The story
1934 - After work as an engineer for various companies, Mario Bertuzzi opens his first garage near Piacenza.
1936-1939 - Bertuzzi works in Italian-occupied Ethiopia, gaining experience and wealth.
During the war, Bertuzzi owned a repair shop in Piacenza. He relocated to Quarto, in Campania, in 1944, as the Allied bombing raids on the Gothic Line drew closer.
1946 - Bertuzzi, operating out of Piacenza, founded a company called Anonima Sarda TRAsporti (Sardinian Transport Company) to buy a lot of 1000 surplus allied military vehicles located in Cagliari, Sardinia. The goal was to ship them back to the mainland and to either convert them to civilian duties, or to rebuild them for the renascent Italian military.
1948 - Bertuzzi buys out his partner and sells off the remaining old vehicles for scrap; instead, the company gains contracts for maintaining the vehicles of the Italian as well as the American forces.
1951 - The company returns to the civil sector as General Motors approaches Astra to provide service for GM engines in Italy. Work on upgrading new trucks for heavier duty work recommences.
1955 - Astra presented the first vehicle of their own design, the BM1. It was meant for use with public works contractors for heavy-duty, off-road work, such as quarries or tunnel construction. The truck had a GM diesel engine and reconditioned AEC Matador axles, plentiful in Italian military depots.
1956 - Mario Bertuzzi dies, leaving his sons Camillo and Enzo in charge. Camillo handled the civilian side of the business, Enzo the military side.
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During the 1960s, the companies' facility was enlarged several times, and a broader range of vehicles with dumper and mixer models added.
1960 - The BM2 appeared, a heavier-duty version of the BM1.
1961 - The BM18 appeared, capable of even heavier loads. There were also the similar BM19, and BM21.
1962 - Astra's first road-going truck, the three-axle BM12, was introduced.
1965 - BM22 - BM25. A new 140,000 square meter plant was opened, and Astra stopped rebuilding outside constructions. New axles were also developed by new technical director Fabio Pavesi, ending the dependence on old material.
1967 - The BM16 is introduced, a road-going truck with an automatic transmission.
1970 - Launch of giant cranes for chassis BE 8440 and BE 10660. The crane project proved a disappointment and was short-lived.
1976 - The BM35 large volume dump truck is introduced, entering a new market sector for Astra.
1976 - The BM20 is introduced, a heavy-duty truck with Astra's first own cabin, a spacious two-seater fiberglass construction.
1982 - Launch of the 300-series 6x4 40-tonne highway trucks, the angular cabin was designed by Italdesign Giugiaro.
1984 - Astra participates in the Paris-Dakar rally with the BM 309. BM501 added to the range of dump trucks.
1986 - After years of contraction, the nearly bankrupt Astra SpA is acquired by Iveco; Astra already had technical cooperation with Iveco since its inception.
1989 - Launch of the new 6000 series, still using the 300-series cabin.
1992 - Launch of the 6500 series range of technologically advanced trucks.
1994 - The designation BM disappears in favour of HD (Heavy Duty), now called the HD6.
1996 - ASTRA celebrates 50 years and more than 25,000 vehicles manufactured and sold worldwide. Launch of HD7 series, with a range of 2, 3, and 4 driven axles and IVECO engines ranging from 340 CV (250 kW) to 520 CV (382 kW).
1997 - Company receives ISO 9001-2000 certification. Astra Industrial Vehicles SpA also receives the ISO 14001-1996 certification.
1999 - The 28- and 40-tonne dump trucks were added to the range, available with an automatic transmission - the first in the world to be installed in such heavy-duty quarry vehicles.
2000 - The HD7 range is complemented by the new HD7/C series, equipped with new Iveco Cursor (Euro 3) engines. At ESIS (Batimat Italian) Astra unveils a new range of articulated dump trucks (ADT) - models ADT25 and ADT30, with 25 and 30 tonnes of payload respectively.
2003 - On 1 January Astra took over SIVI, itself a partner of Iveco since 1982. SIVI modifies ASTRA trucks for heavy-duty applications.
2004 - Two new models of 35 and 40 tonnes of payload are added to the range of articulated dump trucks: the ADT35 and ADT40, both powered by Iveco Cursor 13 engines.
2005 - The new range of HD8 construction trucks was introduced, which replaces the HD7 and HD7/C.
2011 - The new HD9 range replaced the HD8. With a cabin in sheet metal (as used on the Iveco Trakker) Astra now abandoned their long tradition of fiberglass cabs.
2025 - Iveco decides to sell Astra to Leonardo while Iveco becomes part of Tata Motors
From Wikipedia’s article on Astra Veicoli Industriali, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3