Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo, {{NYSE|F}} is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, and incorporated on June 16, 1903. According to Fortune magazine, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota Motor replaced Ford as the world's number two and three automobile manufacturers by revenue in 2004. For many years before that Ford was global number two behind General Motors. Ford remains one of the world's ten largest corporations by revenue.

Asia Pacific

In Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon is considered the typical (if not particularly economical) family car, though it is considerably larger than the Mondeo sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972 the Falcon was based on a US Ford of that name, but since then has been entirely locally designed and manufactured. Like its General Motors rival the Holden Commodore, the 4.0 liter Falcon retains rear wheel drive. High performance variants of the Falcon running American Mustang V8 engines produce up to 390bhp. A pick-up version is also available with a similar range of drive trains. In both Australia and New Zealand the Commodore and Falcon outsell all other cars, and in Australia they comprise over 40% of the new car market.

Related Topics:
Australia - New Zealand - Ford Falcon - General Motors - Holden Commodore

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Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller, but with the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda, in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella (also known as the 323 and 626) as the Ford Laser and Telstar. The Laser was one of the most successful models sold by Ford in Australia, and outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it. The Laser was also built in Mexico and sold in the US as the Mercury Tracer, while the 1989 US Ford Escort was based on the Laser/Mazda 323. The smaller Mazda 121 was also sold in the US and Asia as a Ford Festiva.

Related Topics:
1979 - 323 - 626 - Ford Laser - Telstar - 1989 - Mazda 121

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Through its relationship with Mazda, Ford also acquired a stake in South Korean manufacturer Kia, which later built the Ford Aspire for export to the US, but later sold the company to Hyundai. Ironically, Hyundai also manufactured the Ford Cortina until the 1980s. Ford also has a joint venture with Lio Ho in Taiwan, which assembled Ford models locally since the 1970s.

Related Topics:
Mazda - South Korea - Kia - Ford Aspire - Hyundai - 1980s - Taiwan - 1970s

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Ford came to India in 1998 with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001.

Related Topics:
India - 1998 - Ford Escort - Ford Ikon - 2001

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South America

In South America, Ford has had to face protectionist government measures in each country, with the result that it built different models in different countries, with no rationalisation or economies of scale. In some cases, it based its models on those of other manufacturers whose plants it had taken over. For example, the Corcel and Del Rey in Brazil were originally based on Renaults. In the 1980s, Ford merged its operations in Brazil and Argentina with those of Volkswagen to form a company called Autolatina, with which it shared models.

Related Topics:
South America - Corcel - Del Rey - Renault - Volkswagen - Autolatina

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Autolatina was dissolved in the 1990s, and with the advent of Mercosur, the regional common market, Ford was able to rationalise its product line-ups in those countries. Consequently, the Ford Fiesta is only built in Brazil, and the Ford Focus only built in Argentina, with each plant exporting in large volumes to the neighbouring country. Models like the Ford Mondeo from Europe could now be imported completely built up. Ford in Brazil produces a pick-up version of the Fiesta, which is also produced in South Africa, in right hand drive as the Ford Bantam.

Related Topics:
1990s - Mercosur - Brazil - Ford Focus - Ford Bantam

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