Wearnes Automotive

Wearnes Automotive is an established regional distributor for a stable of cars ranging from entry-level variants to niche high-end luxury models and light commercial vehicles for business purposes. An important core business and pillar of Wearnes, our wealth of experience spans over 100 years and our relationships with partners are forged on mutual trust and respect. Investments in the latest equipment as well as human capital training and development have enabled us to stay ahead and maintain our position as a strong player in the industry.

Our Commitment

Building on our rich heritage and leveraging on our core competencies, we continue to seek and strengthen strategic partnerships with international brands to provide our consumers with a wide choice of products and services. We are proud to be a part of Wearnes - a global company which embraces innovation, exceptional business practices and values.

Milestones & History

Dawning from the ambition of two brothers in the early years, when cars were very much a novelty in this part of the world then, Wearnes Automotive grew with the acquisition of agencies as well as the selling and servicing of motor vehicles. Along with this, our knowledge of cars and aftersales service efficiency set the seal of our success in the automotive business.

1906 Apr 1	C.F.F. Wearne & Co. was founded Australian brothers, Charlie Frederick Foster Wearne and Theodore James Benjamin Wearne, started the motor company and acquired the Oldsmobile agency
1909	Expanding business C.F.F. Wearne & Co. was appointed as agents for Star, Reo, Belsize, Standard, Rover, Frick char-a-bancs, Napier cars and a range of Vindec motorcycles New showroom and garage were built at 210-212 Orchard Road (near the corner of Dhoby Ghaut) and regarded as the largest and best-equipped garage in Singapore then
1911	Expanding beyond Singapore C.F.F. Wearne & Co. opened a branch in Ipoh which sold cars and spare parts, and thereafter added branches in Penang and Kuala Lumpur
1912 Nov 23	Becoming Wearne Brothers Limited The enterprise became a public company and changed its name to Wearne Brothers Limited (Wearnes) with a capital of $275,000
1921	Inroads in Southeast Asia Wearnes purchased Ford Motors (Burma) Limited in Rangoon, which held the Ford agency for the whole of Burma (now Myanmar). With this acquisition, Wearnes’ automotive empire in Southeast Asia now stretched from Burma for well over 3,000km through to British North Borneo
1924	Formation of Malayan Motors Subsidiary automotive companies were formed to handle the different agencies of Wearnes to avoid any conflict of interests. The first was Malayan Motors at 14-20 Orchard Road which handled all agencies except Ford, namely Armstrong-Siddley, Morris, Sunbeam, Packard, Rolls-Royce, Essex, Erksine and Standard.
1925	Car assembly in Singapore An assembly plant in Penang Lane was set up to assemble Ford model T. No welding was involved and the panels were all nailed on
1926	Universal Cars Limited for Ford Universal Cars Limited was started as a subsidiary company specifically to handle the sales, engineering and servicing of Ford cars
1929	The dream of providing air transport Charlie Wearne envisaged providing air service in Malaya and shipped in an Avro-Avian plane to be assembled by Malayan Motors’ mechanics. The plane drew great interest when it was displayed at Malayan Motors’ showroom
1930s	Bentley franchise When the Great Depression stepped in, Rolls-Royce bought over the financially vulnerable Bentley Motors. By virtue of Malayan Motors being the agent for Rolls-Royce, it also held the Bentley franchise
1933 May	Wearnes first provided taxi service for Singapore In response to public demand, Wearnes put the first 'Yellow Top' taxi on Singapore roads with similar operations in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and Rangoon. By late 1934, the venture had grown so rapidly that General Transport Company was formed to manage the business
1937 Jun 28	Wearnes Air Services Wearnes Air Services Ltd was inaugurated with two de Havilland 89 Dragon Rapide planes named 'Governor Raffles' and 'Governor Fullerton'. World War II ended the business just as it was about to turn profitable
1941	Requisitioned to help in the war effort Three planes belonging to Wearnes Air Services were absorbed into the Malayan Volunteer Air Force and the military command in Singapore had also acquired $600,000 worth of vehicles and spare parts from Wearnes. Its entire Burma operation was requisitioned by the Burmese military
1942	Cessation of Company operations during the war All plants, spare parts and working equipment parts were demolished to prevent the enemies from making use of them. When Singapore finally fell and most of the Wearnes’ operations throughout Malaya were destroyed, all operations were ceased as a result of the war
