Regulus

Regulus is the flagship brand and subsidiary of Regulus Motor Group, based in Turiz, Herendoland. It was founded on November 8, 1963 to compete with Australian car manufacturers and, although it is the only remaining car manufacturer in Oceania that locally produces and develops its own in-house models with both having been extinct as of 2020.

Regulus’ model range includes the Sirius full-size car, Icon compact SUV, Catalyst mid-size SUV and the Tizen full-size SUV.

History
In the 1950s, was dominating not only the Australian car market but also most of the entire Australasia region, which resulted from the introduction of the  in 1948. Industrialist Bruno Mendonça, who had been managing car servicing centers in Herendoland, was inspired by Holden to design a domestically produced car that could not only be mass produced in the country, but compete with Holden and later outright.

After Mendonça converted his plant in Turiz to an automobile production line in 1962, the first Regulus car was rolled off on November 8, 1963, marking a significant milestone for the Herendish automobile industry. This model would eventually become the Regulus Constellation, the marque’s first model. In 1966, the first Regulus plant in Australia opened in, therefore enabling the company to increase their production rate of Australian vehicles.

Unlike its competitors, Regulus remained as an independent car manufacturer for decades, although briefly owned a minor stake in the company in the 1980s. In 2003, after Regulus acquired Hangzhou-based Luning, it became a subsidiary of the new joint venture Regulus-Luning Holdings, which would later become Regulus Motor Group in 2011. Around the same year, Regulus began selling badge-engineered cars in China and Southeast Asia under the Luning brand.