Editing Rootes Group (section)

==History==
===Dealer and distributor for other manufacturers===
[[File:William_rootes_portrait.jpg|thumb|Founder [[William Rootes]]]]
Rootes was founded in [[Hawkhurst]], [[Kent]], in 1913 by [[William Rootes]] as a car sales agency independent from his father's Hawkhurst motor business. Rootes had moved his operations to [[Maidstone]] by 1914 and there he contracted to repair aero engines. In 1917 he formed Rootes Limited to buy the Maidstone branch of his father's motor business, founded by his father in 1897, to expand his aircraft engine repair business and the manufacture of aircraft parts.<ref name=CM08May1970>[https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/8th-may-1970/26/rootes-transplant Rootes transplant] ''[[Commercial Motor]]'' 8 May 1970</ref>

In 1919 the distribution of cars and commercial vehicles resumed and operations extended to London and other part of the country.<ref name =Times21Nov1949>Prospectus, Rootes Motors Limited ''[[The Times]]'' 21 November 1949 page 8</ref> As early as 1924 Rootes had become the largest truck and car distributor in the United Kingdom.<ref name=Courier>''[[Kent & Sussex Courier]]'' 25 April 2008 page 28</ref> They advertised that their showrooms in [[Devonshire House]], Piccadilly could supply new cars priced from £145 to £3,000 manufactured by Rolls-Royce, Daimler, Sunbeam, Austin, Hillman, Fiat or Clyno.

===Humber Limited===
[[File:Humber16-60 1933.JPG|thumb| [[Hillman 14]]]]
[[File:Hillman 14 1929 first reg June 1930 1955cc.JPG|thumb|Humber 16–60]]
A particular effort was put into overseas sales and it became clear the export opportunities warranted a move into car manufacture, which was achieved in 1929 by the purchase of controlling interests in first [[Hillman]] followed by [[Humber Limited|Humber]] and [[Commer]].<ref name=CM08May1970/> Hillman and Commer were made wholly owned subsidiaries of Humber Limited and the Rootes brothers' holding eventually became 60 percent of the Humber ordinary shares.<ref name =Times21Nov1949/> The Rootes brothers could now show their ability to manufacture handsome cars with a strong sales appeal.

===Humber Cycles===
There was a resurgence in domestic and export demand for pedal bicycles, and in February 1932 [[Raleigh Bicycle Company|Raleigh]] acquired all the Humber cycles trade marks. Manufacture was transferred to Raleigh's [[Nottingham]] works.<ref>Roger Lloyd-Jones, Myrddin John Lewis, Mark Eason, ''Raleigh and the British Bicycle Industry: An Economic and Business History, 1870–1960'', [[Ashgate Publishing]] 2000. {{ISBN|1859284574}}</ref>

===Rootes Securities Limited===
Rootes Limited was renamed Rootes Securities Limited in 1933. During the [[Great Depression|Depression]] more businesses were picked up as they came available: [[Karrier]] (1934), [[Sunbeam Motor Car Company|Sunbeam]] (1934), [[Talbot (automobile)|Clement Talbot]] (1934) and [[British Light Steel Pressings]] (1937) were all bought and made subsidiaries of Humber Limited. London's Mayfair coachbuilders and Rolls-Royce and Daimler dealers [[Thrupp & Maberly]] had been bought in 1926<ref name =Times21Nov1949/> their [[Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom)|royal warrant]] always proudly displayed.

===Rootes Limited and exports===
A new Rootes Limited was incorporated in 1933 to hold the very profitable core business of the Rootes brothers: the motor distribution and servicing functions, and its extension and development of export markets.<ref name =Times21Nov1949/> It had been the largest truck and car distributor in the United Kingdom in 1924 and generated the capital to buy manufacturer Hillman, merge Hillman with manufacturer Humber and give the Rootes brothers control of Humber and the manufacturing subsidiaries they would have Humber buy.