1946 – 1947	Putting the pieces in place After the war had ended, Wearnes recommenced the trading operations of its nine subsidiaries and also resumed its service facilities in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang
1950	Double-decker buses and other agencies General Transport Company introduced three double-decker buses supplied by a Wearnes subsidiary, Federated Motors. Similar in trim and colour to those in London, the units were fitted with special extractor fans to cope with the local humid climate Deteriorating conditions in Burma and the continued embargo on car importation forced the cessation of the Ford agency operations in Burma but Wearnes still represented Ford in Bangkok and Kota Bahru through Universal Cars The Fiat agency for Malaya was procured and this was handled by Progress Motors Limited at 46 Orchard Road
1957	Shifting gears in employment Wearnes was providing direct employment to thousands of residents in Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. Local employees were also placed in executive positions previously held by foreigners
1966	Assembling motor cars In association with the Motors Investments, Wearnes formed Associated Motor Industries Malaysia Sdn Bhd to assemble passenger cars in plants built in Batu Tiga, Selangor and in Singapore. Taking only 10 days to assemble and deliver per vehicle, the quality of Wearnes-assembled cars were said to be as good as imported ones
1967 – 1969	Motoring on Federated Motors Limited was awarded the dealership of Austin, Riley, Austin-Healy and Princess by British Motor Corporation Associated Motor Industries Sdn Bhd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Wearnes in 1967. The new assembly plant in Jurong, Singapore boasted eight basic models – Chevrolet Impala, Vauxhall Viva, Vauxhall Victor, Austin and Morris Mini, Austin and Morris 1100, Morris Oxford/ Austin Cambridge, Morris Minor 1000 and Renault 10. Derivatives such as estate cars, vans and pick-ups were also assembled Rubber Products (Singapore) Private Limited was set up to manufacture rubber automobile components and other products as an addition to its automotive assembly activities
1970s	Jaguar franchise With an impressive history and background of representing British automotive agencies, Malayan Motors was appointed to represent the Jaguar franchise in Singapore
1974 – 1975	Global recession & energy crisis The onset of the oil crisis aggravated by higher taxation curtailed private car ownership. Associated Motor Industries (Private) Limited ceased its operations as the car assembly business in Singapore was no longer economically viable
1978 – 1979	The move to Leng Kee Road & responding to market trends Properties in Orchard Road were gazetted for acquisition by the Government. Wearnes' automotive trading operations consolidated the two key subsidiaries of Malayan Motors and Universal Cars at 45 Leng Kee Road With the growth of public transportation in Singapore, Wearnes brought in and placed 200 units of Leyland double decker buses on the roads in 1979
1980s	Strategic focus Wearnes sold off Associated Motor Industries Malaysia Sdn Bhd to Ford Motor Company and focussed on being an automotive retail dealer. After much deliberation, after an association for over 70 years, the Ford franchise was also eventually relinquished
1990s	Renewed robust growth The buoyant economy in Southeast Asia saw Malayan Motors establishing itself as a major player in the region, having sold a record number of the breathtaking Jaguar XJ220 cars and recognised amongst the top ten dealers in the world for Rolls-Royce/ Bentley cars
1992	Jaguar franchise in Thailand Jaguar Cars (Thailand) was established through a joint venture
2000	Expansion into Indonesia & representing Volvo in Singapore Through joint ventures in Indonesia, Wearnes began to represent Bentley and Jaguar with PT Grandauto Dinamika as well as Mazda with PT WAE Wearnes acquired SM Motors to obtain the Volvo franchise
2001	Daewoo-Chevrolet franchise in Singapore Investments were made in Starsauto which was then representing Daewoo before the change to Chevrolet
2002	Representing Mazda in Thailand Wearnes established a dealership to represent Mazda in Thailand
2003 – 2005	Regional expansion of Volvo franchise The Volvo franchise was further expanded with dealerships in Malaysia (2003), Hong Kong (2004) and Thailand (2005)
2006	Centennial celebrations & further growth Wearnes celebrated its centennial year and topped its achievements to-date by procuring the Bugatti sales agency for the Southeast Asia region and the Renault franchise in Singapore. Regional presence was boosted with a new Renault dealership in Hong Kong and a new Volkswagen dealership in Malaysia