Hyderabad Allwyn Limited, established in 1942, was a Hyderabad State government engineering and white goods manufacturing company involved in manufacture of automobiles, trucks, scooters, bus coach building, refrigerators and wrist watches. Allwyn Refrigerators and Allwyn Watches were once a leading brand in India during the 1970s and 1980s. The company was closed in 1995 after heavy losses, primarily due to mismanagement. Early History and Products Hyderabad Allwyn Limited was established in January 1942 as Allwyn Metal Works. It was started as joint venture of Industrial Development Trust of the Nizam's Hyderabad Government and M/s Allwyn & Company. Hyderabad Allwyn Metal Works Limited used to assemble Albion CX9 buses for Hyderabad State Railways, and made the ballot boxes for the first general elections in 1952. In 1969 due to inability of its management to run the company efficiently, it was taken over by the state government. Coach Building division The first double-decker buses in Hyderabad were introduced in April 1963. These buses were designed by Hyderabad Allwyn Limited with APSRTC . Eventually the Coach building division became one of the largest coach building contractors for the Andhra Pradesh government's state operated APSRTC buses. Allwyn also built the Indian Army's medium-capacity Shaktiman truck bodies which were originally designed by MAN, Germany as the 415 L1 AR truck. Refrigeration and Appliance division The Allwyn refrigerators were one of the most popular brands in India. Its rivals were Godrej, Kelvinator and Voltas. Even until 2005 the refrigerators were widely rated for their energy efficiency. Under Andhra Pradesh State Government Tie-in with Nissan In 1983 the automobile division entered into a tie-up with Nissan Motor Company, Japan to manufacture the Nissan Cabstar range of Light commercial trucks. The plant was set up at Zahirabad near Hyderabad and this division was named as Hyderabad Allwyn Nissan Ltd with Nissan holding 15% of the equity. Watch Division Hyderabad Allwyn entered the watch business in 1981 in collaboration with Seiko of Japan to manufacture mechanical and Quartz watches. Until then the central Government-run HMT had been the market leader for wrist watches in India. Allwyn along with HMT and Titan Industries had dominated the Indian watch market with almost 10% of the market share. In 1987, A. R. Rahman, who was then still known as Dileep, received his first break in advertising when he was asked to compose the jingle for a new line of Allwyn Trendy Watches.