Overseas representation of British motor manufacturers was not limited to group members.<ref>Rover-Rootes Move ''The Times'' 2 March 1950 page 11</ref>

===Ownership and control, Rootes family===
Rootes Motors Limited was the new name assumed 16 November 1949 of holding company Rootes Securities Limited. Substantially the whole of 1917's initial capital had been provided by the two Rootes brothers. Thereafter the business's expansion was financed by retained profits supplemented where necessary, for example the purchase of Hillman, by loans from [[Prudential plc|Prudential]] and the company's bankers principally [[Midland Bank]]. On 24 November 1949 shares in Rootes Motors Limited were issued to the public in exchange for £3,025,000. Rootes was now a [[public company]] and the new capital repaid the Prudential and Midland Bank loans. The listed shares however were preference shares. The equity capital remained in the hands of the Rootes family now with new partner Prudential who had taken up all of the offered £1,000,000 of ordinary shares.<ref name =Times21Nov1949/> External shareholders continued to hold a large proportion of Humber Limited. The preference shares issued to the public by Humber remained listed.<ref>City Notes ''The Times'' 21 November 1949 page 8</ref> In addition there were external shareholdings in the Rootes Acceptances vehicle exporting business and in [[Automobile Products of India]].<ref name=TT51885>Rootes Motors Limited ''The Times'' 29 December 1950 page 10</ref>

At this time employees totalled 17,000. Rootes owned, on average, about 80 per cent of the capital of its subsidiaries. The manufacturing subsidiaries were held through partly owned Humber Limited. Manufacture was carried out in three factories in Coventry with more at Luton, [[Cricklewood]] and Acton. There was a wholly owned assembly plant in Australia and similar facilities owned with associates in Argentina, Republic of Ireland and India. From Devonshire House in Piccadilly the original business, the marketing subsidiary, directed operations at five branches in Kent, their [[North Kensington]] service department and Birmingham and Manchester branches together with distribution companies overseas sometimes jointly owned.<ref name =Times21Nov1949/>

Barely twelve months after listing preference shares the Rootes brothers recognised the effect [[Inheritance tax|death duties]] would have on their holdings and their businesses and the two brothers offered one quarter of Rootes Motors' ordinary shares to current holders of Rootes preference shares.<ref>News in Brief ''The Times'' 3 October 1950 page 6</ref><ref>City Notes ''The Times'' 3 October 1950 page 9</ref> Further issues of preference shares and debenture stock followed in November 1954<ref>City Notes ''The Times'' 15 October 1954 page 11</ref> and November 1959. Rootes Acceptances Limited, the export financing arm, was sold.<ref>Rootes Motors Limited ''The Times'' 26 October 1959 page 17</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:RAFBristolBlenheimWWIIColour.jpg|thumb|A [[Bristol Blenheim]] bomber]]
With the outbreak of [[World War II]], Rootes, like most other British car manufacturers, became involved with the production of armaments. In 1940, under the Government's [[British shadow factories|shadow factory]] scheme, Rootes built its massive assembly plant in [[Ryton plant|Ryton-on-Dunsmore]], near [[Coventry]], initially manufacturing aircraft, one of the first types being the [[Bristol Blenheim]]. Production included a [[Royal Air Force]] heavy bomber, the [[Handley Page Halifax]]. These were built at a shadow factory at [[Liverpool John Lennon Airport|Speke Airport]] near [[Liverpool]] and at [[Blythe Bridge]] in [[Staffordshire]] from 1941 to 1943. Rootes also manufactured military vehicles, based on the Humber and Commer.

Rootes had a rare lapse of business judgement shortly after World War II. When he visited the [[Volkswagen]] factory in [[Wolfsburg]] to evaluate it for war reparations, he opined that it – and the [[Volkswagen Beetle|Beetle]] – had no value.

