Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporated 7 December 1928. Current (May 2010) registered office at Eagle Way, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3BW, manufacturer and seller of motor vehicles and parts * Ford Motor Company (England) Limited, incorporated in 1909, ''purchased by Ford Motor Company Limited December 1928'' * Henry Ford and Son, Dearborn, Michigan, November 1915, incorporated 8 October 1917 * Henry Ford and Son Limited, Cork incorporated 17 April 1917, ''purchased by Ford Motor Company Limited December'' 1928 Holding company for Ford's European and Egyptian businesses and in addition Lincoln Cars Limited, London, and Henry Ford and Son, Cork: * Société d'Investissements Ford, Luxembourg, was liquidated during 1939 and its assets transferred to: * Ford Investment Company Limited, Guernsey, Channel Islands is a British wholly owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Ford Technologies Limited (formerly called Blue Oval Holdings), itself a subsidiary of Ford International Capital LLC, which is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Laindon, Essex. It adopted the name of Ford of Britain in 1960. Ford of Britain operates two major manufacturing sites in the UK, in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

(diesel engine production) and Halewood (transmissions). It also operates a large research and development facility in Dunton, Essex, which employs over 3,000 engineers. In 2010, Ford had been the UK's biggest-selling car and commercial vehicle brand for 34 and 45 consecutive years respectively.

History

1903–1918

Fordson tractor with members of British Women's Land Army 1940s

The first Ford cars, three Model As, were imported into the UK in 1903, and the first dealership opened in Southampton in November 1910. In 1909 the Ford Motor Company (England) Limited was established under the chairmanship of Percival Perry, opening an office at 55 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in 1909.

Trafford Park

An assembly plant in an old tram factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, was opened in 1911, employing 60 people to make the Model T, and the company was re-registered as Henry Ford & Son, Ltd. This was the first Ford factory outside North America. At first, the cars were assembled from imported chassis and mechanical parts, with bodies sourced locally. Six thousand cars were produced in 1913, and the Model T became the country's biggest selling car, with 30% of the market. In 1914, Britain's first moving assembly line for car production started, with 21 cars an hour being built. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, the Trafford Park plant was extended, and in 1919, 41% of British registered cars were Fords.

Cork

In 1917, a plant opened in Cork, Ireland, initially for tractor manufacture, but from 1921 cars were built there as well. This factory was the first to be purpose-built by Ford in Europe. The company of Henry Ford and Son Limited—Fordson—was officially incorporated on 17 April 1917, starting its life on the site of an old Cork racecourse. Its first registered office was at 36

South Mall The South Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located on Lehigh Street south of Interstate 78 exit 57 near Allentown's southern border with Salisbury Township and Emmaus in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. History 1970s a ...

, Cork.

Dagenham

Although the Manchester plant was served by the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follow ...

, Ford decided that access to a deep water port was required, and in 1923 a new site was chosen by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

, east of London.

Formation of Ford Motor Company Limited

In December 1928 Ford (since 1924 entirely owned by Henry Ford, his wife and their son Edsel) announced in London that it had formed a new company, Ford Motor Company Limited, with three US directors (Henry Ford,

Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...

, Charles E. Sorensen) and four British directors ( Sir Percy Perry, Roland Kitson, Sir John T Davies and Lord Illingworth), with a capital of £7 million. This company acquired all Ford's European and Middle Eastern businessFord Motor Company (England) Limited, Henry Ford and Son Limited, Cork. And by holding their share capitals: Automobiles Ford S.A., Paris, Ford Motor Company A/S, Copenhagen, Ford Motor Company S.A.E., Barcelona, Ford Motor Company of Belgium S.A., Antwerp, Ford Motor Company d'Italia S.A., Trieste, N.V. Ford Motor Company of Holland, Rotterdam * Ford Motor Company A.B., Stockholm, Ford Motor Company A.G., Berlin, Ford Motor Company of Finland O/Y, Helsingfors, Ford Motor Company Pen Island 2015. in exchange for 60% of its capital. The balance of 40% of the capital of the new Ford Motor Company Limited, 2.8 million shares of £1 each, was now available for public subscription. These shares were heavily over-subscribed. There was considerable investing interest from America, as US investors had had no previous opportunity of investing in a Henry Ford business. The new chairman, Sir Percival Perry, had been, and now was again, central to the development of Ford in Europe. Perry's association with Henry Ford dated from 1905, when Perry became a shareholder of Ford's first British agency, but the very first link between them was earlier, in 1903. The two men first met in 1906 in Detroit. From Britain, Perry envisioned Ford making vehicles outside USA and selling them across the British Empire and Europe. He raced the company's cars, organised a chain of exclusive dealers, and superintended the Trafford Park assembly plant. In 1919, Henry Ford chose to run operations from Detroit, but Perry was determined to run all European business himself. Perry resigned in May 1919. His American managers having failed him, Henry Ford offered Perry the chairmanship of this new Ford Motor Company Limited in 1928. At the first meeting of shareholders in London on 6 March 1929, Perry reported "during the first three months of our first year we and our associated companies in Europe have delivered upwards of 50,000 Model 'A' vehicles into the hands of satisfied owners. The improved Fordson tractor is not yet in production but it is hoped to deliver the first tractors completely manufactured at our Cork works within the next month."

