Our history
From humble beginnings more than 50 years ago, Autex has grown to serve over 18 export markets, with manufacturing networks in four countries. As a New Zealand-owned company, we’ve become a world leader in non-woven architectural textiles, supplying an increasingly sophisticated range of products to the building industry.
Autex’s roots lie in the highly regulated New Zealand economy of the 1960s and 1970s. What the directors lacked in capital and connections, they made up for with ambition and innovation. The family-based company – now with the third generation making its mark – has grown into one of Australasia’s manufacturing success stories, and is a leader in modern acoustic and environmentally-friendly polyester insulation products.
Our expertise
Autex’s expertise in needle-punch textiles goes right back to the humble jute fibre and the carding technology of the 1960s. The first directors were all British immigrants to New Zealand, coming over on the post-war skills shortage programme. They arrived with an international outlook and adventurous spirit and soon set up a textile enterprise on Surrey Crescent. Their first success was jute underfelt for the flooring industry, and within a few years they had developed a line of peel-and-stick polypropylene carpet tiles, obliging them to take larger premises in Avondale.
In the tightly regulated economy of the time, export incentives were closely tied to synthetic fibre import licences, which forced the men to develop export markets from the very start. Australia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore all bought the New Zealand-made product, with the Autex Module carpet tile soon becoming ubiquitous in rumpus rooms, first homes and holidays homes across the region.
Our success
Spurred on by early success, the directors tried their hand at new styles of flooring. A few poor decisions led to some difficult years, only to see them bounce back as new opportunities opened. They navigated the peaks and troughs of a volatile decade, marked by two global oil shocks and a deregulating New Zealand economy.
Undoubtedly tough, this period seasoned the young directors, and by 1980 they had made the transition from rookie to established manufacturer and importer–exporter.
Well-connected internationally, by the mid- 1980s the directors had greatly expanded their carpet range; become suppliers of sound absorption and interior linings to the automotive assembly industries in New Zealand and Australia; opened a polyester line for industrial waddings and bedware; and established an electronics division – their only non-manufacturing division. But the carpet division was the backbone of the company for nearly two decades. Autex were the largest producer of non-woven carpets in New Zealand, and won large contracts around the region, cementing a reputation for their high-quality product.