Herbert Austin founded the Austin Motor Co. in 1905 and his highly-successful motor cars were assembled at a plant in Longbridge, Birmingham (UK). In 1919 the factory also began to produce tractors based around a four-cylinder petrol or petrol-paraffin engine. Although the Austin performed very well in various agricultural trials, it faced strong competition from the Fordson imported from the USA, which sold for a third of the price of the Austin. In 1920 or 1921, Herbert Austin also started tractor production in Liancourt, France, which proved very successful - French-built tractors were even exported back to England. Tractor production in England ended in the mid-1920s, although Austins continued to be manufactured in France at least until the 1930s. These French-built tractors saw a number of modifications over the years, and more powerful diesel models were also offered in the later stages of production. Herbert Austin died in 1941, and in 1952 the Austin Motor Co. merged with the Nuffield Organisation to form the British Motor Corporation.

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