Ford do Brasil

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Ford Motor Company Brasil

logo
legal form Ltda.
founding 1919
Seat Sao Bernardo do Campo , Brazil
management Steven Armstrong (CEO)
Number of employees 14,596
Branch Automobile manufacturer
Website www.ford.com.br

Ford do Brasil is the Brazilian subsidiary of the US automobile manufacturer Ford and was founded on April 24, 1919. The assembly of CKD kits for the T-model passenger car and the TT-model truck , imported from the USA, began. The Ford brand had existed in the country since 1904, when complete Ford models were imported from the USA. In January 2007, Ford do Brasil took over the automaker Troller Veículos Especiais S / A .

From assembly to production

Ford Motor do Brasil SA - the company's full name at the time - inaugurated on April 17, 1957 a complete production line for the F-600 flatbed truck, a vehicle that was very similar to the F-100 made in the USA . The car was powered by a V8 engine with a displacement of 4457 cc; 40% of the parts came from Brazil. The remaining parts continued to be imported from the United States, but over time the percentage of parts made in the country grew.

Takeover of Willys-Overland do Brasil

On October 9, 1967, Ford took over the economically troubled Willys-Overland do Brasil SA as the main shareholder and integrated the factory in São Bernardo do Campo , as well as the Willys Aero and Willys Itamaraty cars , the Willys F-75 and the commercial vehicle popular off-road vehicle Willys Jeep , in its Brazilian manufacture. Then there was the Renault Dauphine manufactured under license .

When Ford took over the Brazilian activities from Willys, they also inherited the front-wheel-drive "Project M" created in collaboration with Renault , which resulted in the Ford Corcel in Brazil . In Europe it became the Dacia 1300 and the Renault 12 . All three are technically similar, but the Ford differed in the shape of the body. In 1970 the Corcel was one of the most popular cars; it sold very well as a 4-door sedan and was also manufactured as a 2-door coupé for younger buyers. As a station wagon it was called the Ford Belina. The Corcel GT offered more power, a black hood and rally stripes on the sides.

Adjustment of the product range

The mid-range sedan at the time was the old Ford Aero, which was actually a modified version of the Aero Eagle that Kaiser-Willys had built in the USA from 1954 and that was later sold in Brazil as the Aero Willys . When Chevrolet introduced the Opala in 1968 , which was very popular with 2 and 4 doors, Ford urgently brought in a replacement for the old Aero.

Ford do Brasil also built the Galaxie , one of the few V8 models ever built in Brazil. Initially, these vehicles were equipped with the Y-engines with 4.5 l or 4.8 l from the flatbed trucks and the body of the 4-door sedan manufactured in the USA in 1965. At that time, the car was a status symbol, a vehicle for the rich and powerful. In 1974 Ford do Brasil inaugurated the factory in Taubaté near São Paulo , where the Galaxie with the new 4.9-liter V8 engine was manufactured.

The time of the Maverick

At the São Paulo Auto Show in May 1973, the Ford Maverick was presented as the 1974 model, although it looked almost exactly like the 1970 model with molded bumpers. There were three versions, the basic Super model , the more elegant Super Luxo , both with the Willys six-cylinder engine, and the sporty GT with a 4.9-liter V8 engine, which was also available in the Super Luxo on request. This car was larger than the average Brazilian car and sold very well for the first two years. Later, only the 2-door Super Luxo model could meet expectations and in 1979 the production of the Maverick was quietly discontinued.

The oil crisis

During the oil crisis in the 1970s, Brazil began extracting alcohol from sugar cane for use as car fuel, which has now grown into a thriving industry. “Movido à álcool” (German: alcohol-driven) soon became the sales slogan for all cars. Ford do Brasil just released the Escort model, designed in Europe , and quickly developed a higher compression engine for its newest model. The V8 small-block engines of the Ford luxury vehicles Galaxie and Landau , which then dropped out of the program in 1983, were also adapted.