Europe's largest car plant

Construction started at Dagenham in 1929, and, in October 1931, Britain's and Europe's largest car plant opened, producing the

Ford Model AA Ford Model AA is a truck from Ford. As the Model T and TT became obsolete and needed to be replaced, Henry Ford began initial designs on the Model A and Model AA in 1926. Basic chassis layout was done rapidly and mechanical development was ...

truck and Model A car. This was at the height of the Great Depression, and the Model A was too expensive to tax and run in Britain; very few were sold: only five in the first three months. A smaller car was urgently needed, and this came in 1932 with the 933 cc Model Y, a car much more suited to the market, becoming in 1935 Britain's first £100 car (accounting for inflation £). This was Ford's first car specifically designed for sale outside North America. Between 1932 and 1937, over 157,000 were made at Dagenham and Cork, and at its peak it captured 41% of its market sector. In 1938, Ford's Cork factory hit an important milestone, producing its 25,000th vehicle since becoming an assembly plant in 1932. In all, 73,000 cars, trucks and tractors had been built at Cork up to that time.

Associated companies

The original 1928 plan was for Canada, having the benefit of

Imperial Preference Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference, the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of N ...

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s, to manufacture components for Ford assembly plants in the British Empire. Dagenham was to do, and did, the same for assembly plants in Europe, but in 1932, mired in the financial depression, both France and Germany announced their intention to impose heavy new tariffs on imported components. In France, urgent arrangements were made with

Mathis Mathis is a name of French origin. It is common as a surname and is also a masculine given name. People with the surname *Buster Mathis (1943–1995), American heavyweight boxer *Buster Mathis Jr. (born 1970), American heavyweight boxer *Clint ...

for their plant to be leased by a joint-venture to be known as Matford and devoted to the full manufacture of Ford or Matford products. More capital was required. There were consequential exchanges in shareholdings between Dagenham and Dearborn and other shareholders.

Ferguson tractors

As an indication of the British and Irish company's sense of independence, in 1938 Henry Ford and

Harry Ferguson Henry George "Harry" Ferguson (4 November 188425 October 1960) was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system, for being the first perso ...

came to 'a

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or t ...

', whereby Ford would manufacture tractors designed by Ferguson, using the "Ferguson System". Production commenced in the USA in June 1939, and the product was outstandingly successful, but Henry Ford was unable to persuade Ford in Britain to manufacture the Ford-Ferguson, though they did sell the US-made tractors. In 1945 Ferguson arranged British production with Standard Motor Company. Harry Ferguson sued US Ford for illegal use of his patents, asking for compensation of £90 million; this was settled out of court in 1952. Charles E. Sorensen's autobiography—he was a director of this company—described Ferguson so unfavourably that his UK publishers were obliged to scrap all copies and pay costs; Sorensen made a public apology. Ford Pilot ca 1950 extensively restored subsequently

Ford Pilot ca 1950 extensively restored subsequently

World War II

During the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Dagenham plant turned out 360,000 vehicles, and a new factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, made 34,000

Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27- litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later ...

engines.

Post war

After World War II, civilian production resumed. Dagenham made 115,000 vehicles in 1946, and factories in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

in Essex (later London) and Langley in Buckinghamshire (later

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

) were acquired. The millionth vehicle made since the Dagenham factory started production in October 1931 rolled from the assembly line on 27 August 1946, a cream Ford Prefect 10 hp saloon.

