Ford Motor Company of New Zealand Limited is the New Zealand subsidiary of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. The Ford-New Zealand assembly and distribution began in 1936, following the successful representation of Ford's New Zealand business by The Colonial Motor Company (CMC). Ford-New Zealand was based in Seaview, Wellington. A second assembly plant was opened in

Wiri Wiri is a mostly industrial-commercial focused suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formerly part of Manukau City until the merger of all of Auckland's councils into the ' super city' in 2010. The area was named after the chief Takaanini W ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1973. The head office was moved to Auckland before Seaview was closed in 1988 and, in 1997, vehicle production at Wiri came to an end. Since then, all of the Ford-New Zealand product offerings have been fully imported.

History

The

Ford Motor Company of Canada Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited ( French: ''Ford du Canada Limitée'') was founded on August 17, 1904, for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. It was originally known as the Walkerville ...

had been established in 1904, to build and to sell the Ford products to the territories that made up the British Empire, including New Zealand. This was a way to avoid the tariffs that existed upon American-made products imported into Empire states. In turn, Ford of Canada established privately-owned agencies in those various Empire states to handle the business. In the early 1920s, because the Ford business around the world had now become so large, the Ford directors concluded that leaving the assembly and distribution of their products to other than Ford-owned interests posed a quality-control risk. Ford of Canada acted first in South Africa, where their appointed agent had not been following Ford guidelines, and an assembly plant and head office was set up in Port Elizabeth. Then they looked to Australia, where it was decided the agency operation was not in Ford's best interests, and an assembly and a manufacturing operation was set up in Geelong, Victoria and opened in 1925. But, so satisfied with the CMC performance in their New Zealand territory that it was not until 1936 that Ford of Canada set up in New Zealand. It was the last of their oversea territories to be taken over, and Ford's relationship with CMC continued as that organisation retained and further developed retail Ford outlets. The Ford and CMC relationship has survived to this day, and it makes CMC-owned Ford dealerships amongst the oldest in the world. Choosing Wellington as the location for the huge new assembly plant made sense. Wellington is the capital, the centre of government and the base for most national and international corporations. The prerequisite port was well developed and good rail and road connections gave good access to and from all parts of the country. A new industrial area was being established in the Hutt Valley and there was abundant space there for expansion. Low-cost housing was being built in the new suburbs nearby, to house the workforce. The building Ford erected was of exceptional significance in New Zealand. The "daylight factory" design had evolved over the past 20 years, and it made extensive use of glass for natural light and ventilation. No longer were Ford's plants high rise - they were built on one level, so as to make use of Ford's highly-efficient moving assembly line methods of assembly. The neo-classical façade facing Seaview Road also typical of Ford's worldwide image - this highly-attractive frontage and well-tended gardens hid the functional role of the building. There was no mistaking who occupied the impressive new building - the largest neon sign in the southern hemisphere was mounted on the roof, facing Seaview Road and out over the harbour towards Wellington city, from where it was visible! Production began in October, 1936 before the building was completed. The first cars built were the current 1936 Model 68 V8, which arrived CBD (completely broken-down) in wooden crates shipped from Ford of Canada. These were joined soon after by the British-sourced 10-HP Model C and the 8-HP Model Y. Whilst next years models were released in America in September each year, there was always a lag before they arrived on roads overseas. For instance, it was not until July, 1937 that the 1937 Model 78 V8 was released in New Zealand. In September, 1937 the British Model C was replaced by the Ford Ten 7W, a revised version of which was known as the E93A, released in New Zealand in March, 1939. This was the first car that Ford gave a name to - it was the Prefect. Similarly, when it was released in Britain in January, 1940 after the outbreak of World War Two, the revised Ford Eight had given the very patriotic name of Anglia - the first Anglias were sold in New Zealand in July, 1940. On the outbreak of war production shifted solely to military work and, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Ford New Zealand produced 10,423 vehicles including

Bren Gun Carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...

s as well as 5.7 million hand grenades and 1.2 million mortar rounds. Civilian car production resumed in 1946 which was also the year assembly of the

Fordson Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 1920 to ...

tractor was introduced in New Zealand. In 1965 a parts depot opened in

leading the transfer of operations from Wellington to Auckland and in 1972 a transmission and chassis manufacturing facility at

Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

. The Auckland assembly plant was also completed in 1972 and began building

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

the next year. In 1981 an alloy wheel plant was opened at Wiri. By 1987 most operations had been moved from Seaview to Wiri, Auckland and the Seaview plant was closed in 1988 after 52 years. Ford New Zealand underwent a major restructuring in 1987–88, including relocation of all operations to Wiri. Products made by Ford New Zealand up from the early 1950s until the 1980s (with exception of the Falcon/ Fairmont range, and low volume American product until the 1960s) were predominantly British. Generations of New Zealanders grew up with Anglias,

Escorts Escort may refer to: Protection *Bodyguard, a security operative who accompanies clients for their personal protection *Police escort, a feature offered by law enforcement agencies to assist in transporting individuals *Safety escort service, a s ...

, Cortinas, Zephyrs and

Zodiacs The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

just as New Zealand's immediately preceding generation grew up with Canadian sourced (for Imperial Preference tariffs) but locally assembled Model Ts, Model As and

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve inline-three engines with Twin Indep ...

s. All were successful. Falcons from Australia were very popular running a close second to

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

right through from the 1960s to the 1980s. In common with other countries in the

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Is ...

region, Ford New Zealand marketed the

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

-based

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

and

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fir ...

