In 1923, Jorge Loring Martínez founded the company Talleres J. Loring in Carabanchel Alto (Madrid) to manufacture aeronautical equipment. In 1934, it became a public limited company, changing its name to Aeronáutica Industrial S.A. (AISA), and began building training aircraft under licence from Fokker for the Republican Army, as well as various versions of autogyros from the Cierva Autogiro Company. During the Civil War, the company temporarily relocated to Alicante. Once the conflict had ended, it returned to Carabanchel and continued to build light aircraft fitted with ENMASA engines.
In 1957, capitalising on the boom in the manufacture of two-, three- and four-wheeled vehicles, the company began producing commercial vehicles under the trade name AVIA, setting up a division dedicated to the manufacture of motorised tricycles, with a share capital of 42 million pesetas, whilst never abandoning the aeronautical sector.
The first commercial vehicle was the Avia 200 motorised tricycle, which was fitted with a 197 cc Hispano Villiers engine producing 8.4 CV, rear hydraulic brakes and a load capacity of up to 500 kg. It remained in production until 1963 in a wide range of versions, depending on its intended use.
In 1960, it unveiled the prototype of its first light goods vehicle – the Avia 2500 – at the Barcelona Trade Fair; this went into production in 1961 fitted with a 61 CV Perkins engine. For this project, AISA drew on the expertise of ENASA-Pegaso’s Technical Department, as the INI held a 33% stake in AISA.
In 1962, the Avia 3500 followed, powered by a 68 CV Perkins engine with a displacement of 4,192 cc, and in 1964 the Avia minibus for 15 passengers plus the driver. From that year onwards, they were also manufactured under licence in Setúbal (Portugal) by SODAG. The range continued to expand and, with the introduction of the 6500, by 1969 models with payloads of 1,500, 2,500, 3,500, 4,000 and 6,500 kg were in production. In 1973, a 7,000 kg model was introduced. Avia models are highly regarded by consumers for their superior build quality compared to that of the competition.
In the mid-1970s, whilst continuing to manufacture lorries, AISA focused its efforts on improving its buses, eventually producing models with a capacity of 40 seats. To this end, it formed a partnership with Motor Ibérica, the manufacturer of Ebro commercial vehicles – its main competitor, but also a supplier of engines and cabs – and gradually became little more than a second brand of Ebro, with its models being sold through independent dealerships. When Nissan Motors acquired Motor Ibérica in the 1980s, the Avia brand was dropped from the new management’s plans, and the last Avia-branded lorry was sold in 1984.
One of the most interesting applications of Avia lorries was the Avia-Deutz fire engine, manufactured by the Spanish subsidiary of Klöckner Humboldt Deutz. Based on an Avia 3500L chassis, it was fitted with an air-cooled Deutz engine and Magirus fire-fighting equipment.
The interest sparked in 1962 by the Avia 3500 and, later, the 6500 – which was fitted with a Perkins engine – led the company to manufacture more comfortable coaches with greater capacity.
There is a second European brand called Avia, fitted with a Cummins engine, which belongs to the Hinduja Group. In Spain, sales are handled by Avia-Trucks Ibérica. To avoid confusion, in markets to which the Spanish Avia exported, its models were sold under the Alas brand.
