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 The Rootes Maidstone on Mill Street, Rootes' factory building c. 1948 | |
| Company type | Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1913 |
| Founder | William and Reginald Rootes |
| Defunct | 1971 |
| Fate | Acquired by Chrysler in 1967, then dissolved |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Number of locations | London, Ryton, Linwood, |
Area served | UK and worldwide |
Key people | Rootes brothers |
| Products | Automobiles, commercial vehicles |
| Parent | Chrysler Europe (1967–71) |
| Subsidiaries | |
The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and dealers business in the south of England. In the decade beginning 1928 the Rootes brothers, William and Reginald, made prosperous by their very successful distribution and servicing business, were keen to enter manufacturing for closer control of the products they were selling.[1] One brother has been termed the power unit, the other the steering and braking system.[2]
With the financial support of Prudential Assurance, the two brothers bought some well-known British motor manufacturers, including Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam, Talbot, Commer and Karrier, controlling them through their parent, Rootes' 60-per-cent-owned subsidiary, Humber Limited.[3]
At its height in 1960, Rootes had manufacturing plants in the Midlands at Coventry and Birmingham, in southern England at Acton, Luton and Dunstable, and a brand-new plant in the west of Scotland at Linwood. From its offices in Devonshire House, Piccadilly, in London it controlled exports and international distribution for Rootes and other motor manufacturers and its own local distribution and service operations in London, Kent, Birmingham and Manchester. There were assembly plants in nine countries outside the UK.[1]
Rootes Group was under-capitalised and unable to survive industrial relations problems and losses from the 1963 introduction of a new aluminium-engined small car, the Hillman Imp. By mutual agreement, from mid-1964, Rootes Motors was taken over in stages by Chrysler Corporation, which bought control from the Rootes family in 1967.[1] By the end of 1978 the last of the various elements of Chrysler UK had been sold to Peugeot and Renault.[4]