, which replaced the British Escort and Cortina in the early 1980s. Unlike Australia, however, the Sierra was assembled and sold locally in New Zealand in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, though generally only available as a

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

. A wagon version of the Telstar was eventually offered in New Zealand, based on Mazda's GV platform – in fact New Zealand was the only country outside Japan where this body style was available. It continued to be marketed locally, along with a sedan version called the Telstar Orion, until 1997. This sharing of models between Ford and Mazda led to the creation of a joint venture called Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand (VANZ), in which Ford New Zealand held a 74 percent equity. This had followed the closure of Mazda's own assembly plant in Otahuhu in 1987. The

Mazda 323 The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

and

626 __NOTOC__ Year 626 ( DCXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 626 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

, were assembled alongside the almost identical Ford Laser and Telstar until well into the 1990s. This was in contrast to Australia, where Mazdas were not assembled locally. Ford Australia switched to importing those models from Japan with the closure of its plant in Homebush West,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. However, free-market reforms in New Zealand in the late 1980s saw the lowering of import tariffs and a flood of used imports from Japan. Many of these were mechanically identical Mazda Capellas (as the 626 was known in Japan), as well as Ford Telstars and Mondeos. In addition, Australian-built Fords like the Falcon, and its GM rival, the

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endin ...

, could now be imported New Zealand duty-free. With the demise of local car assembly looking inevitable, VANZ announced it would cease operations in 1997. The alloy wheel plant was sold in 2001.

Ford Australia Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford Motor Company. It was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Comp ...

ended manufacture in October 2016. Ford New Zealand has added

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

to its rangeFord New Zealand catalogue
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Models

Current Passenger cars November 2019

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

Ford Focus The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company since 1998. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The ...

Ford Kuga The Ford Kuga is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) manufactured by Ford since 2008 mainly for the European market, and now in its third generation. Both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive are offered. The Kuga was originally European-desi ...

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a "world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Austra ...

Former Passenger cars

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

Canada : Model A Canada :

Canada until 1954 :

Ford Model Y The Ford Model Y is an automobile that was produced by Ford Britain, Ford SAF and Ford Germany from 1932 to 1937. It was the first Ford automobile specifically designed for markets outside the United States, replacing the Model A in Europe. Prod ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Eight Ford 7Y is a car built by Ford UK from 1938 until 1939. During that time 65,098 cars were produced. The car was officially marketed as a Ford Eight, and was a rebodied and slightly larger version of the Model Y. The car was powered by a 8hp ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Prefect The Ford Prefect is a line of British cars which was produced by Ford UK between 1938 and 1961 as an upmarket version of the Ford Popular and Ford Anglia small family cars. It was introduced in October 1938 and remained in production until 19 ...

United Kingdom

: Ford Festiva : Ford Territory (Australia) :

Ford Customline The Ford Customline is an automobile model that was sold between 1952 and 1956 by Ford in North America. First generation (1952–1954) 1952 The Ford Customline was introduced in 1952 as the mid-range model in that year’s US Ford range, p ...

(Canada) :Ford Mustang (USA)

Ford Popular The Ford Popular, often called the Ford Pop, is a car from Ford UK that was built in England between 1953 and 1962. When launched, it was Britain's lowest priced car. The name Popular was also used by Ford to describe its 1930s Y Type model. Th ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Zephyr The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their r ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cyl ...

United Kingdom :

Ford Falcon (Australia) The Ford Falcon is a full-size car, full-sized car that was manufactured by Ford Australia from 1960 to 2016. From the XA series of 1972 onward, each Falcon and range of derivates have been designed, developed, and built in Australia, following ...

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

United Kingdom : Ford Escort United Kingdom :

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coefficien ...

United Kingdom

Current Commercial vehicles November 2019

Ford Ranger Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold by Ford worldwide. The nameplate has been used for distinct model lines of vehicles worldwide since 1982 from the compact and mid-size pickup category. ...

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...

Custom :

Cargo :

Ford Tourneo Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Custom : Ford N-series

Former Commercial vehicles

Trucks United Kingdom :

Vans and Light Trucks United Kingdom :

Thames Trader The Thames Trader was a range of trucks manufactured by Ford UK built between 1957 and 1965. Forward Control models Design The distinctive cab design, which sets it apart from other British commercial vehicles, was a forward-control (or semi-for ...

United Kingdom :

Ford D-series The Ford D series is a range of middle-weight trucks that were introduced by Ford UK in 1965. It replaced the Thames Trader and appears to have been envisaged as a more modern competitor to the Bedford TK produced by General Motors' UK truck ...

References

10. Ford in New Zealand Vol 2 - Driving Ahead 1936 to 1997, John Stokes, New Holland Publishing 2020, ISBN 9781869665357

External links

*
Ford Seaview 20 October 1960

Historic Places Trust

Telstar Performance

Ford Motor Company of New Zealand Ltd

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

{{Automotive industry in New Zealand Motor vehicle manufacturers of New Zealand Motor vehicle assembly plants in New Zealand New Zealand companies established in 1936 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1936 Ford Motor Company New Zealand subsidiaries of foreign companies

History

Models

Current Passenger cars November 2019

Former Passenger cars

Current Commercial vehicles November 2019

Former Commercial vehicles

See also

References

External links