The Austin Motor Co. was founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin, with the first car being produced the following year. In 1913 Austin also began to build trucks, but with the onset of the First World War the factory was turned over to the production of munitions. 

Austins also proved particularly popular in France, and to overcome the problem of high import duties imposed by the French government, Austin decided to open a factory there at Liancourt in the Oise region north of Paris.

Production at the Liancourt factory began in August 1919, with tractors initially being assembled from parts shipped from Longbridge.

Sales were high and the French import restrictions now worked to Austin's advantage, keeping the American Fordsons out. French-built Austin tractors were even exported back to England.

When tractor production ended at Longbridge in the mid-1920s, Societe Anonyme Austin, as it was known, began to develop its own models that incorporated a number of improvements on the original English design.

By the end of the decade, a whole range of Austin tractors were available, including two different widths of vineyard model and industrial versions on either solid rubber or pneumatic tyres.

The 1930s saw the introduction of diesel engines into Austin tractors, and these models were offered at least until the start of the Second World War, when the Liancourt factory fell into the hands of the invading Germans.

As for Herbert Austin, he died in 1941 at the age of 74, and in July 1952 the Austin Motor Co. merged with the Nuffield Organization to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC).