KRUPKAR  |  1904  |  UK Germany  :

Krupkar was not a manufacturer in any real sense but a rebadging scheme run from London. Krupkar was a German automobile marque offered only in 1904 by the British importer Morrison in the United Kingdom, and the associated Krupkar Ltd of London imported various German makes, namely Cudell, Horch and Opel, and fitted the cars with its own brand name. Grace’s Guide records the same arrangement, that in 1904 the firm imported vehicles from Cudell, Horch and Opel and sold them as Krupkar, and that during 1904 and 1905 it also produced cars under the Morrison brand name.

The venture quickly ran into trouble on two fronts. Because of the resemblance of the name to the German firm Friedrich Krupp AG, legal problems arose with that company, the affected German manufacturers were also displeased with the English firm’s approach, and from 1905 the vehicles in question were again imported under their makers’ own names. The friction is easy to understand given who Krupp was. Friedrich Krupp AG, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the start of the twentieth century and Germany’s premier weapons manufacturer, so a small London importer trading on a near-identical name was never likely to be left alone.