Svaartaron Auto Works
| Worker cooperative, Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Svaartaron | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Founder | Margus Svaartaron (Original); Wendel Svaartaron (as worker's cooperative) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Motor Vehicles |
| Services | Automotive repair, Financing |
| Divisions | Svaartaron, Farrangur |
Svaartaron Auto Works is the automotive division of North Ottonian corporation Svaartaron. A wholly-owned subsidiary run as a worker's cooperative, Svaartaron Auto is an iconic North Ottonian auto manufacturer, as well as a key member of the Ottonian Motor Cooperative. The marque which shares the company's name is a long-running brand with a reputation for reliability and economy, in spite of lackluster comforts and at-times indifferent performance.
History
Founding and Early History
Svaartaron's automotive division was first founded in 1908 by Margus Svaartaron, son of Lukas Svaartaron and co-founder of the flagship steel company that bore their name. The internal combustion-powered automobiles had only been invented in a practical format about two decades prior, and Zephyr Motors, Comet Carriage Company had both developed growing businesses on the production of the new technology, even in small batches. The division's first facility, a factory in Torsfeld, was completed late in 1909.
During the division's first years, it largely was restricted to research and development in how best to simplify and mass-produce a motor vehicle. In 1910, the company's first product, the Svaartaron Motopede, rolled off the assembly line. The simple design of the motorcycle made it an easy first product and its comparatively low cost relative to the still-in-development Svaartaron Motocarriage Type A helped produce the sales needed to expand the burgeoning operation. The Motopede sold well, and by 1911, the Type A Motocarriage was going into production, at a lower cost per unit than their Zephyr and Comet rivals.
The War Period
In 1917 civil war erupted in Ottonia between a movement aiming to create a national monarchy and the republican government of the Ottonian Federation. The war would drag on until 1922. The Republican loyalist zone included both Torsfeld and Dunnmaar, and Svaartaron as a whole remained firmly in the Republic's camp, resulting in the loss of its Vaalhulmspurt factory in 1921. During this period, the Torsfeld factory was repurposed to produce armored cars and primitive tanks for the Federalist forces. The plant's influence was sufficient that Royalist forces attempted to bomb the factory, but were only successful in causing minor damage.
In the decade following the war, as the need for military and civilian motor vehicles grew, Svaartaron Auto increasingly found itself filling orders for the government. In 1930, Svaartaron began production of the Utility 1 as a solution to both government and military needs. It was succeeded in early 1935 by the Utility 2, although the factory found itself shuttered in 1935 during the initial South Ottonian and Ghantish invasion that began the Great Ottonian War. Royalist attempts to get the factory back on-line were hindered by passive resistance of the Torsfeld populace, and were unsuccessful before forces loyal to the Eonese Free State, United Jormundsea Republics, and Republic of Dunnmaar liberated Torsfeld and allowed Svaartaron to reclaim the factory, now under the direction of the Federal Army. Although the factory was damaged in a bombing raid in 1938, the assembly lines would mostly remain functional for the entirety of the war, albeit at diminished capacity by 1941.
Restructuring and the Revolution
When the Great Ottonian War ended in 1942, there was much rebuilding work to be done. One of the priorities of the Republican government was getting factories back on-line at full capacity as quickly as possible. Svaartaron as a whole was one of the beneficiaries of this policy, but as a result much of the North Ottonian populace found their needs unmet, while the perception that the government was favoring the wealthy in the reconstruction effort spread, not without justification. This resulted in work stoppages, and the entry into the Torsfeld factory (among others) of the burgeoning Ottonian Labor Front. Wendel Svaartaron's deal with the OLF in 1945 to make Svaartaron partially worker-owned was aimed at preventing further work stoppages, and would set a precedent for the coming years. Over the next decade, Svaartaron, including the Auto Works, would go from 30%, to 55%, to 80%, to, by 1960, 95% employee-owned. The Svaartaron family would maintain a 2% ownership stake in the corporation, with another 1.5% being purchased each by the federal government and the Dunnmaar Autonomous Republic.
Along with this, in 1942 the Auto division discontinued the wartime Utility 3, a simplified version of the Utility 2 that had made use of different available materials, in favor of the updated Utility 4. In 1943, with his discharge from the Federal Army, the company would also hire a promising young mechanic and blooming designer named Jord Farrangur.
Reconstruction and Recovery
In 1950, Svaartaron Auto Works returned properly to the civilian market with its first purely commercial offering since the 1930's in the form of the Eco, meant to be an affordable vehicle for young workers, families, and the budget-conscious as the country began its long recovery in earnest. The Eco sold well, although it faced fierce competition in the form of the VM Spark and VM Sharp. However, Svaartaron's true 1950's success was the first edition of their revamp of the Utility line, shrunk and ruggedized still further into the L-Ute, the first of Svaartaron's utility line to be made available to civilians. Initially drawn up for republican and municipal government needs (especially the Ottonian Federal Post & Parcel Service) in areas with compromised road access, the L-Ute quickly proved popular with tradespeople, veterans, and regular civilians in mountainous areas or with compromised infrastructure. The L-Ute was among the first commercially-available vehicles in the world to come standard with four wheel drive capabilities; while the L-Ute defaulted to rear-wheel drive, the use of a dog clutch would switch the vehicle into 4x4 mode, enabling the traversal of damaged or neglected roads, or even offroad conditions with relative ease. Combined with contracts for the Utility line, Svaartaron steadily grew marketshare through the 1950's, introducing a smaller, even more economical vehicle in the form of the Metro in 1954 and, at the end of the decade, introducing its famous MUV line.
