Published: June 24, 2019, 1:35 AM
Updated: June 24, 2019, 5:35 AM
10 longest serving auto companies
As Canada readies to celebrate its 152nd birthday, here are 10 auto companies that have managed to stick around through good times and bad, some even predating Confederation. And then, there is the Seth Taylor Steam Buggy, created in Canada in the Confederation year, 1867.
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1896 – Daimler-Benz
The first ever automobile is attributed to Karl Benz, circa 1886. There had been self-propelled vehicles for about 80 years, but the Benz Patent Motor Car was the first vehicle designed from the ground up as a lightweight, self-propelled, passenger-dedicated vehicle.
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2019 - Daimler-Benz
As Daimler heads into its second century, it is driving forward with the push to electric vehicles, with the creation of a dedicated EQ line that will put 10 EVs on the road by 2020, including three rebranded Smart models and the EQC, due by the end of 2019.
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1890 - Peugeot
Shortly after Benz patented his motor car, Armand Peugeot acquired one of the internal combustion engines to create his own automobile. Although the company dates back to 1810, under Napoleon’s empire, the first automobile is pegged just before the turn of the century.
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2020 - Peugeot
Like many of today’s companies, Peugeot is planning for a future auto industry revolving around electric and autonomous vehicles, recently unveiling the e-Legend concept at the prestigious Villa d'Este Concorso d’Eleganza on Lake Como.
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1896 – Lancashire Steam Motor Company
Back around the time Benz was patenting his motor wagon, the town of Leyland was manufacturing steam-powered vans and wagons, before turning its attention to internal combustion engines in 1905. The company became Leyland Motors in 1907, eventually acquiring the Rover Group, which formed Land Rover in the late 1970s.
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2019 – Land Rover
One of Land Rover’s newest models is the Range Rover Velar, which is named after the first pre-production luxury SUV models the Rover Group was developing in 1969, which eventually led to the Range Rover model.
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1897 – Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft
One of the oldest automakers in auto history, the Czech company that would become Tatra started in 1850, producing its first self-propelled automobile, 1897’s Präsident (like many at the time, using a Benz engine), which featured cycle-like handlebars for steering, instead of the tiller used by its contemporaries, and semi-elliptical leaf springs on each axle.
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1991 – Tatra
Solely a truck and bus maker today, Tatra last produced a car in the early ’90s — the MTX V8 super sports car, which racked up 200 orders with the company deciding to build just 100. However, a factory fire permanently halted production after just four were made (one of which made it into the Kanye film Runaway). Tatra has contemplated getting back into limited car production of retro models on modern platforms from other manufacturers. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Miloš700)
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1898 – Société Renault Frères
Like many French companies after the patent by Karl Benz for his Motor Wagon, Renault started building automobiles as a family business (by Renault brothers Louis, Marcel and Fernand) before the turn of the century, selling a 1-off Voiturette 1CV to a friend of their father on Christmas Eve 1898.
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2020 – Renault
Like many European carmakers, Renault is at the forefront of EV production, having produced tiny electric city cars for several years. The latest is a sub-compact electric utility vehicle the company recently introduced into the Chinese market, the City K-ZE.
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1899 – Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.)
Giovanni Agnelli produced his first car just before the turn of the century. It resembled Karl Benz’s motor wagon but unlike its contemporaries, the 3 ½ CV used a proprietary boxer-twin engine (many at the time used Benz’s internal combustion engine). Only 24 were made, though by 1903, Agnelli was building trucks, and exporting to the US by 1908.
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2019 – Fiat
Shortly after building its first automobile, FIAT dropped the acronym and became simply an uppercase title, which it has furthered relatively unchanged since the early days. Today, the 500 is still its most famous model, though it has expanded its model range substantially since its merger with Chrysler to become Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).
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1899 – Adam Opel
Although he had been making sewing machines since 1862, Adam Opel’s namesake company, under management from his widow Sophie, made its first car in 1899 in partnership with designer Friedrich Lutzmann. The partnership was short-lived and in 1901, Opel began marketing Opel Darracq models — Opel bodies on Automobiles Darracq France chasses. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/János Tamás)
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2020 – Opel Automobile GmbH
General Motors bought a majority stake in Adam Opel in 1929, and held it until 2017, when it sold it and its sister company Vauxhall to Groupe Peugeot (there had been an alliance between the three entities since 2012) and the company continues to produce passenger vehicles in Rüsselsheim, Germany (where it has since its inception), recently making the switch to EVs like the Corsa-e hatchback.
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1902 – Henry Ford Company
Scant months after Henry Ford left the Henry Ford Company, his investors brought in Henry Leland and the Cadillac Automobile Company was established (named after the founder of Detroit), with its first project an automobile based on Ford’s Model A design but powered by a Leland & Faulconer engine. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Iwao)
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2021 – Cadillac Motor Division
General Motors brought Cadillac into the fold in 1909, and has kept it as its premier luxury offering since, using the company to develop a lot of innovative technologies over the century. Today the company is regarded as one of the premier players in luxury, cutting edge design and innovation, with new offering such as the new XT6 mid-sized crossover, which will also be available with electric propulsion.
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1903 – Ford Motor Company
Regarded as one of the founding fathers of the auto industry, Henry Ford was not the inventor of the automobile nor even one of the pioneers to develop the new vehicles. Rather he wanted to improve production to the point that the everyman could afford one, creating simple vehicles such as the Model A and a production line that could mass produce them, reducing costs and increasing volumes.
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2020 – Ford Motor Company
Many current manufacturers have stated their intentions to further the marketing of electric and autonomous vehicles, and though Ford is at the forerfront of those movements, it is perhaps best known now for recently stating its intentions to stop marketing passenger cars, save for Mustang, in favour of switching over completely to utility vehicles such as the Escape/Kuga.
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1905 – Laurin & Klement
Named after its founders, Václav Laurin and Václav Klement, the company began operations in 1895 and began automobile production in 1905 to soon become Austria-Hungary’s largest manufacturer. It began producing trucks after the First World War but a factory fire in the mid-1920s seriously hampered production until it was bought up by arms manufacturer Škoda Works in 1924. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Cherubino)
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2020 – Škoda Auto
Having made it through world wars, the creation of nations, occupation by the USSR, revolutions and the redrawing of borders, Škoda has persevered to remain one of the top five longest-serving auto manufacturers. Now a subsidiary of Volkswagen, it holds a prominent place in the Group’s electrification future, with products like the Superb iV.
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