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FORD: All Car History Volume
6
By Luke B Scott
Its former UK subsidiaries (Land Rover
and Jaguar) were bought by Tata Motors of India in March 2008. In 2007,
Ford became the third-ranked car-maker in US sales (being beaten by General
Motors and Toyota). It was Ford's first decline from second position in
56 years.
FORD HISTORY
Ford was launched in 1903. Henry Ford,
the company's founder, revolutionized mass production by introducing methods
for manufacturing cars on a large-scale using highly engineered manufacturing
along travelling assembly lines.
In 1908, Ford introduced the legendary
Model T and by 1920 production was over one million cars a year. In the
1950s, Ford introduced the legendary Thunderbird and in 1955 the disastrous
Edsel. But Ford bounced back introducing its compact Ford Falcon in 1960
and the Mustang in 1964. By 1967, Ford of Europe was established, which
builds some of the UK's most popular cars.
FORD FACTS
- Type: Public company
- Founded: June 17,
1903
- Headquarters: Dearborn,
Michigan, USA
- Key People: Henry
Ford, Founder, Alan Mulally, President and CEO, William Clay Ford, Jr,
Chairman
- Industry: Automotive
- Products: Mainstream/performance
vehicles & automotive parts
- Subsidiaries: Automotive
Components Holdings Volvo (cars only)
FEATURED MODELS
- FORD ESCORT - a small
family car made by Ford from 1967 to 2003, the top-selling Escort enjoyed
seven different incarnations.
- FORD FIESTA - a "supermini",
the Ford Fiesta is one of Ford's most successful cars. More than ten million
have been sold in seven different marks since 1976.
- FORD FOCUS - The
Ford Focus is a small family car launched in 1998, since which time it
has become the UK's best selling car, following in the steps of its predecessor,
the Escort.
- FORD FOCUS C-MAX
- a compact MPV made since 2003, the C-Max is based on the Focus Mk II
platform and is the smallest multi-purpose vehicle in the Ford range.
- FORD GALAXY - a 5-door
MPV which entered production in 1995. The second generation Galaxy, launched
in 2006 is one of the UK's favourites.
- FORD KA - produced
from 1996 to the present, the Ka is a compact "city car" 3-door hatchback
with a 1.3-litre engine. A 1.6-litre engine is available in the Sport Ka.
- FORD MONDEO - a large
family car made from 1993 to the present over three generations.
- FORD MUSTANG - a
legendary sports car first introduced in 1964, the Mustang is still in
production in its fifth generation.
- FORD PUMA - a small
3-door hatchback coupé with 2+2 seating, and a choice of three engines.
The limited edition Racing Puma was hand built by Aston Martin coachbuilder,
Tickford.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The then recently-launched
Ford Mustang made a debut film appearance in the James Bond film "Goldfinger"
in September 1964.
- Ford employs around
245,000 employees at 100 plants and facilities around the world.
- The Ford Company
reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $12.7 billion!
- The famous Ford GT40
won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in the 1960s. It remains the only
American car ever to win overall at Le Mans.
- When launching the
Pinto, Ford had a problem in Brazil as "Pinto" was Brazilian slang for
"tiny male genitals". Ford renamed the car Corcel, meaning "horse!"
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