1950 Dearborn buys back Ford Europe

Henry Ford resigned in 1945 in favour of grandson Henry Ford II, and died in April 1947. Perry, founder-chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited and each of the Ford Group's European subsidiaries, retired in 1948. In 1950, Ford's controlling interests in the European businesses were sold to Ford Dearborn. In 1953, following the death of its Detroit founder, Briggs Motor Bodies, whose parent provided bodies to Ford America, was purchased, giving the company more control of its supplies and so acquiring plants at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

, Southampton,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

. By 1953, Ford of Britain directly employed 40,000 people.

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company

Until 1960, Ford Motor Company Limited remained a publicly quoted company, its shares freely listed on British exchanges, with more than 10,000 stockholders. The Ford Motor Company of Dearborn Michigan then held just 54% of its shares. That year, after eighteen months of rumour and denial, the US company offered to buy out the other shareholders. The offer was accepted, and Ford completed payment for the other 46% of Ford Motor Company Limited at the end of January 1961. Ford of Britain, properly Ford Motor Company Limited, then became a wholly-owned Ford subsidiary.

New factories

In 1962, Ford opened a factory at Halewood,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, to make the Anglia. This ceased to be a Ford plant (although remained under Ford ownership) when the last Escort came off the production line in 2000, and was then converted to make the Jaguar X-Type in 2001, and latterly the

Land Rover Freelander The Land Rover Freelander is a compact luxury crossover SUV that was manufactured and marketed by Land Rover from 1997 to 2015. The second generation was sold from 2007 to 2015 in North America and the Middle East as the LR2 and in Europe as the ...

. Halewood was included in the sale of

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

and

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rove ...

to Tata Motors in 2008, although Ford retained ownership of its transmission works. Another new factory opened at Basildon in 1964 to make tractors, and, in 1965, a further plant was acquired at Crymlyn Burrows, Swansea, to make chassis components and axles. The Cork factory celebrated the 50-year anniversary in 1967. As part of that landmark event, a £2 million investment programme was announced to rebuild, re-equip and modernise the assembly plant. As a result, the plant was to become the largest and most modern factory of its kind in Ireland. In the same year, Ford of Europe was formed with Henry Ford and Son Limited. It was an important partnership from the start. Another £2 million was spent on assembly facilities and operations, to ensure that Cork production equalled the highest European standards of quality. By 1977, the total area of the plant was well over 450,000 square feet. The rationalisation plan put in place meant that, in 1972, the Cork plant became a two-car plant that was producing the two best selling cars in Ireland: the Escort and Cortina. Between them, these two models were accounting for 75% of Ford sales in Ireland at the time. The Irish company was also exporting around 4,000 cars (mostly Escorts) to Britain. The Cork plant closed in 1984.Cork Ford Plant Closure 1984

RTÉ Archives (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968

The Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 was a landmark labour-relations dispute in the United Kingdom. The strike began on 7 June 1968, when women sewing machinists at Dagenham plant walked out and were later followed by the machinists at Halewood Body & Assembly plant. The women were responsible for car seat covers, and their strike eventually led to a complete halt to all car production. The Dagenham sewing machinists walked out when, as part of a regrading exercise, they were informed that their jobs were graded in Category B (less-skilled production jobs), instead of Category C (more-skilled production jobs), and that they would be paid 15% less than the full B rate received by men. The strike ended three weeks after it began, following the intervention of Barbara Castle, the

Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions ...

. The deal brokered immediately increased their rate of pay to 8% below that of men, rising to the full category B rate the following year.

Commercial vehicles

Ford produced a range of commercial vehicles, starting with the Model TT in 1917. From 1933 to 1939 these were badged ''Fordson''; this changed to ''Fordson Thames'' until 1957, after which it became plain ''Thames''. From 1965 they reverted to Ford. After the closure of the Trafford Park factory, most of the larger commercials were built at Langley. The truck operation was sold to the

Iveco IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger ...

group of Italy in 1986, and became Iveco Ford (48% owned by Ford). The Langley plant closed in 1997.

