STEYR - Guns to Automobiles

Josef Werndl (1831 - 1889) was an Austrian gunsmith and he took over his father's business of making small arms and weapons. In 1864 he, along with his brother Franz Werndl , formed Josef Und Franz Werndl & Company to manufacture rifles and small arms for the Austrian Army. The Werndl rifle of 1867 was famous for its function and quality.

In 1894, they expanded in to manufacture of bicycles. The bicycles were sold under the "Steyr" brand name, named after the Austrian town where they were located.

In 1915 , Josef Und Franz Werndl & Co expanded in to development and manufacture of automobiles. They employed the famous automotive engineer  Hans Ledwinka, who quit Nesselsdorfer (Tatra) to join them in designing a new car. The first car , Type II 12/40 HP was launched in 1920. In 1924 , the company was renamed as Steyr-Werke AG.

 A 1925 Steyr Type V car -

Conflict with Steyr management on small car Vs luxury car debate made Hans Ledwinka to quit and rejoin Nesselsdorfer, now Tatra. 

In 1929 , Steyr recruited Ferdinand Porsche from Daimler-Benz. However, recession made survival difficult and the company was in trouble. This made Porsche to leave and create his own company as we know today.

In 1934, Steyr merged with Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch. Steyr-Daimler-Puch was one of the largest automobile groups and were present in many fields - trucks, tractors, automobiles, motorcycles and mopeds.

Some of the most famous cars were the 1936 Steyr 50 , commonly known as "Baby" Steyr and 1939 Steyr 220 -

During the war , Steyr was involved in military production and,  being under Third Reich, used slaves from concentration camps as labour. 

In 1967 , they introduced a versatile 4x4 vehicle named Haflinger -

Steyr was also manufacturing automobiles under license from Opel, FIAT and Mercedes Benz. A Mercedes-Benz G Wagon named Puch G -

Starting early 1990s , Steyr-Daimler-Puch started selling the individual business of Trucks, Buses, Mopeds , Tractors to various companies and was concentrating on automobile business only

In 1998 , Magna International took majority shares in Steyr-Daimler-Puch and by 2001 it was fully acquired by Magna , renamed as Magna Steyr. Magna Steyr , now deals with Vehicle Engineering and contract manufacturing.

Steyr Logo -

AUSTRO-DAIMLER - The First MNC

In 1890 , Josef Eduard Bierenz was appointed by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft as the Austrian retailer of Daimler engines and later automobiles. In 1899 , Josef Eduard Bierenz along with his friend Eduard Fischer (in pic) formed the company. Osterreichische Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Bierenz, Fischer & Co (Austrian Daimler Motors Partnership Company Bierenz, Fischer & Co)

One of the earliest Austro-Daimler truck of 1901, used for transporting ice -

A 1901 Austro-Daimler car -

In 1902, Paul Daimler , Son of Gottileb Daimler joined Austro-Daimler as the Engineering Director and was involved in designing and manufacture of new cars and engines. In 1905, he developed the world's first armored 4x4 car for the Austrian Army.

In 1905, Paul Daimler left for the parent company - Daimler of Germany. His position as taken by the legendary Ferdinand Porsche who joined from Lohner. Ferdinand Porsche concentrated on racing as , according to him, racing is the best way to build reliability as well as brand.

In 1906 the company was renamed as Austro-Daimler and in 1910, Austro-Daimler became independent as DMG sold all its shares.

Porsche concentrated on racing and participated in the Prinz Heinrich Grand Prix, winning the top three positions with a Austro-Daimler race car.

The Prince Henry Race car -

A 1932 , Austro Daimler ADR -

In 1928 , amid financial troubles, Austro-Daimler was merged with Puch and named Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke.

In 1934, Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke was taken over by Steyr and became Steyr-Daimler-Puch and the Austro-Daimler brand slowly disappeared.

The Austro-Daimler Logos -