Merger with Volkswagen

The difficult economic situation in South America in the 1980s due to the astronomically high inflation rates forced automobile manufacturers to look for ways to cut costs. The Brazilian and Argentinian branches of Ford and Volkswagen decided in 1987 to merge into a new holding company called Autolatina . Volkswagen received 51% of the shares and Ford the remaining 49%. Both brands retained their own image, their marketing and sales structures, their independent dealer networks and workshops. All other departments were merged, which led to considerable cost savings, but also to a staff reduction of almost 50%.

The time of Autolatina

The Escort as a three- and five-door station wagon , which was introduced in 1983, and the two-door convertible (from 1985) also sold well. But in 1986 Ford decided to discontinue the five-door version and to prepare for younger customers with the three-door version. In 1989, Ford do Brasil replaced the 1.6-liter R4 CHT engine in the Escort with the 1.8-liter version of the Volkswagen AP four-cylinder and connected it to the gearbox of the German Volkswagen Golf , so that the performance of the Ghia rose to 90 bhp (66 kW) and in the sporty XR3 to 99 bhp (73 kW).

The joint car projects led to new models such as the Ford Verona (also known as the Volkswagen Apollo ), which came out in 1989. There were cars with same platform and VW engines - but there was also a 1.6-liter R4-CHT engine from Ford - that could be produced for a fraction of the cost, so that both marks against the main competitors Chevrolet remained competitive .

In 1990 the Ford Versailles , a revised version of the Volkswagen Santana , came out and found itself in an increasingly positive economic climate.

Regained independence

In 1994 Ford and Volkswagen agreed on a reallocation of Autolatina. This happened partly because of the 75th birthday of Ford do Brasil and partly because of the declining sales figures at Ford, which led the American manufacturer to seek independence from Volkswagen and take control of all of its businesses again. This enabled him to introduce lean production processes that had significantly increased the competitiveness of the parent company in the USA. Technically, however, the Brazilian Ford stayed with the engines and drives from Volkswagen.

In 1996 the German Ford Fiesta was introduced as a new entry-level model on the Brazilian market and replaced the Escort Hobby with a 1.0-liter R4 engine, which was known in 1993 as “caro poular” (German: car for the people) - a government requirement to manufacturers for the production of cheap and fuel-efficient cars. The entire production of the Escort - including the first station wagon for Brazil - was relocated to Argentina .

Ford do Brasil in the 21st century

Today, Ford do Brasil builds models with Zetec Rocam engines with 1.0 and 1.6 liters displacement, as well as with the 2.0 l R4 Duratec engine, which is also used on platforms such as the Ka , the Fiesta and the EcoSport , a softroader version of fusion , were used.

Ford do Brasil has a stable market position today and is the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in Brazil with an average of 12.5% ​​market share.

An important part of the success yield the highest profit of Latin American activities in the Ford company, which currently is the brand new factory in Camaçari ( Bahia to create), in the Ford 4 billion US dollars invested to create an environment in which the Production lines are directly connected to the equipment of the suppliers. The EcoSport and the Fiesta for the Brazilian market and third world markets are manufactured here.

Ford do Brasil continues to offer imported models such as the Focus (imported from Argentina) and the F-250 . Since 2006, however, the Fusion , which was built in Mexico , has served as an inexpensive replacement for the Ford Mondeo , as the 2007 model is considered too expensive for the Brazilian market, although it is offered in Argentina. The Fusion sold quite well in Brazil and is considered the best-selling model in its segment.

Ford do Brasil currently has 396 points of sale from 233 dealers.

Models (in chronological order)

literature

  • Ernesto Franzen: Ford Maverick of Brazil . 1996
  • R. Arkader, A. da Rocha: Autolatina: O Fim de uma Aliança. Coppead, Rio de Janeiro 2002
  • Álvaro Casal Tatlock: The Automobile in South America - The Origins (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) . FBVA. Rio de Janeiro

Web links