Although new competition emerged in the form of SEDA in 1956 and Jormundkaar in 1960, by the dawn of the 1960's, Svaartaron had reestablished a name and reputation for itself in the North Ottonian public consciousness for reliability, ruggedness, and nearly unmatched visibility due to its government contracts, and its marketshare would remain high and steady throughout the decade.
Foreign Ventures and the OMC
Even as the four North Ottonian automakers competed at home, all of them faced challenges in reestablishing foreign marketshare after the interruptions of the 1930's and 1940's. While Svaartaron and Vulksmotor were able to make modest inroads on their own, by the mid 1960's it was increasingly clear that collusion might be the best bet for North Ottonian automakers. In 1967, the Ottonian Motor Authority was refounded as the Ottonian Motor Cooperative, creating a seller's cooperative unifying the efforts of Svaartaron, SEDA, Jormundkaar, and Vulksmotor abroad. The new organization would simplify the marketing and sales of North Ottonian vehicles in other countries under a pair of marques (Otmo and OMC), with consolidated staffing and supply chains, with a profit-sharing agreement in place based on vehicles sold and contribution to the cooperative's efforts.
Notably, the OMC's foreign dealings would enable the 2001 deal with Rezese automaker Panther Autos that would dramatically improve access to electric vehicle technology, making the reintroduction of the Eco as a hybrid electric vehicle feasible.
Modern Operations
Ownership and Management Structure
In the present, Svaartaron Auto Works is a division of Svaartaron as a whole, and as a result shares its ownership structure. Like Svaartaron as a whole, 1% of the ownership of the company is held by the Svaartaron family. In addition, 1% of the company is held by the Ottonian federal government, another 2% is held by the government of the Dunnmaar Autonomous Republic, and 1% each is held, respectively by the governments of the Free Community of Eona, the Allied Municipalities of the Bluwaalds, and the United Jormundsea Republics. The remaining 93% of the company's ownership is divided among the employees of Svaartaron, and are used as the basis for profit-sharing.
The company is run by a board of directors, who are elected by the employees of the company. Representation is allocated among the divisions of Svaartaron based on how many people are employed by that division. In addition, the Svaartaron family is allowed to have one (non-voting) member on the board of directors at all times.
Facilities
In the present day, the Auto Works division of Svaartaron maintains four main facilities. The oldest factory specifically built for use by Auto Works remains in Torsfeld, FCE, along with several offices for the division at its campus there. Its headquarters and a major parts factory remain based, along with the rest of Svaartaron, in Dunnmaar. Additional factories and office facilities are operated in Haensley and Lukus.
In Foreign Markets
Racing and Sporting
In 1958, the Svaartaron Racing Workshop was founded under the direction of Jord Farrangur.
Marques
Svaartaron
The mainstays of Svaartaron's offerings consist of relatively utilitarian vehicles for the budget-conscious, as well as commercial buyers, government contracts, and tradesmen. Svaartarons typically have a low starting price offset by the generally-low number of standard features; even on modern vehicles, hand-cranked windows are common, air-conditioning is often optional, and manual transmissions are the norm.
| Model Name | Years Produced | Size/Class | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUV | 1960 - present | Mini truck/Microvan | |
| L-Ute | 1950 - present | Mini SUV/Minitruck | |
| Metro | 1954 - present | City Car/Light Economic Vehicle/Kei Car | Originally a subcompact model until 1970. |
| Handy | 1972 - present | Subcompact Car | |
| Sturdy | 1972 - present | Compact Car | |
| Eco | 1950 - 1972 2002 - Present |
(Currently) Compact Hybrid | Compact with conventional powertrain between 1950 and 1972. Reintroduced as hybrid in 2002. |
| Utility | 1930 - Present | Sport Utility Vehicle, Pick-Up Truck | Only made available to civilians beginning in 1965. |
Svaartaron Cycles
| Model Name | Years Produced | Class/Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motopede | 1910 - present | Motorcycle/Moped | |
| Courier | 1946 - present | cargo motorcycle |
Farrangur
Named after famed Ottonian automotive designer Jord Farrangur, the Farrangur marque is Svaartaron's sporting and, to a lesser extent, luxury marque (at least relatively-speaking). Farrangur designs often platform-share with comparable Svaartaron models, but generally come with more standard features and higher performance margins.
| Model Name | Years Produced | Size/Class | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy | 1980 - present | Mini SUV | Platform-shares with the L-Ute. |
| Poni | 1980 - present | Subcompact Car | Platform-shares with the Handy. |
| Tauros | 1988 - present | Compact/Midsize Sedan | Platform-shares with the Sturdy. |