Ford Motor Company of Argentina
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1913 |
| Headquarters | General Pacheco, Buenos Aires. Argentina |
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Key people
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Jorge Di Nucci Manager Institutional Affairs |
| Products | currently: Ford Focus, Ford Ranger |
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Number of employees
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2,123 |
| Website | www.ford.com.ar |
Ford Motor Argentina is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Buenos Aires in 1913. Its first products were Model Ts assembled from Complete Knock Down (CKD) kits provided by Ford Motor Company in 1917. Nevertheless, Ford Motor Argentina is best known in more recent times for producing the Ford Focus and, previously, the Argentine version of the Ford Falcon, originally a US model introduced in Argentina in 1961, but adapted to the Argentine market.
In 1913, Ford entered the Argentine market, and in 1917, Buenos Aires became home to the first assembly operation of Ford products in Latin America, in 1922 a stamping and assembly factory was inaugurated in La Boca. At that time the products were marketed through a net composed of 285 dealers. The administrative staff and the personnel of paid workers came to 400. Later, and due to the rising demand the plant was enlarged, coming its staff to 1,500 people.
In 1939, with the Second World War outbreak, the importation of vehicles and components is closed. The production was restricted to finishing the units with the available material, but the increasing lack of basic supplies for the production forced to stop the activity. During this time, Ford manufactured batteries and it attended its clients with the sale of spare parts and car accessories made in local repair shops. Later, this would give rise to the beginning of the Argentinean auto part industry.
In 1957 Ford Motor Argentina activities restarted in its La Boca facilities with the first commercial vehicles of the "F" line pick ups produced. This manufacturing plant originally opened in 1925 for the production of the Ford Model T. In 1962 the "F" line pick ups began to be produced at the Pacheco Assembly Plant. The former Ford Motor Argentina S.A. was incorporated in 1959.
In 1987, Autolatina Argentina was formed by the merger of Ford Motor Argentina and Volkswagen Argentina. Each brand maintained their own corporate image, the marketing and sales structures, as well as independent dealerships and service shops. All other departments were consolidated, allowing significant cost cutting, but also cutting the workforce almost in half. Sales figures and profitability were disappointing and the joint venture was dissolved in 1994, and on 1 January 1995, Ford Argentina S.A. was reestablished. Under the Autolatina separation plans, Ford became sole owner of the Pacheco plant, which was modified to incorporate the production of the Escort car and Ranger pick-ups. (Volkswagen acquired the existing truck plant and converted it for car assembly.)
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Wikipedia