===Postwar acquisitions===
[[Tilling-Stevens]] with its subsidiary [[Vulcan (motor vehicles)|Vulcan Motors]], both old-established and well-known commercial vehicle and bus manufacturers, was bought in the second half of 1950.<ref name=TT51885/>
A new acquisition in 1956 was [[Singer Motors]].<ref>Rootes To Take Over Singers ''The Times'' 30 December 1955 page 8</ref> Rootes' Singers, badge-engineered Hillmans, were aimed at slightly more upmarket small car buyers.

===Post-war development===
[[File:Hillman Minx Series IIIC.jpg|thumb|Hillman Minx Series IIIC]]
Following the war, Rootes also sponsored satellite manufacturing operations around the world, notably in [[Australasia]] ([[Rootes Australia]]) and the [[Middle East]]. The best known example of the latter was the [[Iran]]ian-built [[Paykan]], based on the [[Hillman Hunter]]. In 1950 it acquired [[Tilling-Stevens]], a truck and bus manufacturer based in [[Maidstone]], Kent.

Rootes successfully sold a range of cars priced at a slight premium to their major home market competitors, justified on the basis that they offered a level of superiority in design and finish.

[[Studebaker]] stylist [[Raymond Loewy]] was a design consultant to Rootes; evidence of his influence is most readily seen in the 1956 Audax range of cars, which included the contemporary [[Hillman Minx]], a model also produced under licence by [[Isuzu]] of Japan as the [[Isuzu Hillman Minx]].

===Engineering innovation===
Rootes introduced a novel supercharged [[diesel engine]] in 1954, based on a [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer Brothers]] concept. This was the [[Commer TS3]] 2-stroke 3-cylinder engine, with 2 opposed inward facing pistons per cylinder, which drove the crankshaft through bell cranks. The 3.25 litre engine developed {{convert|90|hp|abbr=on}}, equivalent to contemporary 4-stroke diesel engines of more than twice the capacity.

The engine was used in Commer trucks as well as an industrial engine. Production ceased in 1968 after the Chrysler takeover.

===Range rationalisation===
[[File:Rootesgroup chrysler logo.png|thumb|Rootes Group logo after Chrysler takeover. This logo was used until June 1970, when Rootes was replaced by Chrysler]]
[[File:Hillman Minx manufactured 1937 1184 cc according to tax office.JPG|thumb|[[Hillman Minx]] Magnificent, 1937]]
Hillman when purchased had been making large cars. They introduced a straight-eight soon after Hillman became a subsidiary, but it was withdrawn as the Depression deepened. Their 2-1/2 and 3-litre cars were re-styled in the mid-1930s and renamed Humber Snipe and their small Minx was made the mainstay bread and butter member of the Rootes range. Sunbeam continued its sports appeal but downsizing postwar to small to medium-sized cars. Humber made the larger luxury passenger vehicles, Snipes and variants, and luxury mid-size cars ending with the compact [[Humber Sceptre|Sceptre]]. The intervening break in medium-sized Humbers was filled by the postwar Sunbeams. Commer and Karrier were the commercial vehicle brands. Commer manufactured a full range of vans, trucks, tractors and bus chassis, and some badge-engineered small vehicles from the Hillman range. Karrier represented mainly municipal and special-purpose trucks, vans and buses, though towards the end included badge-engineered models from the Commer range.

===Sunbeam Tiger===
During the 1960s, Sunbeam's [[Sunbeam Alpine|Alpine]] convertible was moderately successful in the US market. Rootes considered that the Alpine's sales would be improved with a more powerful model. As a result, in 1964 they introduced the [[sunbeam Tiger|Tiger]], a V8 derivative powered by a {{convert|260|cuin|abbr=on|0}} [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] V8 engine. [[Carroll Shelby]] was involved in the development of the Tiger prototype.