2013: End of production

At midday on Wednesday, 26 July 2013, Ford ended more than 100 years of vehicle manufacturing in the UK, with end of assembling Transit vans, by moving production of the next generation Transit to the

Ford Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (''Ford Automotive Industry'') is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. It was established in its current form in 1977, with original relation ...

plant in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Ford Southampton plant built 28,000 vans, barely a third of its 2007 production.

Chairmen

* Percival Perry 1928–1948, also managing director 1928–1948 * Roland Kitson 1948–1956 * Patrick Hennessy 1956–1968, also managing director 1948–1968

Ford of Europe

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish Henr ...

was created in 1967 by the merging of the businesses of Ford Motor Company Limited and

Ford-Werke GmbH Ford-Werke GmbH is a German car manufacturer headquartered in Niehl (Köln), Niehl, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, which operates two large manufacturing facilities in Germany, a ...

Models

Passenger cars

Ford 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 relat ...

(1913–1927) * Ford Model A (1928–1931) * Ford Model B (1932–1935) * Ford Model Y (1932–1937) * Ford 7Y (1937–1939) * Ford V8 (1932–1939) * Ford Model C Ten (1935–1937) * Ford 7W (1937–1938) *

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a C-segment, small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford of Britain, 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. ...

(1939–1967) * Ford Prefect (1939–1961) * Ford V8 Pilot (1947–1951) * Ford Consul (1950–1962) * Ford Zephyr/Zodiac (1951–1972) *

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 ...

(1953–1962) * Ford Escort/Squire (1955–1961) *

Ford Consul Classic The Ford Consul Classic is a mid-sized car that was launched in May 1961 and built by Ford UK from 1961 to 1963. It was available in two or four door saloon form, in Standard or De Luxe versions, and with floor or column gearshift. The name F ...

(1961–1963) * Ford Consul Capri (1961–1964) *

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 ...

(1962–1982) *

Ford Corsair The name Ford Corsair was used both for a car produced by Ford of Britain between 1963 and 1970, and for an unrelated Nissan-based automobile marketed by Ford Australia between 1989 and 1992. Ford Consul Corsair (1963–1965), Ford Corsair V4 ...

(1963–1970) * Ford Escort (1968–2000) * Ford Capri (1969–1986) * Ford Granada (1972–1994) *

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 ...

(1976–present) * Ford Sierra (1982–1993) * Ford Orion (1983–1993)

Commercial vehicles

Note – cwt is the abbreviation of hundredweight (112 pounds or 1/20 ton) * Fordson tractor (1917–1964) * Ford Model TT 1 ton (1917–1927) *

30cwt (1928–1932) * Ford Model BB (1932–1934) * Ford Model Y 5 cwt (1932–1937) * Thames/Fordson E83W 10cwt van and pick-up (1938–1957) * Fordson War Office Truck (WOT) **WOT 6 - 4x4 3-ton truck (1942 - 1945) **WOT 8 - 4x4 15 cwt truck (1941 - 1942 * Fordson E04C 5 cwt (1945–1948) * Fordson E494C 5 cwt (1948–1954) * Thames/Fordson 300E 5 cwt (1954) * Thames 400E 10,12,15 cwt * Thames 300E 5 & 7 cwt (1954–1961) * Thames 307E 5 & 7 cwt (1961–1967) * Thames Trader 30 cwt, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7-ton (1957–1962) * Thames Trader MkII (1962–1965) * Ford H (1962–) * Ford K (Trader rename) (1965–) *

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 i ...

(1965–present) * Ford A series (1973–1983) * Ford D series * Ford D800 * Ford D1000 (1967–) * Ford R series * Ford Transcontinental (1975–1983) * Ford Cargo (1981–1993)

Supercars

Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...

(1966–1968) * Ford GT70 (1970–1973)

Notes

References

The Story of Ford
– The fifth largest automaker in the world and manufacturer of some of the best-selling cars of all time

External links

*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford Of Britain

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom British brands 1909 establishments in England Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909 British companies established in 1909 British subsidiaries of foreign companies British Royal Warrant holders

History

1903–1918

Trafford Park

Cork

Dagenham

Formation of Ford Motor Company Limited

Europe's largest car plant

Associated companies

Ferguson tractors

World War II

Post war

1950 Dearborn buys back Ford Europe

Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company

New factories

Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968

Commercial vehicles

2013: End of production

Chairmen

Ford of Europe

Models

Passenger cars

Commercial vehicles

Supercars

See also

Notes

References

External links