Sure as the Sunrise".
Originally known as Albion Motor Car Company Ltd, the company was founded in 1899 by Thomas Blackwood Murray and Norman Osborne Fulton (both of whom had previously been involved in Arrol-Johnston) they were joined a couple of years later by John F Henderson who provided additional capital. The factory was originally on the first floor of a building in Finnieston Street, Glasgow and had only seven employees. In 1903 the company moved to new premises in Scotstoun.
The Albion Motor Car Company Ltd was renamed Albion Motors in 1930.
In 1951, Leyland Motors took over. After the British Leyland Motor Corporation was founded in 1968, production continued with the Albion Chieftain, Clydesdale & Reiver trucks and the Albion Viking bus models. Production of these was then moved to the Leyland plant at Bathgate in 1980. In 1969, the company took over the neighbouring Coventry Ordnance Works on South Street, which it continues to operate from.
Leyland dropped the Albion name when the company name was changed to Leyland (Glasgow) and later to Leyland-DAF from 1987 when it became a subsidiary of that Dutch concern.
A management buy-out in 1993 brought Albion Automotive as it was thenceforth known back into Scottish ownership. A new owner, the American Axle & Manufacturing Company (AAM) of Detroit, Michigan, took over Albion in 1998.