A {{convert|289|cuin|abbr=on|0}} model followed in 1967, but few were built as it was considered inappropriate for a Chrysler vehicle to be powered by Ford. Consideration was given to installing a Chrysler V8 in the Tiger, but their engines were larger and heavier than the Ford engines, and the rear-mounted distributor would have required an unaffordable chassis design, given the limited sales.

=== Hillman Imp and the move to Linwood ===
[[File:Hillman Imp 1974 - Flickr - mick - Lumix.jpg|thumb|The rear-engine [[Hillman Imp]] never caught on with the buying public.]]
In 1963, Rootes introduced the [[Hillman Imp]], a compact rear-engined saloon with an innovative all-[[aluminium]] OHC engine, based on a [[Coventry Climax]] engine design (originally used for a fire pump). It was intended to be a response from Rootes to rival [[British Motor Corporation]]'s popular [[Mini]], and a new factory (called the Linwood plant) on the boundary between Paisley and Elderslie, Renfrewshire was built for its assembly. The move to Linwood was forced upon the company by the British government, which had introduced the principle of industrial development certificates (IDCs) to build factories in depressed areas. The Linwood workforce had no experience in motor vehicle assembly and the build quality and reliability of the cars suffered. Another problem was that the component suppliers were still based in the Midlands, and the company incurred costs transporting half-finished engine castings from Linwood to be machined at [[Ryton plant|Ryton]] and returned to Linwood once they had been assembled. Completed Imps returned south to Ryton, resulting in a {{convert|600|mi|km|adj=on}} round trip.

The Imp itself was underdeveloped, and the build quality and reliability problems, coupled with buyer apathy towards the design were reflected in poor sales. After a reasonably successful start in 1963–65, the Imp did not sell well. Lost production caused by frequent strike action at Linwood and escalating warranty claims{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} left Rootes no money to develop other models.

===Competition history===
[[File:Sunbeam Talbot photographed June 2008.JPG|thumb|A [[Sunbeam-Talbot 90]] won the [[Monte Carlo Rally]] in 1955]]
During the 1950s, Rootes's promotion included a strategy of participation in major UK and European car rallies. [[Stirling Moss]] and [[Sheila van Damm]] were their top drivers, and the [[Sunbeam-Talbot 90]]'s win in the 1955 [[Monte Carlo Rally]] was the most significant victory.

In 1968, Rootes entered a factory team in the [[London-Sydney Marathon]]. Driving a [[Hillman Hunter]], [[Andrew Cowan]] gained what was regarded as a surprise victory against stiff competition from other factory teams with bigger budgets.

===Business strategy===
William Rootes' particular business skills were in marketing.<ref name=JBBODNB>Butterworth J. B. (rev. Bloomfield G.T.) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35825 "Rootes, William Edward, first Baron Rootes (1894–1964)"]. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Subscription or library access may be required for online access. Accessed 9 August 2015</ref> Rootes brothers' manufacturing business was best known for solid, dependable, well-engineered middle-market vehicles always of attractive appearance. Well-known Rootes models include the [[Hillman Minx]], its successor the [[Rootes Arrow|Hillman Hunter]], the [[Humber Super Snipe]] and the [[Sunbeam Alpine]].

William Rootes built the Rootes Group using specific brands for each market niche.

===Management succession===
Following the death in 1964 of [[William Rootes|Lord Rootes]], his son, [[William Geoffrey Rootes]], became the second Lord Rootes and became the new chairman of Rootes Motors. On 1 May 1967 Lord Rootes appointed [[Gilbert Hunt]], a [[Wolverhampton]]-born business executive, who at the time was managing director of [[Massey Ferguson]] in the UK, to be the new managing director of the Rootes Group. Hunt's appointment was made with the support of [[Chrysler]], which was building its holding and control over the business during this period.<ref name=Autocar196703>{{cite journal |title=News: Rootes MD is Gilbert Hunt| journal=[[Autocar (magazine)|Autocar]] |volume=126 |issue=3710 |page=91 |date=23 March 1967}}</ref>