 | |
| Company type | Private (1887–1931) Subsidiary (1931–1967) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Founder | Thomas Humber |
| Defunct | 1967 |
| Successor | Chrysler Europe |
| Headquarters | Coventry, England |
Key people | William Rootes Reginald Rootes |
| Products | Bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles |
| Parent | Rootes Group (1932–1967) |
 | |
| Product type | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Owner | PSA Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Discontinued | 1976 |
| Previous owners |
|
Humber Limited was a British manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, and cars, incorporated and listed on the stock exchange in 1887. It took the name "Humber & Co Limited" because of the high reputation of the products of one of the constituent businesses that had belonged to Thomas Humber. A financial reconstruction in 1899 transferred its business to Humber Limited.
From an interest in motor vehicles beginning in 1896, the motor division became much more important than the cycle division and the cycle trade marks were sold to Raleigh in 1932. The motorcycles were withdrawn from sale during the depression of the 1930s.
Humber is now a dormant marque for automobiles as well as cycles. Following their involvement in Humber through Hillman in 1928 the Rootes brothers[1] acquired 60 per cent of Humber's ordinary capital, sufficient for a controlling interest. The two Rootes brothers joined the Humber board in 1932 and began to make Humber the holding company for vehicle manufacturing members of what became their Rootes Group.
By 1960 annual production was around 200,000 vehicles. Previous insistence on Rootes family control, however, may have led to under-capitalisation of the business. Building a brand new car, the Hillman Imp, proved beyond Humber and Rootes Group resources and their businesses were bought by the Chrysler Corporation in 1967.
- ^ "In December 1928 Rootes Limited, the well-known Distributors of Motor Vehicles, acquired an important financial interest in the Company and since then great improvement in the methods of manufacture and sales including the re-equipment of the Works on up-to-date lines, has taken place. In July 1932 a thorough reorganization of the financial structure of the Company was effected, unproductive capital being written off and new capital introduced, and Mr W E Rootes and Mr R C Rootes joined the Board of the Company."
"Humber Limited, prospectus for the issue of preference shares". The Times. No. 46982. 7 February 1935. p. 19, col. F.