Ottonian Motor Cooperative
| Worker cooperative | |
| Traded as | VSE: OMC |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Predecessor | Ottonian Motor Authority, Svaartaron Auto Works |
| Founded | 1905 (Svaartaron Auto Works), 1910 (Ottonian Motor Authority), 1948 (consolidated as OMC) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Lukas Kaarlsunn (CEO) |
| Products | Motor Vehicles |
| Services | Automotive repair, Financing |
Number of employees | 41,000 persons, primarily within Ottonia |
| Divisions | Svaartaron Auto Works, Otmo |
The Ottonian Motor Cooperative (abbreviated as OMC, sometimes colloquially referred to as "Ottomoto") is a North Ottonian automotive company. Formed from a merger of Svaartaron's spun-off automotive division and the state-owned Ottonian Motor Authority, the company was privatized as a worker's cooperative in 1948. Since then, the company has operated two marques since then, the budget- and commercial/utility-oriented Svaartaron brand, and the sportier and more family-oriented Otmo line. Although OMC's footprint is mostly concentrated in Belisaria, the company does sell vehicles worldwide.
History
Origins
OMC's history begins with two separate automakers. The elder of the two, Svaartaron Auto Works, was founded in 1905 as a division of the Svaartaron Company, to produce and manage the growing and diversifying range of motor vehicles produced by Svaartaron. Meanwhile, when it became clear that the government of the then-unified Ottonian Federation would have need of motor vehicles of its own, the Ottonian Motor Authority was founded to oversee the procurement and, if necessary, production of the necessary vehicles.
During the Ottonian Civil War (1915 - 1922), the Svaartaron family, and the company with them, backed the Republican government, and contributed to the government's ability to hold Dunnmaar and with it the whole of Jormundea. During this period, the OMA and Svaartaron produced machines and, in the case of the latter, munitions and weapons for the Federal Army. When the war ended, the vast majority of the assets of both Svaartaron and the OMA were within the northern, republican-held territory. Both would be called upon to do so again during The Great Northern War between the divided Ottonian states, Ghant, and several other nations.
In the aftermath, political turmoil roiled the Ottonian Federal Republic, and as a result of this Svaartaron in particular found itself subjected to strikes and work-stoppages in protest of economic inequality, a growing wealth gap, and favoritism shown to political donors in the reconstruction efforts. One of the consequences of this was the mandated breakup of the laterally-consolidated Svaartaron group, which included SAW being spun off into a distinct company in 1946. At the same time, the state-owned OMA was looking to add production facilities, even as talks were being held with striking workers at the OMA. An agreement, reached in 1947, stipulated that the OMA would merge with and take over the Svaartaron automotive brand and assets, while the newly-consolidated company would be privatized and reorganized as a worker-owned cooperative. The new organization and ownership structure took effect in 1948 when the newly-combined company was renamed the Ottonian Motor Cooperative, abbreviated as OMC.
Ottonian Motor Cooperative
When Svaartaron was brought into the cooperative, with it came several vehicles that were already under use by the federal government and many commercial buyers. During the widespread reorganization and heavy infrastructure spending that followed the Ottonian Revolution, OMC quickly found itself once more fulfilling contracts for the federal government, even as a new state-owned automaker, OMC's eventual rival, Vulksmotor began to take shape.
Of particular note in this period was the offering of the Svaartaron Buro, the first mass-production four-wheel-drive automobile in world history to reach six digit production volume, in part due to its enduring use by republican, federal, and municipal governments and agencies in North Ottonia, and to a lesser extent abroad.
Additionally, in the mid-1950's, the OMC began taking orders to build tram, autobus, and rail transit vehicles, diversifying their business substantially. OMC also found itself contracted to produce components for military vehicles for the OFDS several times over the ensuing period. In the present day, OMC produces and sells vehicles on all six inhabited continents.
Starting in 2001, Ottomoto began working with Rezese automaker Panther Autos to bring affordable electric vehicles to Ottonia and Belisaria as a whole.
Marques
Svaartaron
The Svaartaron brand is the most direct successor of the once-independent, now-defunct Svaartaron Auto Works. Under OMC, the Svaartaron brand has been used to produce and market vehicles aimed at workers, tradespeople, commercial and government buyers, and entry-level auto buyers. This includes buses and railcars, as well as LEV-class vehicles, and relatively bare-bones, but well-built automobiles. Perhaps the most iconic vehicle associated with the brand is the Svaartaron L-Ute, offered in some form uninterrupted since 1950.
Otmo
The Otmo brand is a slightly-more upscale line than the barebones Svaartaron, with Otmo bearing a proud racing history and generally being aimed at family consumers. In many Belisarian countries, Svaartaron vehicles are marketed under the Otmo brand to capitalize on the latter's less budget-minded reputation. Otmo benefitted from the design efforts of Jord Farrangur, particularly