Lawson investing money in the now ailing Daimler company in Germany and buying the British one, assured the future of them both. Along with Simms he set about finding a site to put up the new factory to manufacture engines and chassis. Simms found an ideal site in Cheltenham with all the machinery and labour required. In the meantime, Lawson had found an old spinning mill on a site in Coventry belonging to a friend of his, and whilst Simms was out of the country, Lawson had the Board of the Daimler Motor Syndicate buy the Coventry site, the purchase price being £18,000. And so it was on the 14th January 1896 the Daimler Motor Company Ltd. was formed, and the start of the British motor industry had begun. In the first 8 months of production they produced 89 complete vehicles. Simms was not invited to be on the board of the new company but was only retained as a consultant, although he still had directorships with both the Motor syndicate and the German Company 'Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft' based in Cannstatt and run by Gottlieb Daimler. In 1897, Simms resigned as consultant from Daimler Coventry to concentrate on the Cannstatt Company. Later that year Lawson also resigned, saying that it was taking up too much of his time, and in 1904 was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 1 year's hard labour.

By 1897 the vehicles had evolved a stearing wheel as in the picture below