The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tractor assets were sold to Massey Ferguson in 1959. Standard purchased Triumph in 1945 and, in 1959, officially changed its name to Standard-Triumph International and began to put the Triumph brand name on all its products. A new subsidiary, The Standard Motor Company Limited, was established and took over the manufacture of the group's products.

The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1988.

Maudslay, great-grandson of the eminent engineer Henry Maudslay, had trained under Sir John Wolfe-Barry as a civil engineer. In 1902 he joined his cousin Cyril Charles Maudslay at his Maudslay Motor Company to make marine internal combustion engines. The marine engines did not sell very well, and still in 1902 they made their first engine intended for a car. It was fitted to a chain-drive chassis. The three-cylinder engine, designed by Alexander Craig was an advanced unit with a single overhead camshaft and pressure lubrication.

Realising the enormous potential of the horseless carriage and using a gift of £3,000 from Sir John Wolfe-Barry, R. W. Maudslay left his cousin and became a motor manufacturer on his own account. His Standard Motor Company was incorporated on 2 March 1903 and he established his business in a small factory in a two-storey building in Much Park Street, Coventry. Having undertaken the examination of several proprietary engines to familiarise himself with internal combustion engine design he employed seven people to assemble the first car, powered by a single-cylinder engine with three-speed gearbox and shaft drive to the rear wheels. By the end of 1903 three cars had been built and the labour force had been increased to twenty five. The increased labour force produced a car every three weeks during 1904.

The single-cylinder model was soon replaced by a two-cylinder model quickly followed by three- and four-cylinder versions and in 1905 the first six. Even the first cars boasted shaft drive as opposed to chains, and the engines were not merely "square" but had 6" diameter pistons with a 3" stroke. As well as supplying complete chassis, the company found a good market selling engines for fitting to other cars, especially where the owner wanted more power. Although Alex Craig, a Scottish engineer, was engaged to do much of the detail work, Maudslay himself was sufficiently confident to undertake much of the preliminary layout. One of the several derivations of the name "Standard" is said to have emanated from a discussion between Maudslay and Craig during which the latter proposed several changes to a design on the grounds of cost, which Maudslay rejected, saying that he was determined to maintain the best possible "standard". It is also worth noting that at that time, the word "standard" had positive connotations mostly related to military banners, and heraldic flags, especially in connection with royalty. It is only in more recent times that standard has come to mean a basic automobile, something less than the de luxe model.

In 1905 Maudslay himself drove the first Standard car to compete in a race. This was the RAC Tourist Trophy in which he finished 11th out of 42 starters, having had a non-stop run. In 1905 the first export order was also received, from a Canadian who arrived at the factory in person. The order was reported in the local newspaper with some emphasis, "Coventry firm makes bold bid for foreign markets".

The company exhibited at the 1905 London Motor Show in Crystal Palace, at which a London dealer, Charles (later Sir Charles) Friswell (1872–1926) agreed to buy the entire factory output. He joined Standard and later was managing director for many years.

In late 1906 production was transferred to larger premises and output was concentrated on 6-cylinder models. The 16/20 h.p. tourer with side-entrance body was priced at £450. An indication of how much this was can be gained from the fact that a draughtsman earned £3 a week. In 1907 Friswell became company chairman. He worked hard to raise its profile, and the resulting increase in demand necessitated the acquisition of a large single-storey building in Cash's Lane, Coventry. Even this was inadequate after the publicity gained when a fleet of 20 cars, 16/20 tourers, were supplied for the use of Commonwealth editors attending the 1909 Imperial Press Conference in London. In 1909 the company first made use of the famous Union Flag Badge, a feature of the radiator emblem until after the Second World War. By 1911 the range of vehicles was comprehensive, with the 8-horsepower model being produced in quantity whilst a special order for two 70 hp cars was at the same time executed for a Scottish millionaire. Friswell's influence culminated in supplying seventy 4-cylinder 16 hp cars for King George V and his entourage, including the Viceroy of India, at the 1911 Delhi Durbar. In 1912 Friswell sold his interest in Standard to C. J. Band and Siegfried Bettmann, the founder of the Triumph Motor Cycle Company (which became the Triumph Motor Company). During the same year the first commercial vehicle was produced, and the 4-cylinder model "S" was introduced at £195, the first to be put into large-scale production. 1,600 were produced before the outbreak of the First World War, 50 of them in the final week of car production. These cars were sold with a three-year guarantee. In 1914 Standard became a public company.