MALVERN car firm Morgan is motoring into the new year with increased sales on the horizon and a 50 per cent rise in production in prospect.

The company has already taken 1,500 orders for next year, up from 1,000 in 2012. And the increase in trade has had a beneficial effect at the Malvern Link factory this year, where the number of people employed has increased by 20 to 180.

Company owner Charles Morgan, whose grandfather H F S Morgan founded the firm in 1910, said that the success encompasses all three of the company’s car ranges – the Classic, the Three Wheeler and the Aero series. He said the Three Wheeler has been a hit in the United States, where it was showcased in this year’s New York International Auto Show, the country’s biggest.

And in May, Mr Morgan drove a Three Wheeler in the Gumball Rally, crossing the US from coast to coast and covering 3,500 miles. He said: “I think it has an appeal to the kind of people who like Harleys and other upmarket motorcycles. In a way, it bridges the gap between motorcycles and cars and it appeals to all age ranges.” The company’s cars are hand-made by a dedicated work force at the factory in Pickersleigh Road, where traditional coachbuilding techniques used to build the wooden frames for the classic ranges sit alongside the latest high-techBMWengines.

“We’re not a cottage industry.

The Aero Coupe is an outstanding piece of automotive engineering and we're all really proud of it,” said Mr Morgan.

“Our workforce is highly skilled, dedicated and innovative, and people love to see them at work in the factory.”